The Bright Side of Loaiza

[A]n industry source said it was unlikely the Nationals would offer more than a one-year contract. Loaiza is seeking a two-year deal.

"That, ultimately, is what's going to get our attention," said agent John Boggs. "I don't think Washington is going to be in position to go there, but it still could be a good fit -- even for one year."

Anything more than one year is absolutely silly. From the article, it appears that Texas is our only competition. Bowden is notorious for hoarding crappy arms, and this would sync with his MO.

If he can keep it to one year, it might not be the worst option. They could plug him in as a swingman and, if injuries pop up, he could fill in. Unfortunately, I'm sure they'd throw him right into the rotation.

Like I said the other day, depth is not our problem. We've got a number of quality arms. Quality of the arms at the front of our rotation is the problem. And no one is going to confuse Loaiza with Pedro, or even Matt Clement.

The article also mentions Shawn Chacon as a trade possibility. Chacon's been battered in Coors Field and bombed as their closer last year. A change of scenery could definitely do him so good, but I don't think the Nats are in any position to be dealing prospects to add players to fix a need they don't have.

The article mentions Brian Lawrence as a possibility. I was intrigued until I actually looked up his stats. He has a career 3.91 ERA versus a 3.94 League ERA. (And he's gotten worse compared to the league each year as well.) He's a pretty extreme groundball pitcher, but has been really prone to the gopher ball, despite playing in a pretty extreme pitcher's park. As with Chacon, he's probably not worth giving up prospects for.