Astacio acquired
Last weekend, representatives of the Nationals met with pitcher Pedro Astacio's agents about a 1 year deal, but word on the street after the meetings was that the two sides were far apart on dollar figures. It seems to have fallen under the radar, but the deal was agreed to on Monday and Astacio passed his physical on Wednesday, officially making him a member of the Nats for 2006. According to Frank Robinson, the signing of Astacio puts the team back to where they were before it was discovered that Brian Lawrence would be out for the season.
Astacio has spent most of his roller coaster career in the National League and was quite impressive after he was acquired by the Padres mid-season last year, posting a 3.17 ERA in 59.7 IP. The ballpark factor may have weighed in here, with PETCO being known as a pitcher's park, though Astacio had some success in Colorado for a few years too.
At 36 and coming off his first full season since having shoulder surgery in 2003, Astacio is a risk. But it appears that he was had for $700,000–quite a bit less than the $2-3 million he was reportedly seeking. I'm feeling thankful that Bowden didn't try to sweeten the deal with more cash. Now, let's see what Pedro can do for us!
