Jim Bowden has been a busy man this offseason. Since we last left the Nationals, they have acquired outfielder Elijah Dukes, infielder Aaron Boone, pitcher Tyler Clippard, and catcher Paul Lo Duca. They have also signed outfielder Wily Mo Pena to a one year deal. Betting that he can’t possibly have two horrible years in a row, the Nats have also signed outfielder Ryan “more strikeouts than total bases” Langerhans to a one year deal. Finally, the team has also picked up outfielder Garrett Guzman and infielder Matt Whitney in the Rule 5 draft.
The two big signings are Elijah Dukes and Paul Lo Duca. Dukes is a 23 year old prospect who has been suspended at least once in each of his professional seasons. In addition to a slew of other problems, his most notorious act was threatening his wife by voice mail and then sending a picture of a gun to her cell phone. Despite these problems, he is considered an exciting prospect. After winning “Comeback Player of the Year” last year, the Nationals are counting on Dmitri Young to mentor Dukes and to help him turn his life around.
Paul Lo Duca was the catcher for the Mets last year, and has been brought in help develop Jesus Flores. The team lost a lot of experience when they traded Brian Schneider to the Mets earlier. While Lo Duca is not as good a defensive catcher as Schneider, he is a marked improvement on offense, batting .288 for his career with a .338 OBP and .414 slugging compared to Schneider’s .323 OBP, .377 slugging, and .252 AVG. Lo Duca is also known as a gamer who wants to play every day, and is expected to be a strong leader in the clubhouse.
Aaron Boone, most famous for knocking the Red Sox out of 2003 ALCS, is expected to be the first player off the bench for Manny Acta. He can play every infield position and also adds experience to the young team. Pitcher Tyler Clippard made his major league debut with the Yankees last year, going 3-1 with a 6.33 ERA in 6 starts. Infielder Matt Whitney was named the 10th best prospect in the Carolina League by Baseball America. Outfielder Garrett Guzman was named to the Eastern League postseason All-Star team in 2007, and will be competing with Ryan Langerhans for the 5th outfield spot. We wish him the best of luck.
