On Wednesday, Jon Heyman tweeted thusly: "energetic young ian desmond will win #nationals shortstop job, i hear. guzman will be utilityman."

Which, if true, is great news if you like the Nationals. Or baseball, really. Desmond isn't going to slug .561 in full-season play, and he's far from the best prospect in the game (or on the Nationals), but there is, in fact, some promise there. He should be a roughly league-average hitter right away at a position where the average production is below league-average, and maybe a slightly below-average defender at the position; in other words, he's about what Cristian Guzman was two years ago. But he's 7 1/2 years younger, and tons cheaper. Replacing Guzman with Desmond is the kind of move that should be a no-brainer, especially for a non-contender like the 2010 Nats.

But then this occurred to me (and I tweeted accordingly): Guzman and Adam Kennedy are now the two most redundant players in baseball. Okay, maybe aside from Mike Lowell, but you know all about that one already.

As good of an idea as making Desmond the starting shortstop is, the idea of making Guzman a utility infielder on the Nationals is terrible in about the same measure. Whatever Heyman says, that just can't happen, and I can't believe it will. Guzzy is owed $8 million in 2010. He's a better player than the Nats' current utility guy, Alberto Gonzalez...but over the small amount of innings and plate appearances that the utility guy is likely to garner, that qualitative difference probably won't net them a single additional win. Regardless, even if Guzman were the world's best utility infielder, a team that figures to be out of the race by mid-June has no business carrying an $8 million utility infielder.

But for some reason, back in February, the Nationals signed Kennedy. Kennedy, it was fun to figure out, is almost exactly the same player as Guzman at this point: both are free swingers with a good batting average, a little bit of pop, some speed, and very little plate discipline who are probably capable of playing about an average second base. CHONE projects Kennedy to put up a .327 OBP and .380 SLG, Guzman to go .322/.401, and both with an identical 91 wRC+. Kennedy was better in '09, but Guzman was better in '08; over the last two years combined, Kennedy's OPS+ is 94, Guzman's 95.

Had the Nats just listened to Dave Cameron back in September and shifted Guzman to second then, they wouldn't have this problem; alas, they've now got two identical thirty-something second basemen.

Kennedy is making just $1.25 million (though he's owed at least $1.75, since his $2 million team option for 2011 requires a $500,000 buyout), and I suppose it would be a little more palatable aesthetically for the Nationals to start Guzman's $8 million and sit Kennedy's $1.25, but that doesn't make it a better idea. The fact remains that these two guys are still the exact same player, and both are passable starting 2Bs. If you're contending, you probably keep them both around, as insurance against injury or Ian Desmond being unable to handle the starting role. If you're the Nationals, though, and Desmond can't handle the role, you either (a) let Desmond learn on the job or (b) put Alberto Gonzalez in there and, either way, look forward to another very high pick in next year's draft. There's just no reason to keep a spare Guzman or Kennedy around.

So one has to be traded, right? It could be Guzman (who'll be a free agent in 2011 anyway) or Kennedy (who is a lot cheaper and thus more attractive to teams, but who the Nats can also keep at a good price for 2011), but one of them has to go. But to whom?

Well, there's your problem. Almost every contending team already has a Kennedy or Guzman (or better, of course) at second base, or at least someone they'll want to give a chance to perform before they go acquire a vet. Either one would likely be an improvement over the Dodgers' Blake Dewitt and/or Ronnie Belliard, but Torre seems to like those guys. And that's really the only contending team I can see either of them going to right now.

But, a lot of teams that may be contenders may be looking at problems later on. The Brewers or Angels could see Rickie Weeks or Howie Kendrick get hurt again. The D-Backs' Kelly Johnson might be just as ineffective as he was last year. The White Sox may realize the folly of their Mark Teahen experiment and feel the need to slide Gordon Beckham back over to third. Tigers rookie Scott Sizemore may struggle. Maybe the Rockies realize that Clint Barmes sucks (23 homers and all) and decide Eric Young, Jr. isn't the answer either.

And so on. Sooner or later, somebody's going to need a decent starting second baseman, and the Nationals better be ready to move one of those two guys. The sooner that happens, the better.

Welcome, fellow Rob Neyer readers! Hope you'll take a look around. Earlier this week, we had two pieces analyzing the Joe Mauer deal (one, two) and The Common Man's take on who the Yankees and Sox will drool over next. Thanks for stopping by!