Closing the Book on Logan Kensing

Not nearly as dramatic as the Elijah Dukes firing, Logan Kensing was also sent packing. Kensing was one of the most frustrating Nationals to watch last season. He was claimed from Florida to bolster the leaky bullpen. After several dicey outings, he was sent to Syracuse, where he dominated. Enough so, Rizzo gave him a second audition in July when all the other young pitchers were ailing. He was better, but failed not only to match his form with the Marlins, but even to go more than a few outings without torching the stadium like Jim Brown in "The Running Man."

Prior to Tommy John surgery in 2006, Kensing had been a solid starting option in the minor leagues. In preparation for bringing him up to the big club and a young, crowded rotation, they converted him to a reliever. That is when the elbow issues arose. After recovering from the surgery, Marlins management never moved him back into a starting role, and he became labeled as a reliever. He never really developed the control required to consistently get major league hitters out, but always appeared to be better than replacement level...

Until last season.

Honestly, I don't know where the strikeouts went, but with out the ability to get one per inning to offset the 4+ BB/9, he was doomed. Maybe 2009 was an aberration, but starting off slow didn't help his cause. The front office knows he is capable of crushing the International League, and unless they were going to allow him time to try his hand at starting again (not the worst idea), he offered little value to the 2010 Nats.

Put Up Your Dukes

Or put them down.

Or just cut them off.

Once again, Dukes was a Jim Bowden experiment that never really exploded in everyone's face. He just sat there simmering like a dormant volcano. His numbers had regressed, as had his patience. There was a slight injury history. If Rizzo felt there was any chance Dukes was not cemented in as the right fielder, he should have tried to move him. Instead, Dukes reported late to camp, started slow, and voila, Justin Maxwell will likely be the answer to a trivia question.

Releasing Dukes is not a WRONG decision. Clearly he has shortcomings that prohibit him from becoming a great baseball player. This is not Matt Kemp that the Nats are giving up on. The Nats clearly feel that he was closer to Austin Kearns than Matt Kemp, so he wasn't worth the investment. The WRONG decision was to not invest in a corner outfielder (whether by free agency or trading for a prospect) to fill the void if this was a possibility.

Sure, Maxwell showed a pulse in September, Morse has a decent bat, and Bernadina is a blank slate. None of those guys, even at their best, is as good as average Elijah Dukes. It is possible that Dukes' value diminished when he failed as a center fielder, but there are several teams in the market for a corner outfielder that would have given up a C+/B prospect for him. And that is way better than the headline "Dukes Cut."