The Outfield Squeeze

Today, it's pretty simple. Josh Willingham is starting in left, batting third. Austin Kearns is starting in right, batting fourth. None of the qualified corner outfielders is on the bench. Elijah Dukes and Adam Dunn didn't make the trip down here.

But for sure, how the Nats solve the outfield logjam is the biggest looming question of the spring. In theory, there is nothing wrong with having a surplus of talented outfielders who want playing time. In practice, it might be tougher, and I'm planning to flesh out the reasons for this for tomorrow's print story. More and more, it's looking like a trade is the only way to avoid some problems.

Today, I asked both Willingham and Kearns if they would be OK with roles with reduced playing time -- playing, say, two of every five games, or three of every five games.

Willingham said: "I'll answer that question if it happens. I won't answer it now. We'll see how I feel. But I know that's definitely not going to be alright with me."

Kearns said: "Well, I mean, I want to play. But I don't know what's going to happen. So we just have to see what goes on. I don't know. I don't know how you handle this. Because it's a tough job to try to keep everybody happy and get everybody at bats."

---

Ohbytheway Dept.: Sorry for forgetting to update you on the cuts. Reason you haven't heard about them is because they haven't happened yet. Acta said the next round of cuts will come either after tonight's game or tomorrow morning.