Fouled-Off Bunts: No Joy In Oaxaca Edition

First, the pros:

• The Washington Times has their crack at the Castilla/Lawrence trade. Might his disappointing year been poor mechanics?
  

  Lawrence said his struggles last season stemmed from a mechanical flaw in his delivery, one he said he corrected late in the season. The Padres still bumped him from the rotation for the playoffs, though, using him out of the bullpen.
  
  "I'm kind of a feel guy, and for some reason I got into a groove where I felt out of whack for a while," Lawrence said last night by phone from his home in San Diego. "But we corrected it, and I finished the year strong. I feel like I'm back on track.

• The Lerner Family goes under the microscope as the Post continues their look at the bidders. The best reason to support their bid?
  

  Lerner said the family will not micromanage the team. "While our family will be active in assuring the organization's commitment to quality and integrity . . . we are cognizant of the error often made by new owners and will seek to retain the best available professionals to operate the club, from the team president on down," Lerner said

• First it was the Hall of Fame. Now it's a Medal of Freedom. How soon til Frank Robinson gets that elusive Nobel?
• The LA Times seems to indicate that Jim Bowden is on the outside looking in for the Dodgers GM Job.

Now, us hacks:
Everyone has their take on the big trade. One point I forgot to make is that the move is good because it deals from a position of strength (corner infield depth) to address a weakness (starter). We went from a player we didn't really have a need for to one that we can really use.

• Federal Baseball has a comprehesive look at the deal. He likes! League average is indeed beneficial
• Distinguished Senators sums up what I said in about 1/10 of the words. He likes, too.
• While you're reading DS, check out his evisceration of Will Carroll and his poofery regarding the Matt Lawton steroid story. Ryan's been doing this longer than any Nats blogger, and he's still the best. I wish he blogged more.
• Our friends at Nats Blog give the deal the ol' thumbs-up too. They raise an interesting point -- his ERA was superficially poor, especially when you factor in his home park which is even more pitcher friendly than RFK. BUT, he pitched 60% of his games on the road.
• How do the Padres-bloggers feel? See Gaslamp Ball for an example.
• Nationals Farm Authority doesn't have a take on the trade, but I suspect he'd support it, because it means that Brendan Harris will have a chance to make the team. That's the same Brendan Harris that he says has made the Olympic qualifying team.