fat EMO kid baseball blog

The Nationals have finally done the right thing and named Mike Rizzo to be their full-time GM after operating on an interim basis since before the season began.   Rizzo has been able to do what Jim Bowden failed to do, make meaningful moves that have brought Washington close to respectability.  Rizzo has reconstucted a sorry pitching staff, and now features a decent young rotation led by John Lannan, Craig Stammen and Colin Balester.  Add to that the signing of Steven Strausburg, and there’s finally some hope for the future.  The only downside is the loss of promising right-hander Jordan Zimmerman to Tommy John Surgery. 

Rizzo has also remade the bullpen, which couldn’t close a door, let alone a game, to start the season.  Re-tread veterans like Mike MacDougal, Ron Villone, and Jorge Sosa has brought some measure of consistency to the ‘pen. 

Rizzo’s biggest move was the trade with Pittsburgh that landed Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett for banished outfielder Lastings Milledge and struggling closer Joel Hanrahan.  It may be a one-year wonder, but Morgan is tearing up the National League, and Burnett has given Washington a nice situational lefty. 

They may only be 43-77 and destined for another last-place finish, but there is finally some reason for optimization in the Nation’s Capitol, and Rizzo seems to be the right man for the job.

Finally, the huge trade we have been waiting for! Forget Roy Halladay, the Yankees have acquired 4-10 Chad Gaudin from the Padres. Well, I guess he can’t be any worse than Meat-tray, whom we will probably never hear from again.

Actually, this is a decent move for the Yankees. They only give up a PTBN, and get a 26-year old starter with 105 K’s in 105 innings, and a decent track record, most notably his 3 years in Oakland. The downside? A 26-year old who is now on his sixth big-league team means he’s doing something to piss off someone.

In other trade news, the Mets re-acquired Anderson Hernandez from the Nationals for a minor leaguer, and the Nationals acquired both Daryle Ward and Norris Hopper from the White Sox. In even more news, zzzzzzzzzzz.

A sad day all around for the Cincinnati Reds, as hall-of-fame writer Hal McCoy has announced he will retire from the Dayton Daily News, while Reds management has given Dusty Baker a vote of confidence for 2010 and beyond. I’ll let you decide which one of those is worse news for baseball.

Back now to the yankees/sox, I’ll check back in another 4-5 hours when it’s over.