Jose Guillen - Me Likey

Okay, so Jose Guillen can be a bit of a nutjob. He got thrown off the Angels after screaming at Mike Scioscia for taking him out for a pinch runner. But I'm a forgive and forget kind of Christian, especially when the nutjob puts up a .294/.352/.497 line in the outfield and has a cannon for an arm and will make a Vinny-Castilla-esque $3.5 million next year. We are talking a Good Jim Bowden deal here. Moneyball factor - 3.5 balls out of 4.

Dexys, you've still got my copy of Moneyball. I do want that back.

Guillen's also 28 years old, meaning that he's still well in his prime. He was pretty piss-poor in the years 1997-2002, but came around in 2003 and maintained a pretty productive level in 2004. Moreover, Juan Rivera and the other player are just a few pieces of silver.

Here's the truth - the Angels wanted him out, and Bowden accommodated them, without overpaying. This is a good deal for the Nats.

Dexys, your lineup looks a lot better with:

LF - Sledge, CF - Wilkerson, RF - Guillen, 3B - Castilla, SS - Guzman, 2B - Vidro, 1B - Johnson, C- Schneider.

Thumbs up, Jim Bowden. We're off the treading water and now we've got our water wings moving in the right direction.

P.S., Curiousity of the day - why is it that when you search on "Guillen" at Baseball-Reference.com, Rey Ordonez pops up on the list? [OK, I obviously didn't see Don Money's post. Truly bizarre.]