Pro And Con

The Dmitri Young signing is o-fisshul. Two years, $10 million. No word on the third-year option, which was rumored to be a vesting one.

I still don't get it. But whatever. It's not like this team needs that $5 million a year. We've signed all our draft picks. We've got a league-leading pitching staff. None of our young building-block players need to be extended long-term. And there's just no possible way to improve this offense.

Oh, sorry. I thought this was a Red Sox blog for a second...

PRO: Dmitri Young has turned his life around, has been a model citizen, and is looked up to as a good influence in the clubhouse.
CON: He fills the team's leadership vacuum in the important wife-beating category.


PRO: $10 million isn't a lot of money.
CON: Try telling that to Sean Black, Jack McGeary and Josh Smoker


PRO: $5 million for a first baseman is a pretty good deal
CON: Nats now have 2 $5 million first baseman, but only one spot to play them.


PRO: Anonymous Nats officials say he could be the regular LFer next year when Nick Johnson comes back, "if he loses 20 pounds."
CON: They left out the "per limb" part of the quote.


PRO: Watching Dmitri haul his fat ass around the outfield would be a pleasurable experience for the fans in the stands, much as how we all chuckle and applaud when he oozes 10 feet off the line to catch a foul pop.
CON: Matt Chico's ERA sure to double.


PRO: Two year deal is not a long-term commitment
CON: Two year deal for a crappy pitcher better than Simontacchi would have been a disastrous setback for "The PLAN!" last year.


PRO: His big smile warms the heart of District schoolchildren.
CON: District schoolchildren don't care about Nats and priced out of new park.

PRO: He's a league-leading hitter.
CON: [random.select_from {wifebeater.joke}]

PRO: Team reliant on his veteran leadership
CON: Eligible for social security by end of contract

PRO: Baseball can never have enough lovable fat guys.
CON: Baseball blogs typically written by unlovable fat guys who rip on lovable fat guys. (who beat their mistresses; yeah, that's all I've got)

The deal makes no sense to me unless the team knows more about Nick Johnson than they're letting on. Today's comments with Manny Acta questioning whether NJ will be back this year because of the lack of rehab assignment availability after August, is the first indication (well, the latest, I guess), that NJ's not going to make it back this year.

We know he's a slow healer, but is there more there?

A few weeks ago, noted rumormonger Will Carroll threw an aside about NJ's hip condition and how he wondered whether it was similar to the degenerative hip condition that ended Bo Jackson's and Albert Belle's careers.

Nick Johnson seemed to make some progress with his comeback in the late spring, but since then, there's been no real news. In this case, no news was good news, because what we have now could be really bad. Johnson saw Dr. Brian Kelly, a doctor who's known for his work in football, about his weakened right hip. Since this comes on top of his recovery from the broken femur, the first thought is that Johnson may be dealing with osteonecrosis in that hip. If you remember Bo Jackson, the term might be familiar to you. Johnson's not likely to be at that stage of severit, but the team is going to have a battery of tests run to try to pinpoint the problem. If you're waiting on Johnson's comeback this season, it's looking very unlikely at this stage.

His piece raised alarm, but a careful parsing of that (like with Kasten, you need to study to figure out what the hell he's actually saying) made it seem like he was just speculating as to the worst case, and that it wasn't something he was hearing through the grapevine.

Now, I wonder.

Add that to this quote from a nats.com article: "We are going to do some more studies. We are going to do a nerve study and now we are going to do an MRI and look some more," general manager Jim Bowden said."

When you're talking nerves, it's a tough subject (ask Patterson about that). Osteonecrosis isn't necessarily connected with that, but it's not completely uncommon with major leg injuries of the sort that NJ had. (Basically, it's when the blood supply is cut off to parts of the bone. The bone starts to weaken and die, typically in the hips.)

The team has been terrible with their estimation of injuries. They haven't always been up front. And they've been quick with the best-case scenarios. Pitchers who are initially day-to-day have their seasons end three days later.

So I'm not sure how much I'd trust their public statements.

But their actions can speak volumes.

Do they know more about Nick Johnson than they're letting on? If they do, that's about the only solid explanation I can think for Dmitri's signing. 2/$10 is a very fair deal for his ability. It's just not a very fair deal for the team when 1B is already occupied.

But if NJ's out for parts of next year, something they'd be better informed with than us laymen out here, then it's a deal that makes perfect sense.

So what do they know? When did they know it? And if they know or suspect somethin', why aren't they sharing?