Nationals signed first baseman Dmitri Young to a two-year contract extension through 2009.
It still looks like a mistake, though it's one without any huge consequences. The Nationals aren't going to come up short on any free agent bids this winter because they're paying $5 million per year to Young. It would seem to block Kory Casto, but Casto hasn't come close to fulfilling expectations in Triple-A this year and is looking more like a long-term reserve now anyway. Young shouldn't be counted on to play in more than 100-120 games next year if he's readlly going to be playing left field, but he'll probably be reasonably productive when he's in the lineup, even if another 900 OPS is quite a long shot.