Drunk girls in boots? I can dig that.

So much for being excited about the 2nd half.

What's the status of Ryan Z? Wasn't he about to be recalled?

Mayhap the Nats are trying to showcase somebody before the trading deadline? Certainly, they've got too many catchers...

But, honestly, who'da thunk that after the Nats dealt Schneider?

Lo Doca's more the emergency catcher now. Besides, with Johnson, Boone and Young down, Lo Duca's our #1 first baseman now.

And once LoDuca learns to play 1B, he'll be just fine.

Cap Peterson lives! Great post name there.
We're obviously try to bait the hook for trades with LoDuca, Estrada, FLopez and others. And given their stats, I say, good luck with that.

So our infield goes:

SS: Guzman, first string
2B: Lopez, second string (should be Belliard)
3B: Belliard, third string (missing Zim, Boone)
1B: Lo Duca, fourth string (missing Nick, DY, Boone)

But on the bright side we have all four catchers now, so I guess it balances out.

This reminds me of the old Fred MacMurray/Doris Day movie, Too Many Catchers.

Gearing up for the trading season!

Estrada right now seems to be the bat off the bench in late innings. LoDuca is only being played to display his versatility to possible suitors. Flores and Nieves are the No. 1 and No. 2 catchers, though Nieves' playing time may suffer until either LoDuca or Estrada (hopefully both) are elsewhere.

Any chance this has something to do with options? I'll admit that my understanding of these transactions is limited, but is this a realistic scenario?:

If Zim's on the verge of being recalled but still needs a couple of games, we wouldn't want to mess with a youngster for a couple of days. But yo-yo-ing Estrada doesn't matter... bring him up as a (*ahem*) bat off the bench for the ATL series, then recall Zim and demote/release Estrada. The FO wouldn't spell it out publicly out of respect for Johnny, but I have no such qualms...

Can someone who knows this stuff confirm or refute this possibility? If it's not this, I can't think of a single realistic possibility, other than JBow's lost it.

I hope this is resolved in the next two weeks. Is Young day to day? Zim being activated this weekend was the front end of the predicition. The back end is, I believe August 1.

Balance is a good word for it. I think there is a rule in the Nats operating manual that when one overweight DH is either forced into the field or suffering a muscle strain, the Nats must activate another of a similar weight / athletic grace class to serve as "the bat off the bench."
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So our infield goes:

SS: Guzman, first string
2B: Lopez, second string (should be Belliard)
3B: Belliard, third string (missing Zim, Boone)
1B: Lo Duca, fourth string (missing Nick, DY, Boone)

But on the bright side we have all four catchers now, so I guess it balances out.

Posted by: joebleux | July 18, 2008 3:53 PM

how much longer will boone be on the DL? any news about him?? what about dmitri's health?

The worst thing about all our catchers is we can't really play them at different positions, since two of them can't stop balls when they're thrown directly at them.

should we really call estrada a catcher or just call him the "switch-hitting pinch hitter..."

Does the front office do better during the in-season trade season or the MLB 2008 Draft?
We'll know by 8/15.

Of Flores, Nieves, Estrada, and Lo Duca, who can play other positions? Is it just Lo Duca?

Do you [gender nonspecific] folks think the lineup should feature Belly at first and Lopez at second? Is the idea of Lopez in the lineup more palatable than seeing Lo Duca at first?

Last Spring, Casto was taking grounders at first to help improve his chances of cracking the big league roster. Would you risk giving him a shot there?

I wonder how many other teams in the history of baseball have ever carried 4 catchers at the All Star break?
I would bet: NONE!
That means JimBow is either an innovative genius or the GWBush of GM's.

4 catchers!

Lo Duca does NOT play other positions. Occasionally he stands between the left field line and the center fielder, while other times he stands near the first base bag. But he certainly does not play either LF or 1B any more than you or I do. He's a spectator with on-field seats.

"Drunk girls in boots? I can dig that."

Kasten, can you get on that one please? Maybe call them the Red Hot and Blue girls. They can lead the crowd in signing Kearns' batting song.

"But he certainly does not play either LF or 1B any more than you or I do. He's a spectator with on-field seats."

Note to Jim Bowden, I will do this for only $5

why don't the nats just release fatstrada? he's been paid more than half his salary for the year, which has been a total waste of money for the team. but if jimbow can't trade him, fatstrada will probably be here sucking up a roster space and at-bats until he's released the day after the season mercifully ends. jimbow, your catching is set next year with flores and nieves. please don't bring in another washed-up backstop like ex-red jason larue for "veteran presence," okay?

Is it time for baseball yet? I'm STARVING!

cf willie harris
lf paul lo duca
ss cristian guzman
rf austin kearns
1b dmitri young
2b ronnie belliard
c johnny estrada
3b kory casto
p tim redding

I'm awaiting my fix of baseball, too, but having Estrada back up doesn't exactly jazz me. I understand it's probably for the purpose of showcasing him, but still . . . . Will this mean even less playing time for Nieves? And 4 minor league affiliates?? Could we just trade JimBo and half the active roster for Theo Epstein?

new post

I'M READY WILLING AND ABLE.

I was going to play "guess the lineup", but somebody beat me to it. My only change(s) would be Flores in at C for Estrada, and Belly to 3B/Casto to LF/LoDuca to 1B if DaMeat is still having problems.

Carrying 4 catchers is ridiculous, especially when 3 of them can't play anywhere else. I think its just a matter of time before nieves goes back to AAA and we re-call someone like Schroeder or Sanches to give our relievers a break.

Despite that being like throwing gas on a fire. Maybe we bring up someone like Mock or Clippard and have them be long-men or 7th inning guys instead of throwing Colome and/or Ayala and their 5.00+ eras out there.