Are the Nats now at the point where they're only a bench player away from going over the top?
No?
Then until that's the case... and the team has shown improvement in the areas that actually hurt it the worst i.e. leadoff/CF... of course a bench signing is not going to be praised as a genius signing.
No one is saying it's a genius signing, we're saying it isn't a bad signing.
Now if it's the only thing the Nats do this year, then yes, of course it's disappointing, to say the least, but it still wouldn't be a bad signing.
