25th Man?

Surely Bill Ladson, scribe of the front office's house organ, wouldn't flat out lie to us? If Rocket Bill is to be believed, Brendan Harris has a future with the Nationals. Pravda DC has the scrappy, dare I say Carrollesque infielder competing for a bench spot in 2006.

After leading the Nats Arizona Fall League team with a .376 average, Harris batted .500 (6-12) over 5 games for Team USA in Olympic qualifying competition. A strong fall season at the plate, combined with error-free fielding at 2B, 3B and SS revived the Nats interest in Brendan, who fell off the team's radar after a rough 2005 spring training. Harris got a short cup of coffee with the big team this year, going 3-9 with a pinch hit homer, but if there's a Flying Spaghetti Monster in Heaven he'll play a much larger role in 2006.

Sadly, a larger role for Brendan is equivalent to another nail in Jamey Carroll's coffin. I hold out hope that Jamey will accept a one-year contract to be the Nats roving bunting instructor until such time as we can trade Marlon Anderson to a team that can afford a million dollar lefty pinch hitter.