Nationals Notebook
Kearns Will Boost Defense In the Outfield
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Friday, July 4, 2008
CINCINNATI, July 3 -- Measured by its offense, the latest set of everyday Washington outfielders offers no assurances. Roger Bernadina still is trying to hit major league pitching with an apparent Class AA bat, and Austin Kearns, who returned Thursday from the disabled list, now has 1 1/2 months of inactivity attached to his early-season batting slump.
But no matter what happens offensively, Manager Manny Acta knows this much: Kearns's return has helped Washington unlock its best defensive outfield in years. With Kearns in right field, Acta will use Bernadina in center and Elijah Dukes in left.
"Kearns is proven over there. Dukes is a tremendous athlete, and Bernadina, that's his strength; it's never been a question about his defense," Acta said. "Those are three good athletes out there who can cover some ground and throw and do the right thing back there."
Rijo Welcomes Investigation
A federal investigation trying to bring order to the sometimes lawless world of Latin American scouting is looking into the Nationals organization -- along with every other team in baseball, said José Rijo, a front office assistant in charge of Latin American operations. Rijo said Thursday that the team is guilty of no wrongdoing: "Yeah," he said emphatically, "we better be innocent."
He also spoke in favor of the investigation, saying that scouting in Latin America needs more thorough regulation.
"That's the only way you're going to clean things up and protect those kids," Rijo said. "And I think it's something that needed to be done a long time ago. I'm on board with that. It's a great thing for baseball, especially for the Dominican Republic. They are finally going to protect the players more now."
Earlier this season, the Chicago White Sox fired three front office workers after determining violations that reportedly involved the skimming of bonus payments to prospects. A Major League Baseball spokesman declined comment, saying that it was a matter of federal investigation.
