Washington Nationals: In Or Out On Chris Young, Or A Mystery Team Again?

ESPN.com's Buster Olney's tweet (@Buster_ESPN) last night about hearing that free agent right-hander Chris Young is nearing a decision on a home for the 2011 season with the, "Mets interested, of course," while the,"Nats may be in play," brought to mind a recent article by Washington Post writer Thomas Boswell entitled, "Adam LaRoche signing shows Washington Nationals now know nothing is free", on the Nationals' inability to land the top targets they've pursued this winter, in which Mr. Boswell described how now that everyone knows the Nats have money to spend, "When a player seeks leverage," in negotiations, "his people hint that the Nats are the mystery team chasing him." 

The 31-year-old right-hander made one start in April last season, but suffered setbacks in his recovery from shoulder issues/surgery that have limited the one time Pirates, Rangers and Padres' starter to 18 starts over the last two seasons. Young returned to make three starts in September, but in a recent article by SI.com's Jon Heyman entitled, "Angels top teams with shopping left to do before spring training", the writer reported that, "Word is, his medicals don't look great, but he's said to be willing to accept a guarantee under $2 million." The Nats did reportedly pursue former D-Backs' ace Brandon Webb in spite of his history of shoulder woes, but he decided to sign with the Texas Rangers and they signed soon-to-be 31-year-old Chien-Ming Wang, whose own shoulder issues have limited him to 12 appearances since 2009, after paying the right-hander to rehab throughout the entire 2010 campaign. 

The Nationals may in fact be interested in the veteran right-hander who's averaged 12 wins, 3.5 BB/9, 7.8 K/9 and 189.0 innings pitched per 162 games played over seven major league seasons, or the Nats may be getting used again by a free agent looking to get the best deal he can out of a divisional rival...Do the Nationals need another potential starter with shoulder issues? If it will only cost $2M, is it worth the risk?