On a day the Nationals needed to make one roster move, they instead overhaul 12-percent of their roster. Here's the shakeup:

Going down.
LHP Matt Chico
RHP Chris Schroeder

Coming up
OF Ryan Langerhans
RHP Brian Sanches
LHP Charlie Manning

Don't think many saw this coming. Jim Bowden has been known to blast his roster every now and then, but this hardly counts as some message-sending movement to youth. All three newcomers, until they prove otherwise, look like career minor leaguers. Average age: 28.7. So NJers -- we're still waiting for the Maxwell/Daniel Promotion. Instead we get the Bang Zoom Go the Fireworks Promotion.

Here are some quick facts on the guys coming up.

Langerhans
* 28 years old
* had 162 ABs with the Nats last season, hitting .198
* career MLB average: .233

Sanches
* 29 years old
* appeared briefly in each of last two seasons with Philadelphia
* all-time 5.75 ERA in majors, spanning 30 games
* signed by Nats as minor-league free agent on Dec. 21

Manning
* 29 years old
* never appeared in majors
* signed by Nats as minor league free agent on Dec. 18

If you're looking for some promise here, each of these guys has been putting up promotion-worthy numbers with the Clips. A .306 average for Langerhans. A 1.95 ERA for Manning. And check out Sanches's numbers -- he has a 0.98 ERA in 18-1/3 innings. His WHIP, more amazing, is 0.65.

By Chico Harlan  |  May 23, 2008; 3:35 PM ET
Share This:  E-Mail | Technorati | Del.icio.us | Digg | Stumble Previous: Shawn Hill's life story (and others) in six words
Next: Lineups, Bowden, and a solid outing for Dr. Tim Kremchek at the surgeon's table

The comments to this entry are closed.