Austin Kearns' career with Nats likely over
It looks like outfielder Austin Kearns will never play another game for the Nationals. He is still recovering from a right thumb contusion and can only grip a bat, according to general manager Mike Rizzo.
The last time Kearns played a game for Washington was in early August against the Pirates.
"Unless something unexpectedly happens, we probably will not see him again," Rizzo said. "He just started gripping exercises and then it will go to taking balls off the tee, dry swings. So it's a long process from where he is at."
Once the season is over, the Nationals will not pick up Kearns' $10 million option, making him a free agent.
Kearns is one of the biggest disappointments in Nationals history. He came to Washington with a lot of hype after then -general manager Jim Bowden acquired him from the Reds in July of 2006.
The former GM predicted that Kearns would hit 40 home runs and drive in over 100 runs in a season, but that was never the case. Kearns best season with the Nationals was in 2007, when he hit .266 with 16 home runs and 74 RBIs. A lot of experts felt he was too vulnerable to inside pitches.
Injuries took there toll on Kearns during the next two seasons. He played only 86 games in 2008 because of elbow and foot problems.
This season was the worst season of his career, hitting .195 with three home runs and 17 RBIs.
"one of the biggest disappointments in Nationals history", that's a little harsh, what about the entire defense of this season, or Manny Acta, or Willie Mo Pena, or Elijiah Dukes, or Alfonso Soriano's drama or Scott Olsen, or Nick Johson getting hurt every season, or trading Jose Vidro, or not signing last years first pick, etc etc etc
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"one of the biggest disappointments in Nationals history", that's a little harsh, what about the entire defense of this season, or Manny Acta, or Willie Mo Pena, or Elijiah Dukes, or Alfonso Soriano's drama or Scott Olsen, or Nick Johson getting hurt every season, or trading Jose Vidro, or not signing last years first pick, etc etc etc
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That's not harsh. It's the truth. Think about all the hype he received once he arrived in Washington. Besides Bowden, other media outlets in Washington made him out to be a superstar. He wasn't close to being a superstar. If I didn't cover Kearns, I would have thought he was the living legend and king of all time based on all the postive publicity he received over the years.
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I certainly agree with Mr Bill. Going back a few years to another big dissapointment, I always got the feeling that as soon as Fernando Tatis signed his big contract on St Louis and then got traded to the Expos, he stopped working. Maybe he was hurt; I think he got rich and didn't care. The only way Austin Kearns becomes a ballplayer again is if he gets hungry (in the literal sense) and needs to work to get a new contract to survive. I wouldn't be surprised at this point if Austin Kearns retires.
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