Posts tagged ‘Jim Bowden’

Wednesday is Fan Email day, and today we are going with a very well crafted (although waaaay to serious for my tastes) email from Cavalier in Gaithersburg, MD:

I’ve heard a lot of fans slam Jim Bowden.

There’s even several websites/blogs/online petitions dedicated to facilitating his removal as GM. They cite the Wily Mo Pena/Felipe Lopez/Austin Kearns trade; his failure to sign a starting pitcher in free agency despite the fact that mediocre starters were commanding in the $5-7 million range; the Paul LoDuca signing; and trades that other teams made to jettison superstars that the Nats don’t have in favor of prospects and/or 30 year old relief pitchers (Tejada and Bedard trades for the O’s–Other than Soriano, who was in the last year of his deal and wouldn’t have commanded nearly what Miggy, with two years left on his deal, did in trade, the Nats have no players like that.).

However, there is absolutely no love for the litany of success Bowden has had. True, the Reds trade hasn’t worked out quite like the Nats would have hoped, but show me a GM in baseball who wouldn’t have made it if it was on the table. He took the team from dead last in minor league ranking to top 10 in one year. He was responsible for drafting Zimmerman and the rest of the ‘06 and ‘07 draft classes, most of whom he signed. I know the ‘08 draft is up in the air in terms of signability, but I would guess that the Nats will sign most of their picks again this year. The Fire Jim Bowden Blog even complained that Bowden told Balester that he actually had to win some games at the Minor League level to show that he had the heart to pitch in the pros. I’m not a smart man, but I thought that the purpose of playing the game was to win. If your nasty 96 mph fastball keeps getting ripped over the fence, it doesn’t so much matter how fast it is or how much it moves, does it?

Is Bowden getting a raw deal from some extremely vociferous fans, or is he really as awful as the FireJimBowden-ites would have us think?

Dewey’s Reaction:

I don’t think Bowden is as bad as he might be perceived, but the problem is that he didn’t exactly have super success in Cincinnati, and he has yet to do anything earth shattering (in terms of success - Soriano (aside)) here. This is the way this town is unfortunately. Raph and I agree that most D.C. fans are blinded by success and are always looking for the reason — that isn’t talent or on the field play related — for why their team is faltering. The ‘Skins are a perfect example of this because year after year they fail to play up to the glory days of Joe Gibbs in the 1980s — And this is 2008. Even Gibbs (though justifiably at times) got murdered by fans in his second go around.

But if you look at what Bowden has done in his time here, you can’t really get too mad. As a fan you want your GM to go out and make a big deal like Soriano and Milledge and Dukes. You want to hear that the farm system is one of the best in the bigs and has faced a complete turnaround. The downside is that your team will lose players that may have had success. You have to spend money to make money, no? These are all things that Bowden has done.

It’s not that I’m touting the roaring success of Bowden, but I understand his failures. Plus I think in a few years we will be talking about the Dukes and Milledge trade as the turnaround moment of the franchise… as long as our young pitching plays out. But the real guy who goes unmentioned is Stan Kasten. Look what he did in Atlanta and look what he has done here. It’s almost a mirror image. This could be Worst-to-First: Part Two. Maybe Bowden is a puppet, but so what. It’s only a matter of time before Dan Snyder declares he is a lifetime Nats fan, buys the team, and runs it into the ground anyways. Paging Teddy Leonsis……

The Raph’s Reaction:

I do not want to stray too far off topic, but this kind of slamming of authority has more to do with the current media culture in general, and the current regional culture in specific. The all-inclusive media tsunami needs NEW information every day - even every hour in some markets. There is just not that much worth writing/blogging/announcing/postulating about in the day-to-day operations of a baseball team. I am sure some beg to differ, so feel free. I would also be willing to bet that those that differ are in either culture outlined above without even knowing it. The need for more information dilutes the importance/significance of the quality news item. And with it, comes fluff.

The win first crowd, not in first place, will always go after the person in charge. He isn’t doing enough to win, isn’t making good deals, overvaluing the worthless and undervaluing the amazing, his personal style sucks, and so forth. So as fans, we are treated to speculation and endless projections on the future of the team. Setting the entire structure up for failure, columns collapse piece by piece under the weight of the expectations set forth to fulfill an entirely unnecessary news statement. It is a cycle.

Bowden has done his job, with the tools at his disposal (minimal at best), and the outcome will not be realized until he is long gone. Some trades work, some do not. But the venom towards the GM has more to do, in my opinion, with extracurricular activities in society, and not in production. Find me a GM that is perfect. And find me the people who think they can do the job better - where are they in their company? Unless they are executives, they have no credence on the issue of judging the performance of someone entrusted with making large scale, high money decisions - decisions that revolve around the talent of young men and their ability to play a game. I am not even going to discuss the nay-sayers ability to play the game itself - more often than not, they cannot. Hiss and spit if you must, but there is no right answer, let alone an easy answer.

In conclusion, our collective knowledge speaks to an “I don’t know” and a pat on the back. Good job, sport. Go get ‘em, Tiger. Wait, what just happened? No improvement? Good riddance, chump. And then then the next guy, and the cycle starts again. New catch phrase, different persona non grata, different year, same argument - the tired argument.

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So thanks, Cavalier for the questions and keep them coming. Remember, every Wednesday is Fan Email Day. We are toying with the idea of a potential “award” for the email that gets chosen. Any ideas from the fan base? Stay tuned for a new podcast.