Dimitri Young may be close to signing a two-year extension (nationals.com) with the Nats. Nationals Journal says it would be in the neighborhood of $2 million a year. At that price, I think it is a decent decision. Still, I am skeptical of a few things:

• I’m not a SABR guy, but until this year his stats were trending down. Prior to this season, he last hit near .300 in 2003. This year is an abberation. If he can hit near .300 though, he’ll prove valuable.
• He is a DH stuck playing first in the NL.

There are some positives though:

• Clubhouse popularity
• Isn’t Larry Broadway or Kory Casto
• Has outgoing, fun-loving personality that could make him the first really marketable African-American player the Nats have had. If I’m Stan Kasten, I’d have Young giving a lot of face time to diabetes related foundations and D.C. neighborhood groups and schools.

It will be interesting to see what happens, perhaps there will be a news conference this afternoon around 4 p.m.