Distinguished Senators: What to do about Guz?

By trying to talk Barry Larking out of retirement, Jim Bowden has essentially admitted that he blew it in signing Cristian Guzman. But aren't there other alternatives?

I've been waiting pretty much since the day he was hired for Jim Bowden to admit he sucks. It's a lot to ask, I know, but he's finally done it. Alert Nats fans may have noticed that Cristian Guzman didn't start last night, sitting in favor of Jamey Carroll. Guz wasn't injured, and it wasn't a senior moment from Frank Robinson. It was totally on purpose.

"It comes to a point where, for me, we're struggling and we need offense wherever we can get it," Robinson said of Guzman, who is hitting .189 after grounding out in a pinch-hit appearance last night. "You eliminate the weakest guy in your lineup."

That's not the end of it. Bodes continues to seek a replacement for his $16 million dollar extravagance.

Before last night's game against the Colorado Rockies at RFK Stadium, Bowden said he had called Nationals special assistant Barry Larkin to try and persuade the 12-time All-Star to come out of retirement and play for the rest of the season.

Bowden has realized -- and bear in mind that this is not a recent development -- that his big acquisition, allegedly a player you "build around," is so bad that he'd rather have a 41 year old who hasn't played in the better part of a year suit up. But the fact that it's Carroll replacing Guzman is an even more amazing development. I don't know if you've noticed, but Bodes seems to hate guys he hasn't acquired. Remember Brendan Harris? The Nats have done everything they could to keep him off the field. Baerga has the same portfolio as Harris (2B/3B) but is fat and slow and just generally embarrassing to justify to friends who are fans of other teams. It was decided that Jamey Carroll couldn't adequately fill in at second, but instead of giving Harris a chance, valuable starter/Frank casualty Tomo Ohka was jettisoned for a month of Junior Spivey. So poor Brendan is slaving away in New Orleans while anyone -- anyone -- Bodes brought on board gets to enjoy the limelight of the majors. So believe me when I say that it's a big damn deal that a guy whose performance can in no way make Bodes look good is playing instead of Guzman.

The rough part for Bowden is that this is his legacy. Let's look three years into the future, after Vinny Castilla retires and is elected Mayor of Mexico. After Jose Guillen is booted off his twelfth team for kicking the bat boy in the head. It's 2008, and the only remnant of the mercifully short Bowden Era is the pudgy, annoyed-looking shortstop enjoying his third season on the pine and making a cool $4 million doing it.

On a positive note, you have the Distinguished Senators guarantee that it's completely worth your while to look at this.