Laser Eye Surgery

... Meanwhile, Barry Larkin, a special assistant to general manager Jim Bowden, made his first appearance at camp yesterday.

Larkin, who was a 12-time All-Star with his hometown Cincinnati Reds, brings his expertise to the Nationals' shortstops.

"I'm here to help if [Guzman] wants my help," Larkin said.

"I know he's got a good one [in Clayton] behind him, and competition is good.

I think it's going to make everybody elevate their game." Larkin, who lives about an hour away in Orlando, said he doesn't have a set schedule to work with the club's shortstops and will come and go throughout camp.

The Nationals signed the 15-year veteran Clayton as an insurance policy in case Guzman has a repeat of last season.

Larkin carefully watched Guzman in the batting cage and was unable to tell whether he has altered his swing.

"This is the first time that we're seeing him hit," Larkin said.

"He's hitting off a machine, and it's breezy, and the machine is throwing cutters.

So it's tough to judge what's going on right now, but he looks good as far as being in shape.

He's lost some weight and has a good attitude.

I joked with him about what happened last year, and he laughed about it.

It's a good start." When the Nationals signed Clayton to a nonguaranteed minor league contract, it was understood by all parties involved that Clayton, who hit .270 with two homers, 28 doubles and 4...

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... Baseball Toaster : Just A Bit Outside : The Glass is Half-Full, Dammit Log in Help The Glass is Half-Full, Dammit 2006-02-24 06:45 by Erik Siegrist An email exchange with legendary South American film star Bruno Puntz-Jones dredged up one of those stray thoughts I have every once in a while.

You know the ones...

they seem completely brilliant for about two seconds, and then a minute later you can't even remember what they were...

insert THC joke here.

Anyway, Bruno asked about the chances of Cristian Guzman having a rebound season.

The Washington Post paints a rosy picture of him early in the spring, even going so far as to trot out a Field of Dreams nod for him, and not of the "Guzman hits like a little girl choking on a piece of hot dog" variety.

Check.

Reporting to camp trim and in great shape?

Check.

Motivated, with a steely glint in his eye?

Check.

Obligatory reference to the only decent few weeks he had in 2005, which just happened to come at the end of the year?

Check.

Bruno's question reminded me of one of those tiny little epiphanies of mine.

Why is it that baseball observers seem more inclined to give players the benefit of the doubt after a breakout season than they do after a breakdown season?

If you're willing to look on the bright side of a positive career outlier, and think that maybe it's the start of a new plateau instead of just a spike, shouldn't you also be the kind of person who looks at a negative career outlier and see...