All hopes crushed, Bowden signed

[wilkerson_rulz-06]

VIERA, Fla. -- The Nationals extended the contracts of general manager Jim Bowden and assistant GM Tony Siegle through the completion of the 2006 season on Thursday.
A deal has been in the works for Bowden, 44, for several weeks. He was working on a six-month contract, which was set to expire on April 30. Bowden is entering his second season with the club.

In his first season, the Nationals went 81-81 and won 14 more games than the previous season, when they were still playing on Montreal. The 14-game improvement matched the Brewers for the third largest in baseball.

Bowden also oversaw the drafting of third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who joined Washington just 11 weeks after being selected fourth overall in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Virginia; Zimmerman was the first position player from the 2005 draft to reach the big leagues.

Bowden spent this past offseason trying to improve the club with a limited budget. He addressed the Nationals' immediate need for offense by acquiring second baseman Alfonso Soriano in December. He also remedied the lack of bench depth by adding pinch-hitting specialist Marlon Anderson, catcher/first baseman Matthew LeCroy, shortstop Royce Clayton, outfielder Michael Tucker and infielder Damian Jackson.

Now in his fourth decade in baseball, Siegle is widely viewed as a specialist in rules interpretation, contract negotiations and big-league administration. Including Bowden and Frank Robinson, Siegle has worked with 23 general managers and 22 managers.

[Peorgie T]

One possibility is that this was done with the future owners' consent.

Maybe they did it with the stipulation that he find some way to unload Soriano, while getting some value back for what he gave up in the first place.

[Ryan25Zimmerman]

Originally Posted by Peorgie T

One possibility is that this was done with the future owners' consent.

Maybe they did it with the stipulation that he find some way to unload Soriano, while getting some value back for what he gave up in the first place.

Your quite the optimist

[Monarchs29]

A parting "up yours" by BS??

With the possible exception of Soriano, who may, or may not, contribute this season, the FA signings/trades by Bowden didn't impress me a whole lot.

All I see are a lot of used-ups, washed-ups, might-have-beens, and never-weres. Most of them are space-fillers and I really don't expect a lot of offense/defense from most of them.

As far as Soriano is concerned, if he doesn't get his way to play 2B, he'll mope for the entire season. Yeah, that'll do a whole lot for morale and chemistry.

Anybody else hoping for/expecting a deal or two prior to April 3???

Sorry to be so negative, but Jim Bowden doesn't impress me in the least. IMO, he's out to rid the team of any and all former Expos, by any means possible. He might wish his time back, come May or June.

[Peorgie T]

Originally Posted by Ryan25Zimmerman

Your quite the optimist

More like wishful thinking.

[vasprtsfn]

......who likes Jim Bowden and thinks he has done a good job? I for one am happy that he has been extended for the duration of the 2060 season. Have all of his moves worked out so far? No, of course not. (The Guzman fiasco for one.) But he has done a lot of good for us, like giving up garbage players to acquire Jose Guillen, who became our best hitter; drafting Ryan Zimmerman, who, just weeks removed from Charlottesville was manning 3B for the big team; signing Estaban Loaiza, whose departure nets us a first round pick this summer; and revamping our bench, a major achilles heel in 2005. Okay, there is the Alfonso Soriano mess, but as much as I think Soriano needs to shut his mouth, I think its too early to judge that trade for how it works out for us. I hope new ownership keeps him long term.

[Tideman80]

It should also be mentioned that he has been severly hamstrung by the lack of ownership during his entire tenure here.

He did a pretty good job in Cincinnati and has a WS ring to show for it. Now if he does a crappy job with money backing him up, that is a different story.

Don't be too eager to jump on Bowden. I think it is important to have some continuity, at least through the end of this season.

[Peorgie T]

Originally Posted by vasprtsfn

......who likes Jim Bowden and thinks he has done a good job? I for one am happy that he has been extended for the duration of the 2060 season. Have all of his moves worked out so far? No, of course not. (The Guzman fiasco for one.) But he has done a lot of good for us, like giving up garbage players to acquire Jose Guillen, who became our best hitter; drafting Ryan Zimmerman, who, just weeks removed from Charlottesville was manning 3B for the big team; signing Estaban Loaiza, whose departure nets us a first round pick this summer; and revamping our bench, a major achilles heel in 2005. Okay, there is the Alfonso Soriano mess, but as much as I think Soriano needs to shut his mouth, I think its too early to judge that trade for how it works out for us. I hope new ownership keeps him long term.

I was on board with JimBo until the Soriano trade. It seemed to me to be a trade for the sake of a trade, with a lack of due dilligence to determine how he would fit. I agree that he has been hamstrung by the limitations of not having an owner, and would have done a better job if given free reign. I really wish the Nats could have held onto Loiaza, but the A's were willing to overpay more than the Nats were.

[vasprtsfn]

Originally Posted by Peorgie T

I really wish the Nats could have held onto Loiaza, but the A's were willing to overpay more than the Nats were.

I wish we could have kept Loaiza too, but we get a 1st rd draft pick this summer for not retaining him. So, we were in a win-win situation.

[KCGHOST]

This is not an unreasonable move. It is only ten months and the odds of MLB actually getting an owner in place in that time, based on their past record of meeting self-imposed deadline, is not high. Besides if they hired an owner tomorrow he could fire Bowden the next day and just pay off his contract.

[Peorgie T]

Originally Posted by vasprtsfn

I wish we could have kept Loaiza too, but we get a 1st rd draft pick this summer for not retaining him. So, we were in a win-win situation.

If that draft pick can step in and pitch around 200 innings, it will be a win-win.

[efin98]

Originally Posted by Peorgie T

If that draft pick can step in and pitch around 200 innings, it will be a win-win.

Look at Chad Cordero. He was a 1st Rounder who went on to be the best closer in the NL by far- and he broke in only two months after being drafted!

That's a trend now, getting top guys who can help out right away from the draft as opposed to a guy who will help out in three or four years.

[GreenMountainMan]

Originally Posted by efin98

Look at Chad Cordero. He was a 1st Rounder who went on to be the best closer in the NL by far- and he broke in only two months after being drafted!

That's a trend now, getting top guys who can help out right away from the draft as opposed to a guy who will help out in three or four years.

Those are the exception and not the norm. You reach for guys because you know you can sign them cheaply with the chance of them helping more immediately than the guys taken early in the draft. You know the guys I'm talking about, the ones who will be solid above average ML'ers. Guys like Arod, S. Drew, Little Upton are reserved for the early round gamblers with the chance that they become HOF players.

[GreenMountainMan]

Originally Posted by vasprtsfn

......who likes Jim Bowden and thinks he has done a good job? I for one am happy that he has been extended for the duration of the 2060 season. Have all of his moves worked out so far? No, of course not. (The Guzman fiasco for one.) But he has done a lot of good for us, like giving up garbage players to acquire Jose Guillen, who became our best hitter; drafting Ryan Zimmerman, who, just weeks removed from Charlottesville was manning 3B for the big team; signing Estaban Loaiza, whose departure nets us a first round pick this summer; and revamping our bench, a major achilles heel in 2005. Okay, there is the Alfonso Soriano mess, but as much as I think Soriano needs to shut his mouth, I think its too early to judge that trade for how it works out for us. I hope new ownership keeps him long term.

You can't just look at what he did for hitting which seems to be his focus. He's picked up junk off the waiver wire for a year and half now. Former hot prospects with all the tools - OF'ers no less. Traded all of our pitching depth or just plain taken it off the 40 man roster. Where would we be right now if we still had Zach Day, Sunny Kim and Ohka? My guess is we'd feel a bit better now than we do about our pitching. Who'd we get to replace these guys? Preston Wilson *cough cough*, JJ Davis, Alex Escobar?????? What are these guys gonna do to help us now? Guys we should be picking up are guys like Bobby Hill (just released) and some other IF'ers that could help give us depth. Bowden hasn't done much to help this team at all especially when he traded for yet another toolsy player that can't take a pitch to save his life, Soriano. Bowdens a bum and I'm not afraid to say it.