Has TB lost it?

This is from Tom Boswell's Washington Post chat today:

Burke, Va.: Boz -- does Bowden return next season or do you see a guy like Gerry Hunsicker being here?

Tom Boswell: As I pointed out, Bowden did not make a mistake on Castilla. He got his money's worth. So everybody can just drop that one.

On Guzman, he's hitting .302 in September! He has 10 extra-base hits in his last 71 at bats! He may be the team's hottest hitter. I don't think __after watching him hit .270+ of the last three weeks__ that you don't give him a chance to be the starting shortstop next spring, assuming he continues to hit decently in the last 15 games.

As Earl Weaver always told us, "Stick with 'em." Guzman's home run yesterday may not be the last of the surprises from him. You may even see him batting second __and approve of it__ before October 2.

...

But OVERALL I had seldom seen a GM get so little credit for so many moves that were very good to decent. And even Guzman is not a total disaster __yet.


Um, Tom, Cristian Guzman is one of the worst players in baseball this year. If the Nationals had even an average everyday shortstop there is a good chance that they would be leading the Wild Card Race at this point. Any player with an OPS of .546, especially one being paid $4.2 million, is awful, putrid, pathetic, or any other derogatory word you want to use.

As for the future, what choice do the Nationals have but to give Guzman a chance next year? They're paying him $4+ million/per! You can't trade him because no one in their right mind would take on that contract, so the Nats either have to sit him or play him. Sitting him and his huge contract is so painful that the Nats will give him every attempt to win the shortstop job next year.

God help us!