Larkin a Nat?

Barry Larkin is interested in being a National. As long as we're not relying on him to be our star--and nothing more than a part-time player, I'm all for it.

In 111 games last year, the 40-year old hit .289/ .352/ .419.
Those aren't superstar numbers, but they're very acceptable for a part-time player, especially in the middle infield. Even with some decline, which is inevitable at his age, he can still be useful as long as you're not relying on him to be the guy.

He's certainly not the hall of famer he was early in his career, but the great thing about being as good as he was is that when you decline you're still useful.

If the club plans on sticking with Maicer Izturis, Larkin would be a great mentor--and would be able to take some of the stresses of playing every day off of him. Izturis hit pretty well for a shortstop in the minors, but he probably needs a little more time in AAA, especially with the way his season ended.

The MLB article talks about the relationship between Trader Jim and Larkin as being one of the factors, which is interesting given the comments on this Reds Daily post.