Dmitri Young Looks to Stick His Meat Hook in the Nationals

With Nick Johnson out of action as he recovers from his gruesome injury late last season, the Nats are in search of a first baseman to pick up the slack. Many assume it will be Larry Broadway, but a new candidate has emerged. Well, he's not so new ... you've heard of him. Ladies and gentlemen I give you: Da Meat Hook.

The 33-year-old was signed to a minor-league, non-guaranteed contract on Feb. 24. He is a career .289 hitter with 154 home runs and 599 RBI in a 10-year career that has included stints in St. Louis, Cincinnati and Detroit.
"We haven't made any plans yet," Nationals manager Manny Acta told reporters in Viera. "This is a special occasion because of the split squad and the need of players, so we're going to give him the first look. He's still just getting in physical shape and we'll go from there."

Asked what kind of shape he's in Thursday night, Young simply said, "Baseball shape."

"Baseball shape" is a nice way of reminding you that round is a shape.

So is that minor league contract going to become a major league one?

"Whenever Bowden is ready to pull the trigger," he said.

I worry for Jim Bowden. Could Dmitri Young be the next player to leap over a desk and punch him? He would immediately move to even money to do so. Baseball shape or not, I would think that Meat Hook could do some serious damage ... that is, if he can make it over the desk.