Tempted By The Fruit Of Another

Via Yuda (Isn't that in Venice?)...

“Although the Nationals were second in the National League in hitting entering Tuesday’s action, they are still looking for a power hitter, who could bat fifth in the order and protect Jose Guillen. According to two sources, the Nationals are targeting Rangers infielder Alfonso Soriano and center fielders Preston Wilson and Vernon Wells, who are with the Rockies and Blue Jays, respectively.

“If Soriano is acquired, he would play left field. Soriano has hit over 30 home runs in a season twice and is currently hitting .291 with 10 home runs and 24 RBIs.

“The Nationals have been after Wilson for a few weeks. He is making $12 million and the Nationals would like the Rockies to pay most of his salary Wilson is coming off an injury-plagued season, but his best year occurred in 2003, when he led the league in RBIs with 141. Wilson is a free agent after this season.

“Wells is off to a slow start with the Blue Jays, but is capable of driving in a lot of runs. He drove in over 100 runs in 2002 and ‘03.

“If Wells or Wilson were on the Nationals, it would mean that Brad Wilkerson would switch to left field.”

Apparently it's not just Frank that hates Ryan Church. It's Jim Bowden too. I guess .750 over the last week isn't good enough for him. Or his .302/ .353/ .492 isn't good enough either.

Just my quick impressions on the rest. I bet we'll all have more to say in comments.

Preston Wilson: Danger, Frank Robinson, Danger! He's old(er), injury prone, and not especially good. Imagine Mike Cameron with slightly less power, less plate discipline, and the range of a dying carp. Even if Colorado pays ever stinking nickle of his bloated $12 MM salary, he'll have a hard time outhitting Church. And Church is a vastly superior defensive centerfielder. (Even Wilkerson is better) In short, there's no upgrade there.

Vernon Wells: Not a bad idea, but he's been a disappointement after some early promise. Is that a sign of stagnation (ala Ben Grieve) or just a slump? The most important point, I guess, is that I can't really envision Toronto trading him -- at least for anything we'd be able reasonably offer them.

Alfonso Soriano: He's not an especially good fielder, but he's probably better than Vidro. Still, they'd move him to left, where he'd attempt to learn a new position. While he's obviously got the athleticism, learning a new position on the fly is always a dangerous proposition. (See: Knoblauch, Chuck; or Biggion, Craig)

Hitting-wise, he was disappointing last year, especially when you factor in the hittastic Ameriquest Field. I suspect he'd rebound quite a bit. But, also remember, he mysteriously aged two years when going from the Yankees to the Rangers. And, he's not all that cheap.

Would any of them be a huge upgrade over what we have now? I'm not completely certain. And, when you factor in how few valuable chits we have, and how important they're going to be either down the road when we have a better idea of our standing in the race, or down the road in future when we need to rely on the vast wasteland of our farm team to replenish the team's aging stock, it might not be the right time to trade.

Thoughts?