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.

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.

Jose Rijo, Special Assistant to General Manager Jim Bowden, has taken a leave of absence from the team.

According to team President Stan Kasten, "With all the questions swirling and all the work being done still on this matter, we felt it would be a good time [for Rijo] to be away from here."

Rijo said that he felt like a distraction to the team, and added that his mother was battling liver cancer. "I had better ways to make use of my time."

I don't want to make light of any of this situation. There is a lot of information that is still yet to be uncovered. But if the team (or Rijo) is using his mother's situation to make Rijo invisible during the ongoing investigation, it would be an absolute crime. If Rijo's mother is that ill, what the hell was the "Special Assistant to the General Manager" doing at spring training to begin with? It's not like he's a coach on the field or anything.

Look, here's the thing: Rijo's fingerprints are all over this thing. The kid was discovered at his camp. His childhood friend trained him. He recommended the player to Bowden. And then the Nats threw $1.5 million away. Then the FB-freakin-I and MLB officials investigated the whole shooting match.

The White Sox have already fired scouts that were involved in the bonus-skimming investigation, just to cut ties with them, though no charges were filed. Why won't the Nats do the same thing? They continue to be the laughingstock of the league, finding themselves in these types of situations, and then do nothing to exacerbate or distance themselves from the problem.

I'm all for due process, but the longer this soap opera spirals out of control the more damage it's doing to the organization.