Ten Games In

The vowel-less one wrote the story of the Nats' inevitable re-tooling of the roster today, as the Nats sent Brandon Watson and Wiki Gonzalez to the minors and totally recalled Ryan Church and Brendan Harris. ("Brandon." "Brendan.")

You knew they would eventually recall Church, but I didn't think it would be by Easter. So while Church definitely belongs on the roster vs. Brandon Watson, I'm still going to criticize this move.
Why? Because I'm pissed off that Bowden, et al. do not even have the courage of their convictions to let Brandon Watson play. If you want a speedy centerfielder on your team to serve as a leadoff man, Watson fits that mold. You aren't going to be able to judge his performance in that role in 10 games. There are any number of hitters starting poorly this year: Scott Podsednik, Rondell White, Mike Sweeney. No one thinks that the first ten games defines their ability to perform this year.

If Bowden and Robinson believed that Watson was ready for the major leagues, and that he was who they wanted in centerfield and the leadoff spot, they are making the wrong decision by assuming he can't fill that role based on 10 games. Another rookie centerfielder, Brian Anderson, is performing even worse, yet there isn't even a whiff that the White Sox are considering a change (but a 5-4 record makes it a bit easier for them to relax).

The bright side is that this desperation move indicates that, for some reason, the Nats' front office considers these April games especially meaningful and necessary to their futures. I think they think that new ownership will fire them absent a 2005-like team that stays in contention. Given that this team is not going to stay in contention, I hope they are right.