Guzman, Cristian

Prior to the 2005 season, the Montreal Expos decided they needed to bring in a couple of players for their fans as they moved to Washington to become the Nationals. One of those players was Cristian Guzman. It was an odd signing, $16 million dollars over four years for a player who had gotten on base south of .300 as many times as north, with only a single season above .311. Contrast this with Felipe Lopez, coming off a season where he hit above .300 (he's hit .320 since leaving the Nationals a couple of seasons ago) and got on-base at a .383 rate. His take? one year for a couple of million. Guzman stunk his first season with the Nationals, getting on-base an almost unbelievable .260, yet still sent out for 142 games. And then, mercifully, he got injured.

The player that came back was unrecognizable. In 2007 and 2008 Guzman got on-base at a .380 and a still respectable .345 while batting well over .300. And then, in a reverse of the classic sci-fi movie, the aliens brought back the real Cristian and in 2009 Guzman walked a grand total of 16 times in 555 plate appearances with a sub .700 OPS.

Little wonder the Nationals are considering using Ian Desmond as their starter if he shows even the slightest life this spring - and as of this writing he is. We don't have a ton of confidence in Desmond sustaining success this season, but we don't want Guzman if he can be avoided. .270-30-3-25-2. 250ABs