Bad News Squared

It's hard to get exercised about last night's 5-3 loss to the Mets. There were no obvious mistakes by the players or Frank Robinson, and when the best you can hope for is 62 losses this kind of loss is routine. It's too bad that the Nats' streak of not losing a home series since late-April is now ended, but that streak was amazing and increasingly unsustainable anyway.

The real bad news is that Cristian Guzman is close to returning to the lineup. Guzman's numbers this year are pathetic: .239 OBP, .291 SLG, and .530 OPS. To put those numbers in context, Jamey Carroll, a journeyman infielder, is posting better numbers: .312 OBP, .281 SLG, and .593 OPS. To make matters worse, Carroll makes only $335,000, but Guzman signed a 4-year, $16.8 million contract and is making $4.2 million this year.

You might argue that Guzman is in a prolonged slump and he'll soon return to his career numbers. There are two problems with this argument. First, Guzman has 254 at bats this season, so calling this a slump is a bit of a stretch. Second, the argument doesn't help because Guzman's career numbers are terrible: .298 OBP, .376 SLG, and .674 OPS. In only the National League, Rich Aurilia ($500,000), Wilson Betemit ($316,000), Alex Cintron ($360,000), Damion Easley ($750,000), Bill Hall ($344,000), Antonio Perez ($320,500), and Chris Woodward ($700,000) all have season and career numbers that are much better than Guzman's, and they come at only a fraction of Guzman's price.

Guzman's performance and his contract are indefensible. Jim Bowden has made a lot of good deals this season, but this deal undermines a lot of his good work. A team like the Nationals that has a current payroll of $48 million and a future payroll of probably somewhere around $75 million has to compete against teams like the Mets, Cardinals, and Dodgers, all of whom will spend a whole lot more than the Nats. To compete in that environment, the Nats have to be smart, take some chances on unproven talent, and spend their money wisely. Wasting over $16 million on Cristian Guzman isn't smart--it's throwing away good money that could be used to buy productive players.