Lots of folks are asking the question today, in the aftermath of Scott Cousins needlessly ending Buster Posey's season, if it would make sense for Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo to make a phone call to San Francisco Giants GM Brian Sabean to gauge his interest in trading for Pudge Rodriguez or Jesus Flores.

No less an expert than Jim Bowden suggested the very same idea on Twitter.

I certainly buy the idea that the Giants might be looking for some outside help.  Posey's injury paves the way for Eli Whiteside to become the Giants starter.  Whiteside is a 31-year old with a grand total of 128 Major League games.  He's a lifetime .231/.283/.366 hitter.  He didn't hit in the minors, either (.244/.288/.393 in nine seasons), so it's not like there's any outside promise of him flourishing with a starting job.

But you know what?  As bad as those numbers are, they're still better than what Pudge and Jesus are putting up this season.

If you can, for a moment, take out of the equation all of the intangibles that Rodriguez is a sure-fire Hall of Famer, defensive stalwart, guru to Wilson Ramos, and like a spare coach on the bench.  Look at this realistically: he's a 39-year old catcher hitting .205/.256/.342.

And poor Jesus Flores?  The dude has missed the better part of two seasons -- including all of 2010 -- trying to recover from two surgeries on his throwing arm.  In 104 plate appearances in AAA, where he's just learning to hit upper-level quality pitching again, he's hitting .248/.260/.386.  He's walked twice in 104 appearances.  In Triple-A.  He needs another 100 at bats before even considering whether he's ready for Major League pitching again.

With their pitching, the Giants are a legitimate contender and Posey was one of their best offensive players. It's possible they feel so desperate for help that they might actually consider a deal for either one of these players.  But can we please temper our expectations for what the return might be, considering what the Nationals actually have to offer?

In a published report this morning by Melissa Segura of SI.com, the Washington Nationals top instructor in the Domincan knew all about the trail of deceit following Carlos Alvarez, a heralded shortstop prospect who claimed to be Esmailyn Gonzalez, four years younger than his actual age.

Alvarez testified in June in a Dominican appeals court that Jose Baez, the Nats' Domincan academy coordinator under Jim Bowden and Jose Rijo, was fully aware of his true identity and age and that Rijo knew of the fraud as well.  The report does not say that Bowden himself knew of the deceit.

Baez is involved in a labor dispute with the Nationals for wrongful termination.  He won in a lower court, and the Nationals launched "an aggressive and costly appeal," according to the report.  Alvarez' testimony came during a hearing in the appeal process.

It's the first time that actual testimony has connected a Nationals employee to the fraud.

Bowden talks...

Nationals Journal opines...

Deadspin mocks...

Sports Illustrated reports another protege' gets canned...

Just another week in the life of Trader Jim Bowden.

Washington Nationals General Manager Jim Bowden Resigned this morning.

His replacement has not been named.

You can read Bowden's statement, as well as the statement from Nationals President Stan Kasten.

Now, back to spring training.....

In a very brief article, John Perrotto of BP confirms whispers we've been hearing for about 48 hours now: The Nats are considering ousting GM Jim Bowden and replacing him with Toronto Ass't GM Tony LaCava.

MLBTradeRumors.com had it up today too, giving props to Federal Baseball and Fire Jim Bowden for their leg work in making the information available yesterday. Nats Farm Authority posted some information about a few GM candidates, LaCava included.

I think the best line I've read about the possibility of the switch came from FJB, talking to the Natoshpere's new favorite nationally syndicated internet writer, Keith Law, who said (through FJB),

"going from Jim Bowden to Tony LaCava would be like going from Austin Kearns to Albert Pujols."

This information makes one wonder if the time Stan Kasten was spending in Toronto this off-season was interviewing for a job, or doing the interviewing?

Team President Stan Kasten made comments to the media today about the bonus-skimming investigation, the team's involvement, and GM Jim Bowden's involvement.

According to the transcript, it was a strange exchange of questions and non- and partial answers from Kasten.

The highlight was Kasten's refusal to simply declare his support for Bowden.

Question: Stan—how much do you support Jim (Bowden)?

Kasten: “Listen, I support everyone who works for The Washington Nationals—all the time—Period. But we are not going to talk about things that are going on away from here that I have no control of. I told you, I am going to allow the process to play out. We are going to let the chips fall where they may. We are going to look at things honestly and deal with them as is appropriate. Having said that, I am doing all the things that I can to speed the process up. There are many things going on that I cannot talk about. I hope to very soon.”

Until a decision is finally made about Bowden's status, it will be they ONLY story surrounding the Washington Nationals until opening day. If Bowden makes it that far, he's solid for the season I'm afraid.

Kasten's remarks about the soap opena not being a distraction is disingenuous. Of course it's a distraction. They sent home Bowden's confidante, Jose Rijo. The man causing all this controversy, Bowden, isn't allowed to talk about it. And when Kasten does talk about it, all he'll say is that he'll say something more at an unspecified date, hoping to make it to opening day so that the few beat reporters will be tied up with games too much to devote any time to following the real story.

Of course, having last year's opening day starter signed, not show up to camp, and released was a distraction too. Hmm, I wonder who was in charge of that fiasco? Oh well, yet another Jim Bowden blunder that he apparently won't be held accountable for.

Bullet Point Style!

• The Nats released Odalis Perez this morning. Apparently the team has tried to contact him and his agent several times over the last couple of days and since yesterday was the mandatory reporting date and he was still a no-show, he basically forced the Nats' hand. So, Odalis gets what he wanted, a release from the $850K contract had he made the team. Bon chance, mon ami, finding employment.
  
  
• Meathook took one off the left hand in BP yesterday. He was having X-rays taken today to see if anything was broken. For now, he's listed as day-to-day. But then again, aren't we all?
  
  
• Daniel Cabrera becomes the latest player to turn his back on his country, deciding not to play for the Dominican Republic in the upcoming WBC. This comes just a couple of days after Roger Bernadina and Shairon Martis both withdrew their names for consideration as well.
  
  
• RHP Jorge Sosa still is not in camp due to visa problems. MLB.com is reporting that manager Manny Acta has spoken with Sosa's agent and he should be in camp by Wednesday at the latest, according to the report. Sosa could be a very important piece of Acta's bullpen this season.
  
  
• The big news around the Nats, however, still centers around GM Jim Bowden, and the bonus-skimming scandal that dooms his tenure. SI.com reported Sunday night that Bowden is now under investigation all the way back to 1994, when he was GM of the Cincinnati Reds. A scout, Jorge Oquendo, is alleged to be a link between Bowden and David Wilder, former Chicago White Sox Director of Player Personnel, who was dismissed for allegedly taking money earmarked for player signing bonuses. Oquendo worked under Bowden in 1994 and from 2000-2003 and for Wilder in Chicago.

When do the Nats say "enough" with regard to Bowden? His track record as a losing GM, coupled with the embarrassing and unprofessional (dreadlock wig, segway riding, firing players over talk radio) and downright illegal (drunk driving, FBI investigations for bonus-skimming) at some point has to trigger something with the Lerners that says, "Hey, maybe we should find someone else to guide this team."

The sooner, the better.

If you'd like to read the article I wrote about yesterday's press conference with fellow DC Sports Box writer Anthony Amobi, please head over to Nationals Welcome Slugger Adam Dunn to Washington.

There was plenty of good material that came out of the press conference and the series of interviews in the clubhouse afterwards. You might have already read some of the good stuff from Dan Steinberg's blog yesterday afternoon. But yep, that's me he's referring to in the first sentence. Hangin' with Steinz, Boz and Howie. Good times, indeed.

The best thing that came out of the whole parade for me was talking to Manager Manny Acta in the clubhouse. He really gets it, and it's refreshing to hear him say, "You win ballgames by scoring more runs than the other team, and you score more runs when you have more people on base."

The press conference started with Mark Lerner gushing about what Dunn means to the team and the organization, hyping him as "the power hitter we've been missing since...Frank Howard." I guess Lerner doesn't count Alfonso Soriano. Regardless, his point is well taken. Dunn is a classic slugger in the mold of Hondo, if not Reggie Jackson and Harmon Killebrew, as Boz is fond of saying these days.

In all baseball history the four players whom Dunn's stats mimic most closely through age 28 are Jackson, Killebrew, Jose Canseco and Darryl Strawberry. Dunn leads them all in homers, runs and walks. Will Dunn have a long healthy career like the first two and end someday with 600 homers, 1,500 runs and RBI and 1,800 walks? Or will he fade fast like the other two?

Next to speak was President Stan Kasten, who kept his remarks quick, mostly to praise the work of Dunn's agents and to hype the (still) overpriced right field bleacher seats at Nats Park. Still, Mr. Kasten made the claim that the team has "more optimism, more excitement and more anticipation for the coming season," than any season before. I guess he's forgotten about opening day last season. Maybe visions of homers flying over the Nats bullpen has his memory foggy.

Our favorite General Manager then took to the podium. To be completely open, I've done my fair share of bashing and baiting Mr. Bowden. Maybe not as much as my good friend Steven, but maybe even he and JimBow are seeing more eye-to-eye these days. But as far as Dunn goes, he's finally got a player that lives up to even his incredible amount of over-hype.

Dunn has posted a .381 career on-base percentage en route to 201 doubles, 278 home runs, 672 RBI, 797 walks and a .518 slugging percentage in 1131 games spanning eight big league seasons with Cincinnati and Arizona.

So then Acta took the podium, and with all his charm and self-assuredness, said point blank, before anyone could ask the question,

"At the end of spring training we'll decide what is going to be best for the Washington Nationals. He's going to have an opportunity to play first, play left field in spring training. It's still open and we appreciate that he's willing to do that. By the end of camp we're going to do what's best for the Nationals to win."

Manny knows that his batting order is better with Dunn and Nick Johnson both in it. He knows that the deal the Nats made for Josh Willingham was in anticipation of acquiring Mark Teixeira. He knows that an outfield of Dunn-Milledge-Dukes with Willingham providing depth for the lefty bats of Dunn and Johnson, and being a capable replacement in either slot is the strongest team alignment he can provide.

And if Austin Kearns can return to resemble the player Bowden traded for in the first place? You've got the makings of a real team. Anyone else remember Felipe Lopez and Paul LoDuca in left field last year?

So the last man to speak was the big guy himself, Adam Dunn. He said all the right things, was personable and easy-going, a man who was comfortable in knowing exactly who he was and what he was bringing to the team. Dunn is no prospect. He is no project. He is a major league baseball player, and a pretty darn effective one, at least with his bat. And if you believed him today, his knee surgery after the 2007 season is now fully healed and, according to him, his "best days are ahead of [him]."

The Nats hope that his best days are ahead of him. But if he can simply reproduce his numbers from the last five years, I don't think anyone is going to complain.

According to a report in Nationals Journal, and seen elsewhere on the internets, your Washington Nationals have a preliminary agreement with "middle of the order left-handed bat" Adam Dunn, formerly of the Cincinnati Bowd-oops-Reds.

Dunn was a 1998 second round pick of the Reds, also run by Jim Bowden.

Dunn, a career .247/.381/.518 hitter with 278 home runs, adds a presence to this line-up that it hasn't seen since Alfonso Soriano turned into two draft picks after the 2006 season. Dunn has hit over 40 home runs in each of his last five season. In four of the five, he's also knocked in over 100 runs.

No terms have been announced as of yet.

Putting aside purely baseball aspect of this deal, the numbers will be extremely interesting once they are announced. Is it a multi-year deal? How much, if anything, did the Nats have to overpay? How much did the pull of Austin Kearns and Ryan Zimmerman have to do with negotiations?

As for the baseball side of it? Wow, where to start?

IF Nick Johnson is healthy, this team just got A LOT better. It still doesn't have a legitimate lead-off guy, but it now has a legit 3-4-5-6 in Johnson, Dunn, Zimm and Dukes. And the battle for playing time in the OF just got a lot more crowded.

If Johnson cannot revive his career, then expect Dunn at first, with an OF of Willingham-Milledge-Dukes.

It's not outside the realm of possibility that Bowden still moves an outfielder, regardless of Johnson's health. But having Dunn on the roster makes all of these scenarios easier to imagine.

Kudos to the front office once this contract gets signed. Whether it's one year or several, it was the right thing to do on so many levels.

Fresh off the love-in that was NatsFest 2009, there's this article from Dugout Central stating, quite clearly, that Jim Bowden is baseball's worst GM. It's yet another independent opinion on the state of baseball in DC.

"Bowden has a poor track record in the draft, especially for an executive with a scouting background and who is behind the eight ball when it comes to using advanced statistical analysis. It is crucial for any GM, especially for a small-market team with scarce resources, to develop a sustainable long-term vision for their franchise. With Bowden, though, he is seemingly on a misguided mission to top the 70-win plateau every year, rather than doing what is necessary for his team to actually become a legitimate contender in the future.

The Nationals need a leader with patience and a solid business model. Rather than exploiting inefficiencies, though, Bowden creates inefficiencies for the elite GMs in the league to exploit."

But don't take my word for it. Click the link above and go read the whole thing. It's sad/hilarious all at once.

Jim Bowden seems to think so. Lots of people are are writing about it. But the only word out of camp McGeary is from Jack's father, who says no decision has been made.

Nats Journal has the latest. Chico Harlan recovered from judging the cook-off last night and talked to Pat McGeary.

"It's rumor at this point," McGeary's father, Pat, said this morning. "I think it would be premature for me to say anything."

In an interview with Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll yesterday, Bowden said that McGeary had decided to play baseball full-time this season.

"Jack has told us that he wants to play baseball full-time now, so we expect him to report to spring training on time and continue a full season of his development. And we said when we signed the player that we felt after a short period of time that he would decide to play baseball full-time. So we were very pleased when his agent, Brodie Van Wagenen, informed us that Jack had made a decision to do that."

McGeary, you will remember, is the first round talent (and to whom the Nats gave first round money to) that they selected in the sixth round of the 2007 draft. He dropped that far because he was committed to attending Stanford. He has had an arrangement to attend school and then play professionally when school was over in June.

He was excellent last year in the Gulf Coast League, leading that short season in strikeout, starts and second in innings pitched.

If the news is true, it would be great news for the Nationals, as he's a legitimate first round talent and getting him into spring training and a full season of baseball, we might even see him next season in DC.

What's troubling is that once again, the General Manager is putting words into people's mouths that they aren't ready to say. Obviously, for McGeary's father to tell Nats Journal that no official decision has been made, contradicting the GM of the big club, is an issue.

The bet here is that the player's agent (who also represents Ryan Zimmerman) wants to get McGeary playing full-time and that McGeary himself might be ready to leave school, but that the family is sure yet. Whatever the case is, it doesn't sound quite resolved yet. Stay tuned.

Not a whole lot newsworthy came out of the Nationals Hot Stove Luncheon for season ticket holders today. There were just a couple of interesting tidbits:

1) Manny Acta gets it. When asked if because the Nats didn't have a slugger he would employ more "small ball", he first (politely) made fun of the term, then said "You win by getting runners on base and then driving them in." And that he bunts, hit and runs and steals when he feels he has to, but that the goal is to keep getting on base, not making extra outs. He even said, "You only get 27 of 'em a game."

2) When asked if the Nats were going to sign Dunn and Hudson, Jim Bowden replied [paraphrase], "We're looking at all 97 free agents still available to see if they fit into their plan on the field and on the payroll."

There was also veiled references, but no official announcements, of expansion of the Red Porch, unveiling of statutes in the plaza, options of healthier food and other non-baseball related issues.

The next DC stop on the caravan is tonight at ESPN Zone for the Nats cook-off. Going to try to nail one of the players down for a quick Q&A, and Cheryl will have plenty of pictures from the day to post tonight as well.

Well, part two of Keith Law's analysis of the top minor league prospects carries no better news than yesterday's revelation that he ranked the Nats organization 29 out of the 30 Major League teams with regard to prospect depth. It should serve as no surprise then that just one player in the Nats organization, RHP Jordan Zimmermann, cracked Law's Top 100 prospects, at number 42, no less.

He does do Washington the favor of listing their top five prospects though:

1. Jordan Zimmermann, RHP (42th)
2. Michael Burgess, RF
3. Esmailyn Gonzalez, SS
4. Ross Detwiler, LHP
5. Chris Marrero, LF

Zimmermann is also Law's number ten RHP prospect. He is the only Nat prospect to make a top ten positional list as well.

After yesterday's blurb about the team labelling Detwiler and Smoker disappointments for their steps backward, he still has Detwiler listed as the organization's number four prospect. You can question Law's evaluation all you like, but there's no question that he is an independent reviewer for a national publication with a huge audience.

It's troubling as a fan to see that after several years of the major league team being ignored, quality of play deteriorating and the record getting worse, and being promised that if the team sticks to the plan and builds through trades and the draft that things will get better, that independent evaluators don't share in the assessment of the talent that has been amassed.

Failing to sign Aaron Crow was a huge mistake. Not only in evaluation of the system, but in terms of signing next year's two top ten picks. They'll have to shell out (obviously) number one money for the first pick. Then, whoever they take at ten will have them over a barrel, since the Nats won't get a compensatory pick if they fail to sign him. Basically, they have to sign two number one overall picks next draft.

Anyone want to take bets on that?

The Q&As with the front office guys during the Nats caravan and Fan Fest should be interesting. I know I certainly plan to ask Mr. Kasten and Mr. Bowden what they think of Keith Law's assessment, and where they think they should rank.

Photo courtesy of We've Got Heart.

ESPN.com's Keith Law, a former Toronto Blue Jay executive, published his organizational rankings for this season today. You'll be disappointed to find out his opinion of the Nats minor league organization, as his opinion differs WILDLY from that of Stan Kasten or Jim Bowden.

29. Washington Nationals: Ross Detwiler and Josh Smoker, two of their top three prospects at this time in 2008, took huge steps backward this past season, and the Nationals' botched negotiations with first-round pick Aaron Crow were just more of the same from Jim Bowden's reign of error. The consistent failure to convert veteran big leaguers into any sort of prospects and questions about their practices in Latin America will leave them stuck down here even if they have a successful draft in 2009.

Yes, that's 29 out of the 30 major league teams. Ouch.

Also, his top 100 prospects list is due tomorrow, but we have a preview. The highest ranked individual National prospect is Jordan Zimmermann, at 42.

"Zimmermann spent most of his first full pro season in Double-A, good for any recent draftee but even more so for a pitcher out of a Division III school, as he is. He's not a potential ace but a very high-probability No. 3 with a chance to be better than that because of his plus command.

Zimmermann is a classic four-pitch pitcher who changes speeds well and commands his stuff, locating his 90-94 mph four-seamer to all parts of the zone. He also keeps the ball down. His best pitch remains his mid-80s slider, short and tight with good tilt, although his curve is tighter now than it was when he was an amateur. Plus, he turns his changeup over well.

He has good feel for pitching, above-average command and average control."

FYI, the Orioles are 10th.

The Nationals today named former big leaguer Devon White Special Assistant, Player Development and Pat Corrales Special Consultant to Senior VP and GM.

Here's the pertinent info from the press release:

DEVON WHITE NAMED SPECIAL ASSISTANT, PLAYER DEVELOPMENT & PAT CORRALES NAMED SPECIAL CONSULTANT TO SENIOR VP AND GM

The Washington Nationals today named Devon White as Special Assistant, Player Development and Pat Corrales as Special Consultant to the Senior Vice President and General Manager. Nationals Senior Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden made these announcements.

White, 45, spent last season as the Nationals’ roving outfield coordinator, his initial assignment in coaching after retiring from his 17-year playing career following the 2001 season. A three-time All-Star outfielder, White earned seven Gold Gloves during his career, a total surpassed by only 11 outfielders in the history of the game. He stole 30 or more bases five times and won three World Series Championships.

The 67-year-old Corrales begins his new appointment after serving as Manny Acta’s bench coach for the past two seasons. The upcoming campaign will be Corrales’ 51st in professional baseball, including 40 seasons as a big league manager, coach or player. Prior to joining the Nationals, he spent 17 seasons as a member of Bobby Cox’s staff in Atlanta, the last eight as bench coach.

BOTTOM(FEEDER) LINE: Well, no one can say the Nats don't have enough input from baseball people in the front office. They must have one of the largest staffs of consultants and special assistants in the majors. White was a defensive whiz in center field, and presumably will will work with the Nats outfielders in that regard, along with new first base coach Marquis Grissom. Corrales is a good soldier, and he'll be another sounding board for GM Jim Bowden.

With all the entrenching going on in the front office around Bowden, it's becoming evident he won't be going anywhere before the beginning of next season.

Here is the entirety of a press release issued by the Nationals today...

NATIONALS MEDICAL DIRECTOR RESIGNS

The Washington Nationals today announced that Dr. Ben Shaffer, Nationals Medical Director and Team Orthopedist, has resigned his position as team doctor.

“I appreciate the opportunity afforded me to provide care to the Nationals players and organization the last three years,” said Dr. Shaffer. “From a time standpoint, this responsibility has required an enormous commitment and I have decided to focus my energies on my family, my practice and the other professional teams I work closely with.”

Nationals Senior Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden responded, I know I speak for the entire organization in recognizing Dr. Shaffer’s invaluable contributions to our players’ welfare and his orthopedic expertise. His departure is a real loss for our organization.”