Going into the off-season, I said that the Nats biggest deficiency was in center field. Nyjer Morgan imploded last year and while he wasn't a lost cause, he was far from a sure thing. Roger Bernadina lacks the defensive IQ to play mediocre center field, so the Nats chose this as their backup plan.
Ankiel is a great story and a great guy. This is his best selling point as this point of his career. He doesn't hit well enough to be a full time player, and he can't quite cover enough ground to be anything but an average CF on his better days. The K rates are too high, and the OBP slots him as a 7-8 hitter, of which the Nats have an abundance.
Bottom line- somebody must have REALLY thought Nyjer Morgan was going to be a Elijah Dukes-like nuisance in the clubhouse to abandon ship 5 days till opening day.
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Honestly I think Ankiel is just a holding spot until the Nats figure out if Corey Brown is the real deal. And he may be. Lefty, center fielder, 20-20 numbers in the minors with good OBP. Sounds like a better version of Nyger Morgan frankly.
ReplyDeleteBut I completely agree with you about CF/leadoff being a tough position for us all off season. When Boston acquired Crawford I thought we should have made a play for Ellsbury (http://www.nationalsarmrace.com/?p=455). Of course, I thought Crawford was going to play center for them. Colby Rasmus was another interesting name (but he seems to have patched things up with LaRussa).
Harper playing center field might be the best solution. But we gotta wait a few years there.