Now Osuna

Jim Bowden apparently likes ex-White Sox. Today, he signed free-agent reliever Antonio Osuna to a 1-year, $800,000 contract. Osuna had a stellar 2.46 ERA last year in 36 2/3 relief innings for the Padres. He even sported a 36/11 K/BB ratio, and allowed just 3 home runs. His contract is a very good one if he could repeat that performance.

Here's what I know about Osuna. He'll be 32 in April and, at times, has let his waistline expand somewhat. He features a good screwball, which allows him to be relatively effective against lefthanded hitters - his career stats show a similar batting average against for lefties and righties.

I also know that he's got a, well, interesting hairdo at times. Think Eriq LaSalle in Coming to America. I think he might have lost it recently, but you know it's in there, waiting to get out.

Note that the Nationals have signed three players this offseason - Osuna, Loaiza, and Castilla - who are all Mexican born. I've often thought that it would be interesting to see teams be stronger in terms of recruiting from specific countries - i.e., the White Sox and Venezuela - but I'm not sure if it's ever worked out that way.

Upside to these acquisitions - bigger audience for El Zol. [RIP, HFS].