A Bad Band-Aid Proposal

The Post reports:

"The Nationals' considerable offensive slump during their month-long slide will have General Manager Jim Bowden scouring the team's farm system next week, wondering if there is any sort of solution available in the minors. One distinct possibility: First-round draft pick Ryan Zimmerman, just two months removed from his career at the University of Virginia, could be in Washington before too long."

We agree that Vinny Castilla is not much of a hitter these days, but we don't think that rushing a promising young player to the majors is a good idea. Zimmerman is in AA, and, as Brian says, he will probably be ready for the majors in 2006 or 2007. By all means call up Zimmerman in September when the rosters expand, but rushing him now won't solve the third base problem because Zimmerman probably isn't ready and will no doubt struggle in a major league test this year.

Bowden didn't trade prospects to improve the team this year because he said he wanted to protect the team's investment and its future. Well, if that's true, why retard the prospects' progress and undermine the team's investment by calling them up too early? If you're willing to do that, why didn't you trade them in the first place?