This has become a season of attrition due to injury. This is what happens when a team with no real depth suffers injuries and the farm system doesn't have adequate replacements.

Re-post, typed for so long, I missed the latest.

This is the team Jimbo and his lieutenants dreamed of having in 2007...it's like they WANT to lose so they can get higher draft picks. But then they DON'T SIGN the picks - man, with the shape this team is in, the BETTER FIND A WAY to sign Crow and Hood and everyone else in their top 10. It's inexcusable they haven't locked Crow up yet. If you have to overpay, just do it!!! Splurge on SOMEONE, PLEASE!!!

What burns me up is, with a little smarter management and player selection, this team could have been a .500 club. And, look at the NL East standings, .500 would put the Nationals in the hunt 50% of the way through the season. It would be fun and Nationals Park would be PACKED by now!

Mr. Kasten and Bowden -- this is not 1990 Atlanta. We are a much different market and baseball is much different now. You cannot do the same things that worked there and then and expect the same success now.

Washington endured three decades of horrible baseball, with a few rare exceptions, from about 1941 - 1971, then no baseball at all. We don't want another Senators re-run. We just want a competitive team that has a realistic shot at 81 wins. Please understand that if you do not alter the plan somewhat by signing some true quality veteran players, you will lose this tenuous market. I have heard from long-time season ticket holders (and I mean back to the dark days of the Senators) who are ready to bail next year, if not already.

Baseball is too smart and too balanced to let another Braves' type run happen. The Nationals need to be more realistic about how to build this team -- because we are now WORSE than the end-of-the-year 2004 Expos. We have gone BACKWARDS!!

There will be free agents who can help teach this team how to become winners. Orlando Hudson reminds me a lot of Terry Pendleton (please note Mr. Kasten). Potentially dominant #1 starting pitchers, a desperate need, will be available. So much more is needed in this mess Jimbo has built.

Off-season checklist:

--Get a real GM
-- Find a leadoff hitter
-- Find a true #3 slugger
-- Get the entire team to take more pitches and earn more walks
-- Find a reliable LH relief pitcher
-- Sign a #1 starter
-- Sign a 2B and SS (and 1B really and LF too).

Man, it could be a LONG, LONG, LONG time before we see 81 wins. Will anyone still care by then?

Lerners, you know what it was like in DC during the bad old days, please loosen the purse springs enough to give us a legit shot at a .500 season, not an annual embarrassment!

Yes, I signed the petition - here's hoping Ted Lerner and Stan Kasten put their John Hancock's on it real, real soon!!!

"It's inexcusable they haven't locked Crow up yet".....Why? Deadline is Aug 15 and Crow has already pitched 140 to 150 innings this year

Your wishlist is ideal....if only three quarters of MLB werent also looking for the exact same thing, the Nats could contend in '09....just sayin

Jordan Zimmermann and the Senators are on MASN. Keep hope alive!

Anybody see Destin Hood at batting practice tonight? Chico, any further insights that may not have made your notebook?

alright, we all love guess the rotation. well i have a similar game that i think could spark some great discussion....a slant on gtf...the question:

who will be the last 5 nationals to start a game this year? that is who will start the final 5 games of the season? will odalis and redding be there, will they still have nats unis? will bergman and lannan stay healthy? and of mock balester clippard and the other minor league arms, who survies a sept call up?

balester
mock
lannan
zimmermann
redding

Balester pitched (and won his 9th game) tonight, so he would be in line to start the same day of Hill's next start. Welcome to Washington Collin?

The O's beat the Cubs.
The Nats look like schlubs.

Peace I'm out!

Shell looked good in his few outings. Maybe give him spot start or call up Clippard or Mock again? No need to crowd the 40-man when these 3 guys are already on it, and Balestar is not.

Steve,

You make some good points. It is paramount that the nationals not only make good picks during the draft, but also sign those picks. Guys like Crow and Hoode need to be signed as soon as possible, but that should not mean we should just hand them a 10 million dollar signing bonus with a major league deal. Signing draft picks is a process, baseball is a business, the team can work on this for another month and a half before we start to panic. If this is still a conversation we're having in August then you're on to something.

You say that you don't want a repeat of the senators. I think I speak for everyone when I say that none of us wants a repeat of the senators. You can help to keep that happening by having a little faith and not crying for someone's head when things haven't gone your way after only 3 short years. I know you want it NOW NOW NOW MOMMY!!! But maybe if you show some patience things can magically turn themselves around.

No matter how much baseball grows smarter that does not defeat the FACT that the best way to build a professional sports team is from the ground up. Talented youth, good scouting and front office work, smart spending, and good coaching are the foundations to nearly every champion in every sport for the last century. Sometimes its not the moves you do make but the moves you dont that define your team. Yes, it would be nice if church had hit like that for us, but he didn't. Yes it would be nice if we had signed some big and talented free agents over the past couple of years. If you look harder though, you will see that some of the biggest free agents that I have heard support for include Barry Zito (2-11 6.32 era), Andruw Jones (.164/.273/.275 only played 43 games), and Alfonzo Soriano (Great numbers but only played 51 games and expected to be out for another month). While these big names look pretty, they may not be the best for the long term growth of the team.

Because of the open outfield spots the team has seen the talents of Milledge and Dukes, both of whom could be staples for the future. The team was able to find a contributor in Dimitri Young last year and he can help until some of the young talent can reach the bigs or the team finds a free agent that can fill that role. Christian Guzman was able to show that he can still play the game while fans (myself especially) were calling for his head a year and a half ago. Patience can pay off, the problem is you have to wait for it.

This offseason the team does need to sign a big name free agent. I preach and I preach about patience but if it does not start to pay off, if the front office does not start to follow through, then they simply should be replaced. I have seen no evidence to show that they have diverted one bit from their plan to build a foundation for a team and then sign players when they can begin to compete. The team is not ready to compete for a title at this point, that cannot be argued. This team has however, made steps towards competing in the future. The management said that they would get younger and more talented and there is no doubt that Dukes, Milledge, Flores, and Zimmerman are younger and more talented then Wilkerson, Preston Wilson, Brian Schnieder, and Vinny Castilla. The organization promised to focus on Pitching, Pitching, and more Pitching. The nationals minor leagues now have the best pitching top to bottom of any organization. Many of these pitchers have begun to show their contributions to the team already and more will soon follow:

(My guess the last 5 is Ballester, Mock, Clippard, Lannan, Bergmann)

The organization did not promise 81 wins until 2010 at the earliest. We can hope for more but complaining solves nothing. Other teams have tried to buy competitive seasons. The orioles have spent for the last 10 years and have nothing to show for it. The past two they have had significantly higher payrolls then the Nationals and have finished with lower records. Only this year, after trading their veterans for younger talent and beginning to build a foundation, have they shown some promise for the future.

I agree that management needs to be held accountable for their actions. They need to be responsible for putting a watchable product on the field. They need to be made to improve the team from top to bottom every year. All that I ask of you is to look not at the problems that you see in this team, but at the silver linings. See the improvements on the farm, see the eye popping talent in the outfield, see the bullpen who held hot bats scoreless for 6 innings. Realize that the reason the senators left was because the fan base would not support them. It is your job as a fan to suffer the lumps that come with having a team and that will make it all the more satisfying when they start to win. Please don't boo this team out of town just yet, they only just got here and I don't want a crybaby like you to ruin it for those of us who love baseball, not just a bandwagon eligible team.

Preaching patience for a year or two or even 3 is one thing. Preaching patience in year 4, on pace for, what is it now? 108 losses? And truly, very little real near-term help on the horizon from within for next year either? At that point as a fan you have to say, "wait a minute, I've BEEN patient. This ISN'T WORKING."

If you wanna know why we're not making progress rebuilding as fast as other teams have, go back and look at what Bowden did in 2005-6. Virtually every single move was young for old, cheap for expensive, more guys for fewer back, improving for declining. Seriously--it's not cherry-picking a move here or there, it's a pattern, almost unbroken, and it moved us BACKWARD in the rebuilding process by making us an older, more expensive, declining team. Go to Baseball-Reference and clinck on the 2005 Nationals transactions.

Think of it. The first thing JimBo did when he got here was to gift away the 32nd overall pick for 37YO VINNY CASTILLA. Forget the money. That's essentially a late first round pick for a guy everyone knew had no hope of being any good outside Coors. What was Bowden thinking? Guzman not only cost us $16m over 4 years, but worse, another draft pick. What on earth is a team as barren in the minors as the Expos circa 2004 doing giving away high draft picks for expensive vets??

Now, some of those moves in hindsight clearly bit us in the butt (Guzman, Castilla, releasing Scott Downs, now one of the top LHRPs in MLB to make room for old, bad, pointless Gary Bennett), some you could argue gave us some fun in the short-term but in the long run hurt (Soriano), and one probably worked out ok for the short and long (Loaiza, pitched good in 05, turned into a compensatory pick).

But the OVERALL trajectory, the course Bowden chose, was to run the team as if we were piecing together a the final parts of a championship run. We were not. He miscalculated. So in exchange for setting us back in the rebuilding process, he gave us the dubious prize of an 81-win last place team in 05 and a flashy, but awful team in 06.

Sign the petiton here. If you don't like my rationale, there's room to customize your own:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/fire-bowden

Steven on Capitol Hill's new blog site has not been treated kindly by Baseball Think Factory. In fact, he took down his 2d installment because it was causing such hilarity. Since he keeps advertising it here:

2. Chris Needham Posted: June 24, 2008 at 10:36 AM (#2830719)
Well, if Bowden had spent more money developing the time machine instead of wasting it on Segways...

17. Declino DeShields Posted: June 24, 2008 at 12:40 PM (#2830838)
In Part Two, the author chronicles how Bowden could've drafted Tim Lincecum, signed Rick Ankiel, cured the common cold, and stopped the Kennedy assassination (both of them) had he not signed Castilla/Guzman, or acquired Soriano, or held back on the MajewskiGate trade, or something.

EDIT: Looks like the blogger took it down. But it was a hoot.
18. The District Attorney Posted: June 24, 2008 at 12:43 PM (#2830840)
I don't think Bowden is a good GM, but I can't get on a guy too much when he acquires Lastings Milledge, Elijah Dukes, Wily Mo Pena, Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez in exchange for Ryan Church and spare parts, and it still doesn't work.

But, he should have traded Dmitri, never mind actually re-signing him. And at some point in his life, you would think it would occur to him that a team needs, not only right-handed outfielders, but pitchers and other players as well.
19. The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Esoteric) Posted: June 24, 2008 at 12:48 PM (#2830848)
This is a silly article, and it reflects poorly on the writer's analytical abilities. I don't really think Bowden is the answer long term, but he's done very little that makes me think him incompetent right now. He's gambler, but his gambles were all low-risk/high-reward ones on a team without any budget. This season everything is mysteriously failing on him, but only because he's inexplicably rolled snake-eyes, not because they were bad moves to make.

Anyway, I'm deeply unimpressed with this blog and this argument. The blogger comes off as the classic "stupid fan" who uses pixels by the bucketful and misuses facts egregiously, with no knowledge or understanding of nuance or counterarguments. He's got his thesis, by god, and he's gonna make sure that he argues it as loudly and dumbly as possible, facts be damned.
20. MM1f Posted: June 24, 2008 at 12:53 PM (#2830853)
There are enough fair point to criticize Bowden for that you don't need to water down your argument by throwing every non-amazing move ever made in there. I guess he is just trying to make seem as if there is a mountain of mistakes Bowden made but if you are trying to appeal to anyone who follows baseball you are just leaving the substance of your post empty by doing that.
A waste of my read.
Not only is it unfair to blast moves that were needed at the time but maybe look different in hindsight (dumping Scott Downs) but then you blast GOOD moves.. like getting Loaiza!
The ONLY damn reason to do this is because you are trying to pile on.
Crap.

SoCH's "Fire Bowden" blog is a sad place dedicated to the destruction of another human being. And it's filled with error. E.g.

SoCH:
--Don't release Scott Downs. Then, he was a lefty 5th starter/long man out of the bullpen guy--someone we could have used in second half of '05, but no great shakes. Since then, Toronto has reinvented him as perhaps the best LOOGY in baseball.

3. Lake Placido Polanco (Crispix Attacks) Posted: June 24, 2008 at 12:00 PM (#2830801)
Not that this is very important, but Scott Downs isn't a LOOGY. He was a starter until the Natspos dropped him.

His career OPS against for LHB is .651, and for RHB is .809. Last year it was .548 for LHB (126 PA) and .639 for RHB (113 PA). He just threw two innings in their last game against the Pirates.

There aren't many actual LOOGYs in the world.

Perhaps if all seats were filled by not season ticket buyers but single ticket walk ons this team would have indeed been managed differently and more positively. Who would have paid to watch Hill pitch in the last month? Yep, about no one. That would have forced management to send him somewhere else (whether it's the clinic or out to pasture) and brought in someone from the farm system who could put fannies in the seats. Who would pay to watch Lo Duca play any position on the field? Probably only Lo Duca's fan club if there still is one. Pena and Lopez would not be filling too many seats either. Fans will pay to see a hustling team with spirit and potential rather than players who basically make them cringe. Kasten/ Bowden/Acta are all responsible for this product that they are trying to sell to the fans. At least make it interesting to watch. Marketing the younger players would be an improvement over the institutionalized players we exhibit on the field now.

At risk of being redundant here is a better example. Would you keep going to a food store where only you could buy fresh vegetables in prepackaged lots? Suppose you know that management was giving you 3 totally bad oranges with every dozen, knowing that you had no choice in the matter. I guess that you would take your business to the next food store or just start buying canned goods. Watching Lo Duca hit and play outfield, Pena do the same or Hill pitch is like eating rotten fruit, it all leaves a bad taste in the mouth and a bad impression of the store that sold them to you.

Um. Excuse me. We had attendance of over 30,000 three days in a row this weekend. Playing the Texas Rangers (not a big draw) in the middle of a pretty crappy losing streak.

There are a lot of problems right now, but attendance is not one of them. knock on wood.

Natsnut,

I am not commenting on attendance numbers but on the attitude of the people putting this show on. People will pay to see teams that can hit well (Rangers) or in the case of the Angels, a team that can hit, pitch, and field well. I doubt people will pay to see the Nationals play a team of their own caliber.

Seattle 28-49
Washington 30-49 (1GB)
San Diego 32-46 (3.5GB)
Colorado 32-46 (3.5GB)
San Francisco 33-44 (5GB)

"Perhaps if all seats were filled by not season ticket buyers but single ticket walk ons this team would have indeed been managed differently and more positively."

Nice try, but it's not really supported by the numbers. The Nationals as of this morning are averaging 29,137 a game. We'll never know the exact number because Stan Kasten won't tell us, but all indications are that the season ticket base is somewhere around 20,000 full season equivalents. This means that probably 8,000 to 9,000 tickets are being sold on a single game basis every night. Weekend attendance has been surprisingly strong for a team that's among the worst in baseball. Over 30,000 for each of the three games last weekend against the Rangers, a team that brought virtually no fans of its own to the park, like the Cubs, Cards, Mets and Phillies do. Washington fans are coming out to watch this last place team. Will they continue to do so? Only time will tell. Lots of so-called "longtime season ticket holders" in the blogosphere are threatening not to renew their tickets. Will they follow through with their threats next winter when the invoice comes in? Since the team never talks about how its season ticket sales are going, a key thing to watch would be how they are marketing season tickets to new buyers. Will they still emphasize the full season plans, or will they open up more areas of the park to 20-game plans? Will they market smaller season ticket packages? We know that Stan Kasten doesn't like to deal with any season tickets that aren't full season plans, but will the market force him to?

For now, though, there are apparently lots of folks who will pay to see Shawn Hill pitch or LoDuca play first base. Let's hope that doesn't lull Kasten into thinking it's going to continue indefinitely - or he may be in for a rude awakening one day.

Nice post, VT Nats Fan.

Speaking of posts, thanks to the Post editors for their selection of a classy Nick Johnson-related post for today's dead-tree edition.

Natsfan1a,I agree--well thought-out post, VT Nats Fan, and thanks to the Post for saluting Nick Johnson via the "best post."

took my brother to the game last night. before it even started he said he wanted tickets for next year. i was gonna drop mine but decided to split with him.

oh and garret anderson lobbed a foul ball directly at me when i asked for it, but then someone blocked me out when it was within a foot of my hand!

beautiful night for a game.

nice to see wily mo and elijah dukes show off their power.

I am willing to be patient if I feel that there is progress. Unfortunately, it appears that the Nats have gone backwards with a strong likelihood that next year will be more of the same - it being very unlikely that the Nats will sign any significant free agents this offseason. So we probably face two bad years with a good chance that 2010 will be, at best, mediocre. The Nats are rebuilding their farm system but so are a number of other teams.

Like others on this board, I have noticed some of the issues at the park. For example - how do you run out of cheese pizza before the game starts and then never restock. Why dont you have the little plastic helmets for sundaes? How do you run out of beer with the supposed 1 mile of piping? Etc. Etc... I thought this was Kasten's area of specialty. Yes it is a new park but we are nearly halfway thru the season. In addition, I am concerned that the Lerners will not spend on free agents even when the time is right.

Anyway, it is great to have baseball back after the Senators left, and when in Miami next week, I will go and cheer the Nats on against the Marlins.

nice post @ VT

Can it get any better than watching the Mets fall apart? Yes--for as they lose it puts the Nats one step closer to the #1 pick in the draft!!! Call up Mel Kiper, lets see who's out there.

Let's Go Nats! Let's Go Mariners!

Pretty incredible that Mr. Dickey had a great game last night.

I'm the clubhouse favorite for #1 overall in 2009

Time to "Patterson" Shawn Hill, in fact, it's way overdue. Put this suffering, in pain, dog to sleep so we can all move on.

Great post VT Nats Fan.

I would counsel even more patience than you.

We can skip a free agent signing this off-season but we absolutely must sign the draft choices, especially those "hard to sign" high potential players that fell to us and Jim had the courage to draft.

A "nice try" won't work for me, here. Pay over slot, if we must, but produce.

Oh yea, give Seattle, that's "give" not trade, anyone on of the over ripe players (+30) we have spoiling on our vine who might help them win. We can replace them with the best on our farm in a relatively stress free environment.
Go Mariners!

Let's play two!

I like the decision to shut down Hill. Hopefully, he can come back and get a couple of starts in September and we can evaluate where he is at going into the off-season.

Nice post VT. I would add that this season is a further demonstration of why Manny was clearly the Manager of the Year last year. Last season's over achievement has made this season's disappointment all the more bitter.

I'm up.

VT, do you have to buy a franchise to dispense all that Kool-Aid?

Seriously, your post is so wrong on so many levels that I don't know where to start, and I'm not going to be able to address all of it. Here are a few points:

The issue of concern as I see it (and I don't speak for SoCH who you were addressing in your post) is not with the current losing, and it's not a question of impatient NOW NOW NOW as you suggest. The problems are that 1) this team on the major league level is going backwards, not forwards, and 2) *how* the team is losing--the team is playing with an awful attitude and no sense of purpose.

The coaching has been horrible--and apparently tolerated. Zimmerman while he was healthy earlier this season showed real signs of regressing in his development, and not improvement--which I attribute largely to poor coaching, and the absence of experienced players from whom he can learn (and who can take some pressure off him).

These are not signs of an organization that is turning itself around with an eye towards competing in the future. These are signs of a stagnant bad team.

Moreover, your suggestion that fans need to "support" this team in order to keep it from moving away is just plain wrong--the team cannot go anywhere for 30 years. Personally, I am a full season-ticket holder, so in your view do I support the team? I believe I do, but I just expect them to make an effort to win and take the business of rebuilding seriously, which in my view they are not doing. I'm not going to just sit around dumbly and hope, as you put it, that "things can magically turn themselves around."

As to your comment that "the Nationals minor leagues now have the best pitching top to bottom of any organization"? Oh, how I wish that were true. Unfortunately, it just isn't. They have some decent prospects, but so do many other teams. And the Nats don't have anyone right now who in their systemt who has shown the potential to be a #1 starter.

VT, a plan is fine. A plan does demand patience. I agree with that. The problem is that this ownership and management hasn't shown that they deserve our patience, and they haven't shown that they are competent in implementing any plan. The team is moving backwards, not forwards.

I do not disagree with VT's premise about staying positive. I approach every game with a degree of optimism, only to be usually disappointed. I really do not think Manny is making the most of his limited assets. I truly believe he has players batting out of position. His current configurations have not worked yet he stays with them. I am referring primarily to Milledge, Young and Pena. I have said this on numerous occasions Young is your best hitter , Bat him three, Milledge - two, Pena - four and Dukes - five. Or you could try Milledge, Dukes, Young , Pena , Guzman. Just try it and see what happens.

As for Bowden - I think he is fast talking used car salesman. I do not think he is respected by his peers. He can not make trades. He overvalues his tradeable assets. I agree with Steve, he has mismanaged the major league roster since he took over. He started by trying to bandaid the team by giving away draft choices and young players for aging vets. That changed when Kasten and the Lerners came aboard. Bowden, the opportunist, started singing the merits of the draft. This guy has no clue how to build, let alone run a team. These medical false starts are inexcusable.

Glad to see Hill is going to try to get fixed. This guy can pitch and has a warrior mentality, something this team needs. Let's get him fixed.

On track to to loose 108 games which will make it the second worst team in 39 year history of the Nats/Expos.

I will watch the game tonight fully expecting the team to win. I will take one look at Manny's lineup and get depressed. If happens every game. Come on Manny - think like a baseball manager. If you don't want to manage then quit.

To: Lerners are Cheap.

Your post is excellent. You accurately portrayed the current situation. I agree with you 100%. As a season ticket holder you have more right than most to voice this opinion.

Kasten is right. The Nats will get the attendance they deserve. A declining attendance. Baseball is entertainment. This edition of the Nats are not.

This is not "Year 4" in terms of the Lerner's ownership. We are at the end of "Year 2," since they took over in midseason 2006. Patience is still called for.

As I break for a quick lunch and open up the paper, I must say, while the story of another ugly loss, Shawn's elbow, and Nick's wrist is depressing, it was also quite refreshing to see not one, but two top of the front page articles about our team. Thanks for that, Chico.

I feel so bad for both of those young men. They deserve better.

Re-post from another thread
I do not disagree with VT's premise about staying positive. I approach every game with a degree of optimism, only to be usually disappointed. I really do not think Manny is making the most of his limited assets. I truly believe he has players batting out of position. His current configurations have not worked yet he stays with them. I am referring primarily to Milledge, Young and Pena. I have said this on numerous occasions Young is your best hitter , Bat him three, Milledge - two, Pena - four and Dukes - five. Or you could try Milledge, Dukes, Young , Pena , Guzman. Just try it and see what happens.

As for Bowden - I think he is fast talking used car salesman. I do not think he is respected by his peers. He can not make trades. He overvalues his tradeable assets. I agree with Steve, he has mismanaged the major league roster since he took over. He started by trying to bandaid the team by giving away draft choices and young players for aging vets. That changed when Kasten and the Lerners came aboard. Bowden, the opportunist, started singing the merits of the draft. This guy has no clue how to build, let alone run a team. These medical false starts are inexcusable.

Glad to see Hill is going to try to get fixed. This guy can pitch and has a warrior mentality, something this team needs. Let's get him fixed.

On track to to loose 108 games which will make it the second worst team in 39 year history of the Nats/Expos.

I will watch the game tonight fully expecting the team to win. I will take one look at Manny's lineup and get depressed. If happens every game. Come on Manny - think like a baseball manager. If you don't want to manage then quit.

Also I want to commend poster, Lerners are Cheap, for earlier post on the state of franchise. It was a great post.

Jim Bowden has to be held accountable for what's happening on the field this year. Injuries happen to every team, but the good ones have quality players stashed they can recall to fill in.

There were plenty of NRIs and minor league free agents available over the past off-season that could have been brought in to compete for jobs on this team, let alone provide injury insurance. What did Bowden do? He signed Aaron Boone, Willie Harris, Rob Mackowiak, Pete Orr, Ryan Langerhans, two old, beat up catchers in Paul LoDuca and Johnny Estrada and Odalis Perez.

Boone and Perez have performed on the level the team hoped for, but the rest have been an abomination.

Harris, Mackowiak and Orr are all the same player and Langerhans has been released twice now with no other team claiming him, allowing him to be sent back to Columbus.

Think the $5MM the Nats spent on Paul LoDuca would have been better spent on Milton Bradley? How about Russel Branyan, a minor league free agent that "just wanted another chance", who has hit XX homers in xx at bats? Bartolo Colon? He signed a minor league deal. Chris Gomez signed a one-year $1MM deal. I could on all day.

Yet Bowden came back with the crew he assembled proclaiming this team to be competitive. It never had a chance.

Now, we all know Mike Rizzo is in charge of scouting and drafting of the amateurs, so all we have to judge Bowden on is his performance assembling the major league and Triple-A team. and those area have both regressed in the four years (two under the Lerners) that he's been on the job.

Enough is Enough. I'm not playing hypotheical like FIREJIMBOWDEN.com is, but simply providing evidence that Bowden very poorly chose the NRIs and one-year contracts he chose to give out for THIS SEASON, and the evidence is damning.

He continues to overvalue and overhype the players he assembles, then BLAMES THEM for poor performance. it's time he's held accountable for the teams he's putting on the field. there's no reason to play this poorly when you can be a shrewd judge of stop-gap talent in the off-season.

Bowden must go.

i obvously menat to go back and fill in Branyan's stats. he's hitting .297 with 10 honmers and 17 rbis in 74 at bats for Milwaukee.

he he. sorry.

Ok, so if we are going to have basically AAAA class team, can the Lerners at least lower the ticket and food prices at the new park? Now, that'd be a Nice "Welcome Home".

Ok, so if we are going to have basically AAAA class team, can the Lerners at least lower the ticket and food prices at the new park? Now, that'd be a Nice "Welcome Home".