Washington Nationals: We Want Ian Desmond At Short, Nationals Might Want Cristian Guzman.

• As they've gone about building up the myth of DC GM Mike Rizzo's leak-free Front Office, the Washington Nationals have shown, in the last twelve months, a tendency to choose the in-house candidates that were available to them whenever personnel decisions have arisen, with "Acting" GM Mike Rizzo elevated to permanent GM status, skipper Jim Riggleman given the full-time gig, and now, if a report by MLB.com's Bill Ladson is true, shortstop Cristian Guzman being given back his starting job at short as the Nationals pursue two second basemen in an offseason filled with aggressive free agent signings (and one aggressive swing)...

Mr. Ladson reports, in an article tellingly entitled, "Guzman could stay at short", that in spite of stories which surfaced before the '09 season even ended, the Nationals have decided against a plan to ask Guzman to switch from the left side of the infield to the right, since they've chosen, as Mr. Ladson writes, to, "...try hard to acquire (Orlando) Hudson or (Adam) Kennedy."

BACKPAGE: 

• WE WANT DESMOND!!

• What's John Henry's Problem...Oh, Actually I Agree.

BACKPAGE:

• WE WANT DESMOND!!

• What this ultimately means for Ian Desmond is unclear, but it would seem to signal that the 24-year-old shortstop is Syracuse-bound. But don't tell Desmond that. All along, the beat writers following the Nationals have referred to a difference of opinion that exists between an unnamed member of the Nationals' Front Office, who thinks, as MLB.com's Bill Ladson wrote the other day in an article entitled, "Desmond ready to take over at shortstop", that, "Desmond needs a half season in the Minors before making another appearance at Nationals Park," and Jim Riggleman, who has started all winter that he'd be happy to go ahead with Desmond as the team's starter at short, since, in Mr. Ladson's words, "...(Riggleman) loves Desmond's energy on the field." Desmond's opinion? (As quoted in Mr. Ladson's article):

"'I feel I'm confident about my abilities to play. I think I bring a lot to a team,' Desmond said. "I feel like I play hard and bring passion to the game. I feel like I'm a pretty translucent guy. You get what you see. I pretty much put everything out there. ... I want to be up in the big leagues all year. I think they have something special going on.'"

(ed. note - "We Want Desmond!!")

• LINK: Washington Post writer Chico Harlan breaks out the stats for a Desmond vs Hudson Nationals Journal post entitled, "Weighing the middle infield options".

• What's John Henry's Problem...Oh, Actually I Agree.

• If you haven't, you should read MASNSports.com's Ben Goessling's article on the decision by Major League Baseball and the MLBPA which, "...will require the Marlins--one of the biggest beneficiaries of baseball's revenue sharing program--to increase their payroll until their new ballpark opens in 2012." 

• The Marlins operated with a league-low $36+ million dollar payroll in 2009 and some owners, most vocally Boston Red Sox' owner John Henry, who exchanged emails with Boston Globe staff writer Nick Carfado for 12/1/09 article entitled, "Sox owner wants to overhaul MLB's revenue sharing system", are looking to "overhaul and replace" the league's "competitive balance payroll tax" because of the actions of a group of owners who run, in Mr. Henry's words, "...seven chronically uncompetitive teams, five of whom have had baseball’s highest operating profits..." who've profited from the revenue rather than reinvesting the funds generated to, in theory, (and name I guess) allow for competitive balance between big and small market major league teams.

• Boston owner John Henry goes on to say, in Boston Globe writer Nick Carfado's article, that baseball needs to change more than just its revenue sharing plan:

"Henry wrote that baseball 'needs slotting for amateurs, a worldwide amateur draft and most importantly, an effective competitive balance tax that directly addresses disparity once and for all for baseball.'"

• Some Federal Baseball.com regulars will be disappointed to know that OF Jorge Padilla is now officially gone, having been signed by the Toronto Blue Jays.