…about rosterable prospects and 40-man management here. Jeff Sues is probably a slam dunk at this point, in addition to the guys you mention, and there are a couple of other arms on the bubble.

The thing that I like with Dillon is that he provides insurance at a few areas where we’re in flux right now. He could play 3B in the second half if LaRoche totally bombs, or corner OF if Moss’s knee doesn’t heal right, or even maybe cover 2B in an offense/defense platoon with Bixler if Freddy’s shoulder turns out to be worse than we suspect (I don’t know exactly how bad his defense there is, whether it’s totally unpalatable or just kind of rough). And he’d give us a lot of tactical flexibility in-game, plus at least one guy on the bench who’s an occasional threat for a long ball.

Even 2B is a bit of a stretch for him.

I’d be fine with that. I saw Short play a lot in the Orioles’ system and he can definitely swing the bat. In 2005, his last US year before he went to Japan, he hit 383/456/569 in AAA. That bought him only 15 ABs with the Nats—his only MLB experience—but he still got six hits, including two HRs and two doubles. He’s fallen victim to the irrational preference of many teams for good-field, no-hit bench players, many of whom end up as useless pinch hitters. I guess you could call it the Abe Nunez Complex.

If I were Jim Negrych, I would not find Short’s career path comforting.

…Dillon’s brief time in Japan was probably the single worst stretch of his entire professional career. I’m sure he looked awful there, but I don’t think it’s representative of his true ability, and I don’t know that it’s fair of you to judge him on a single 31-game sample.

Short would be a decent NRI, but I don’t like him as much for our roster because one of my objectives in suggesting the move was to get us some bench power, and Short doesn’t really have any. I also worry about his age.