Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Ladson on September Call-ups

Bill Ladson takes a look at who the Nats are likely to call up on September 1. He states the Nationals could call up as many as 10 players. The obvious and oft-discussed candidate, 3B Ryan Zimmerman is one. Ladson drops this bit of knowledge regarding Zimmerman:

"Zimmerman is likely to be the regular third baseman once he is promoted."
Let me be one of the first to say, God I hope this is true. If Bowden is bound and determined to bring up Zimmerman, he needs to play every single game. Regardless of how Frank feels about it. There is no reason to add him to the 40-man roster to sit on the bench.

Ladson also mentions outfielders Brandon Watson, Kenny Kelly and Tyrell Godwin and reliever Bill Bray. That makes five, who could be the other five guys?

  • [#6] Odds are Jason Bergmann will be back after more than likely being sent down today to open up a spot for Deivi Cruz
  • [#7] Ryan Church will return from the DL in about a week
  • [#8] A third catcher would be another likely choice (Keith Osik or Hector Ortiz are with New Orleans)
  • [#9 & 10] Matt White, Rick Short, and Brendan Harris would be the most likely candidates

The inclusion of Zimmerman, Kelly, and Bray (not to mention the near certainty the Nats add a 3rd catcher) raise an interesting question: Who is going off of the 40-man to make room for those four? Moving Jon Rauch, Ryan Drese, and Junior Spivey to the 60-day DL is a possibility. But that only accounts for three spots. There guys who could be outrighted a la Danny Rueckel: Josh Karp, Darrell Rasner, and Matt White or Rick Short, if not called up. The next few days will be interesting

No comments: