BaseballTalkOnline.com

Manny Acta met with Felipe Lopez and Dmitri young late Friday night, telling them that they would both begin the season on the bench. The news essentially locks Nick Johnson and Ronnie Belliard in as the team’s starting first and second baseman to open the season.

“Obviously those were not easy decisions,” Acta said, “but as I mentioned before that’s a sign of progress here, when you have guys that have been all-stars being on the bench. Basically we feel that Nick Johnson is back to where he was two years ago [from] what we saw in camp. We went with it. We had a very good meeting with Dmitri Young. It wasn’t easy. You’re telling the guy who was the comeback player of the year … that he was going to be on the bench, but he understood. None of these guys are going to be buried on the bench anyways. It’s a long season and they’re going to have a chance, too.”

With Lopez’s ability to play both second and shortstop, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to still see him get a lot of playing time between the two positions. When putting Christian Guzman, Ronnie Belliard and Felipe Lopez side by side, there’s not much of a talent differential there, actually, Lopez is probably the most talented of the three.

Young will have a tougher time seeing the playing field as long as Johnson can remain healthy. Young had a fantastic year last year, but in reality, it’s the type of year that people expect out of Johnson. To push Johnson off the field, Young would have to have an even better year in limited playing time in 2008. I’m sure they’ll both split some time, with Young playing against some of the tougher lefties, as they try to build one’s trade value and attempt to trade him at the trade deadline.

Filed under: Dmitri Young, Felipe Lopez, Nick Johnson, Ronnie Belliard, Washington Nationals