Nationals Re-Sign Cristian Guzman

by Charlie on Jul 22, 2008 11:25 PM EDT Comment 8 comments

Nationals GM Jim Bowden is making a strong bid to be included in the Worst GM competition next year. He re-signed Cristian Guzman to a two-year, $16 million deal. Let's see: Guzman is already 30, the four-year, $16 million contract he signed prior to the 2005 season has mostly been a bad joke, he has a 78 career OPS+, and he's had three seasons since his 1999 debut in which he's posted an OBP above .311. That includes an injury-shortened 2007 season, and, of course, this one, which is why he's getting paid. This isn't as mind-meltingly dumb as the last contract Bowden gave him, but that doesn't make it a good idea.

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wow...

that’s bad. this is another reason why trading jack wilson could be bad. finding a replacement would be hard, if bixler doesn’t pan out. we are lucky to have someone like that for only $7.5 million/year.

North Side Notch

by northsidenotch on Jul 22, 2008 11:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Bowden

Did you ever think that maybe there is a kickback involved in the Guzman/Bowden dealings!!!

by thegunner on Jul 23, 2008 1:08 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Losing record for 15 seasons is bad

Trading Jack would not make that record any worse, especially since he has been here for about half of those seasons. Having said that, I think the Dodgers need a CF or 3rd baseman more than a shortstop. Garciaparra seems to be holding his own at SS, at least until he injures himself, but LaRoche is batting .212 (his brother has done much more in a month) and the great Andrew Jones is at .163….. Plus the Dodgers need a closer. Looks to me like a Duffy/Morgan, Minky/Bautista, and Marte trade would help the Dodger Blue for say a Loney or Ethier and a couple of prospects. Not much to give up for a long-time solid hitter in Loney or Ethier and the Dodgers love veteran ballplayers (see Jeff Kent, Nomar, and Jones). Save Bay, Grabow, and Nady for the Yanks, Tigers, or Mets.

by long4willie on Jul 23, 2008 1:57 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Colletti’s a moron, but I don’t think even he is stupid enough to consider Duffy/Morgan/Eye Chart/Bautista any more than filler.

by matskralc on Jul 23, 2008 6:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ouch

Loney or Ethier for all three of those guys would be a steal for us.

by Vlad on Jul 23, 2008 10:35 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Soloman Torres having nice season for Brew Crew

2008 Season Stats

SPLITS G GS CG IP H R ER HR BB SO W L SV HLD BLSV WHIP ERA
Season 47 0 0 53.2 47 19 16 3 20 34 5 2 18 5 4 1.25 2.68

by long4willie on Jul 23, 2008 2:10 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

This isn't actually a terrible idea.

The SS market right now is pretty barren, and there’s an instigating event (LASIK) prior to Guzman’s little two-year surge with the Nats, so it’s possible that his improvement is genuine. Also, if the Nats weren’t going to keep him, they’d have to go out and pay for someone else, since they’ve got absolutely nothing at shortstop on the farm.

I still don’t love the deal, but some perspective is important here. It’s only $2.25M more than Jack’s getting over the next two years, for a guy who’s hitting .300 with average defense over the last two seasons.

by Vlad on Jul 23, 2008 10:35 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs