Mail Bag

"I was pretty happy when Paul Lo-Duche-a came out of the game with what looked like a really painful and serious injury, and I was even happier when I saw a fellow fan of the game, let that cheating bastard have it as he walked in to the dugout. You see, I've never liked Lo Duca. Between the steroids, the poor offense this year, the bad throwing arm, and his placement in the lineup over the hottest hitter on the team, simply because he makes a lot of money. I hope we don't see him back this year honestly, let Stan Kasten and uncle Teddy swallow 6.75 million dollars on the HGH dealer and his obese backup. There were plenty of ways that money could have and should have been wasted last off season. Hopefully without his precious HGH Lo Duca will take more than 8 weeks to come back and by that point he'll be out of shape, and out of practice,and they stick with Jesus Flores and Wil Nieves(additionally very fun names to yell)."-Nats Fan Dave O

Mail Bag

Nats fan Pat asks:

How come the world is used to slick fielding, weak hitting SS.Folks like the old Senator's Ed Brinkman. There have been thousands of them over the years.Folks like Cal Ripken, A-ROD are very unusual, they were good fielding, good hitting SS, but there have been very few of them. Perhaps only these two.Why, oh why, do the Nats have Guzman starting at SS?He is a terrible fielder. He hits for average and for power, which are great, so he could be a decent right fielder. Why is he playing SS?

Well the short answer is because they are paying him a lot of money. Guzman was the first big contract the Nationals signed back in 2005 when they moved to Washington. As a 26 year old with six years under his belt, some felt he was a rising star that could be a center point for this franchise…those people were wrong. Guzman’s four year 16 million dollar contact has haunted him since he struggled to hit .200 in his inaugural campaign.

Guzman, while having a thick frame at 6 feet tall 215 pounds, used to be a speedster and actually a statistically solid defensive shortstop. While he has aged both his speed and his range has appeared to diminish. From 2002-2005 he had only 12, 11, 12, and 15 errors respectively, which is very very good actually. We must also realize, however, that errors don’t completely reflect a shortstops range, only the ability to field the balls they get to. Bill James’ range index for years has exposed the overrated fielders (Derek Jeter) in the game by studying this. We must also examine the fact that Guzman was fielding for the early part of his career on a carpet in Minnesota, and carpets are extremely predictable and easy to field on.

So what’s the diagnosis? It’s clear now that Guzman is too slow footed to play that position. His hands are average and he doesn’t always make the smart play. There were several ground balls last night that I was shocked he didn’t get to, some that turned into RBI’s. I think the Nationals need to make a move here but it’s a prickly situation. Guzman is the only Nats hitter batting anywhere near .300 and he most likely will not want to make a move. To me the only logical switch would be to flip him and Lopez across second base. Lopez used to be a shortstop and while his glove disappeared (at the same time as his bat), the Lopez struggles of the last two years have seemed to have diminished though…so he may be able to go back to his old position too. It’s really up to Guzman and Acta, and I don’t see a change coming any time soon.

“Folks like Cal Ripken, A-ROD are very unusual, they were good fielding, good hitting SS, but there have been very few of them. Perhaps only these two.”

Actually to be fair, since Ripken there has been a huge influx of big, good fielding, good hitting shortstops. To name a few who have size, power, and a glove:
-A-Rod
-Hanley Ramirez
-Jimmy Rollins
-Edgar Renteria
-Nomar Garciaparra
-Mike Young
Other good hitting shortstops:
-Jose Reyes
-Derek Jeter
-Rafael Furcal
-Miguel Tejada
-Carlos Guillen

The reason you don't see them on every team, or on the Nats for that matter, is because they are usually the best athletes in baseball and are very elite. Hopefully all of our scouting in the Dominican will help us land one of these guys...

Good question Pat, anyone else who wants to pose a question or an opinion, email The Nats Blog at THENATSBLOG.COM@GMAIL.COM