UPDATE: Baseball Digest Daily is reporting that the Nationals have signed Belliard to a non-guaranteed minor-league contract. RotoWorld says he’ll earn $750K upon making the team. A disappointing result for the second baseman.
It looks like the best Ron Belliard might be able to manage is a backup infielder role with the Nationals. The club is eyeing him for their bench, though they probably wouldn’t pay more than a million or two. Belliard had lousy luck, reaching free agency in a year with a surplus of second basemen.
If signed, Belliard would back up Felipe Lopez at second and Ryan Zimmerman at third. It’s not a hopeless situation for him, though. As Bill Ladson says, Lopez could shift back to short if Cristian Guzman is awful again or is dealt. This might be Belliard’s best shot at regular duty.
Earlier this month, Belliard was named in a federal extortion case.
