Good Signings the Nationals Didn't Make

• Erik Bedard (1 year, $1.5m plus incentives up to $7m): Chances are, Bedard is broken and will never be fixed. But given the upside and the low risk, this is a shockingly good deal for Seattle. Again, Jack Z. runs circles around the competition.
• Greg Zaun (1 year, $2.175m): Better than Pudge for less.
• Yorvit Torrealba (1 year, $1.25m): Even more better than Pudge for half.
• Omar Vizquel (1 year, $1.375m): Still a fantastic gloveman. Would have been the guy to upgrade the middle infield defense for cheap, and we know he'd be fine sharing playing time with a prospect 20 years his younger, since that's what he did in Texas last year with Elvis Andrus.
• Jon Garland (1 year, $5.3m): A tad pricey for what he is, but that's just a comment on how far the market has fallen. He made over $36 million the four years before that, and it's not like he's in decline. Besides, any one-year deal for a solid 200-innings pitcher is a good value.
• Carl Pavano (1 year, $7m): Like Garland, this isn't really a big bargain, but it's a fair deal for a pitcher who would have filled in nicely for what the Nationals need.
• Justin Duchscherer (1 year, $2m): Maybe he wasn't willing to leave Oakland, and he's made of glass, but this is a great price for any pitcher with his upside.
• Khalil Greene (1 year, $750k): Price is right, and he'd make a good utility infielder, and he's only two years removed from a 27-HR season in Petco. In the meantime, he completely lost control of the strike zone, but it's not hard to imagine him winning CBOY and outplaying everyone in the Nationals' middle infield.
• Kevin Gregg (1 year, $2.75m): Better, cheaper than Matt Capps. Certainly better than Bruney, Walker, or (massive understatement alert) Eddie Guardado.
• Rich Harden (1 year, $7.5m): Another guy who's made of glass, but he's got overpowering strikeout stuff and is a solid risk-reward bet at this price. If nothing else, he'd be a lot more fun to watch pitch than J.D. Martin.
• Randy Winn (1 year, $2m): Still a very good defensive outfielder. Wouldn't fit on the Nationals roster at the moment, but if Justin Maxwell gets hurt again, or Willingham is traded, or Rizzo decides to banish Dukes again, Winn would be handy at least as a fourth outfielder.
• Doug Davis (1 year, $5.25m): Junkballer, not a bargain exactly, but another guy who would have given the Nationals a good veteran presence for a very reasonable price.
• Ryan Garko (1 year, $550k): Just an absolute steal for the M's at this price. He's a fine fielder, and he's a lefty-killer at the plate. Garko would have been a very nice fit as Dunn's backup at first, or a right-handed platoon partner (for let's say Russell Branyan?) if Willingham or Dunn were traded. BTW, do I love Jack Z.? Yes, I love him. I luff him. I lurve him. I'm so jealous of Seattle that I ask for "drip" when I order coffee.
• Tim Redding (minor league): I wouldn't want him in my top 5 on the depth chart, but he's certainly worth an invite to camp. I can't really see that he's lost much if anything since 2008.