Nats don't pick up Austin Kearns option

Nats pass on Kearns' option - nationals.comRF Austin Kearns' Washington career appears to be over. THe Nationals declined to pick up the 2010 option on his contract, buying him out for $1 million instead of paying him to play for $10 million. It is obviously the right decisions because Kearns can no longer hit.Kearns arrived with Felipe Lopez in a 2006 trade with the Cincinnati Reds for relievers Gary Majewski, Bill Bray and Daryl Thompson, infielder Brendan Harris and shortstop Royce Clayton. At the time, it seemed like a great trade for the Nats, but in the end, it wound up being "meh." Lopez was a malcontent who got cut in 2008. Kearns signed a big contract but never lived up to the expectations that Jim Bowden set for him which seemed unrealistic at the time. Kearns really did not live up to any expectations the last two years, but it was not for a lack of professionalism -- he just couldn't hit anymore. Kearns was drafted by the Reds, run by Bowden at the ...