Flirting with Odalis

Odalis Perez will not be a National next year. The bright side of it is that he’s outside our division, having re-signed with the LA Dodgers, on a 3-year $24 million contract.

In the end, it came down to money.

According to sources with knowledge of the situation, Bowden received permission from club president Tony Tavares to slightly increase his original offer of three years, $18 million but not by enough to lure Perez to Washington.

"We played up to the point where we couldn't afford it, and then after that, we had to bow out," Bowden said. "I think he would have been a very good signing for us. But at the end of the day, we really couldn't afford to sign him within our payroll structure."

I wonder if Bowden regrets frittering away all of that money. A few million bucks saved on Guzman and Castilla could’ve added up to a shiny new Perez.

The other bright spot was the claim that the Nats won’t go after any of the chaff remaining on the pitching market. Broken-down has-beens, such as Aaron Sele and Esteban Loaiza are about all that’s left. We’re better off burying the extra money in a clay jar under the parking lot than wasting it on them. (Hell, use the extra money and start negotiations on a long-term deal with Wilkerson.)

The rotation is not great, but it’s very good. And it’s relatively young age and experience combine to give it the potential to break out. Nationals Pastime had an earlier look at our rotation, and how Odalis would’ve fit into it.