Monday, February 23, 2009

The Sound of Stan Kasten Sawing off Jim at the Knees

From SBF's transcript of the Kasten media availability today.
Question: Stan—how much do you support Jim (Bowden)?

“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.”
If Jim isn't fired, he should quit, because short of firing him on the spot that's about the weakest expression of "support" I can imagine.

12 comments:

Dave Nichols said...

this is the most incredible, mystifying, stupifying ridiculous story i think i've ever seen. is Kasten going to tap-dance until April and hope people will just start paying attention to games and this will blend into the background?

we posted the exact same thing within minute of each other.

and how does a blogger have the ENTIRE transcript up before any of the MSM even have quotes out?

An Briosca Mor said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Will said...

Dave, I'm sure you're well aware of the Post's record covering the Nats. It doesn't surprise me in the least to see this go straight to the blogs.
You bloggers are the ones who drive Nationals news. It's more often the Post picking up stories from blogs than the opposite way around.

This shitstorm better be resolved soon. It's quickly become clear where Kasten stands. He's been hinting towards Bowden being on the outs since the start. But until we hear word from either Mark or Ted, this is just another example of the dysfunction of our FO.

Rob B said...

The only reason I can think that they would be waiting on a decision re:Jimbo is maybe they're trying to convince him to resign instead of canning his ass outright. I feel like I've seen teams do that in the past to make it seem like a more amicable parting of ways. (Even though most fans know it's a horseshit PR move)
Anybody know how that affects his contract? I don't have a clue what his contract even is.....

MikeHarris said...

We bloggers also have an advantage of not having to worry about writing something for the next day's paper. Instead of rushing to get a transcript online, they're perhaps trying to find others to talk to so they can provide some more details in the daily fishwrap.
That was the big challenge we had. If you post it online in the afternoon, you can't put the same thing in the paper the next day or no one will read it.
Oh wait *** maybe that's why their circulations are falling.

El Rey said...

I sense that change is in the air in Natstown and it is change that even I can believe in unless Jimbo has pictures of Ted or Mark with a goat in which case it will be business as usual.

Steven said...

Heck, I'll just give SBF credit that he just out-hustled the other guys.

Either that or maybe it's easier to type when you don't take the time to worry about things like basic capitalization and apostrophe usage :)

Chris Needham said...

THAT -- is a cheap Shot.

Screech's Best Friend said...

Steven: Thanks for cutting the legs out from under us, while we were hustling at the same time. The African Queen and I were not INVITED to the media availability like the MSM--but we made the effort to make it happen and reported it EXACTLY as it occurred. We knew what was going on. We follow the flow. Sometimes--you need to give us credit for making the best of any situation. We were there, realized what was going on--AND WE MADE IT HAPPEN FOR OUR READERS. The complete transcription of the event, giving everyone the feeling of what really happened. Not just a few selected comments. We are proud of that--no matter how much a few want to chid us for making a very nice effort.

Steven said...

SBF--Dude, I said you out-hustled the other guys. You did a good job, and I appreciate it.

I just teased a little. Don't be so sensitive. It's all good, ok?

Basil said...

They've been anti-Bowden since Day 1,

The MSM, including Tom Boswell, who marvelled at Bowden's keen intellect and boundless energy?

You're right that there's an agenda here, but it's not always negative; instead, it's always focused on a narrative. And with Bowden, the narrative is a natural one, laid out the moment he became a GM. He's Jay Gatsby, extravagant in his day and alone in his (professional) death.

Dave Nichols said...

Steven, no back-handed compliment goes unpunished around here.

congrats to SBF for being in the right place at the right time.