You Take the Good with The Bad

It appears that the Reign of Bowden will continue. Temporarily. I hope. Chris over at Capitol Punishment touches on Barry Svrluga's article regarding the status of the Nationals' GM. He hits on all the key points that have been running through my head. I don't view this as a horrible decision. It actually makes more sense than allowing Bowden to move on to Arizona, Tampa Bay, or Philadelphia (well, maybe it's OK to send him to a division rival). The one thing that the Nationals need right now is stability. With MLB allowing this ridiculous ownership selection process to drag on, the best thing for the team, in the short term, is to allow Bowden to retain his job. A new GM would have to learn on the fly in a barren free agent market. This may lead to the selection of someone who feels they need to make a splash to impress the future owner. And we all know how that worked out last year (see Guzman, Cristian or Castilla, Vinny). Bowden is a known quantity. If he is allowed to retain the job, it must be temporary, and with serious budget restrictions. The last thing the Nationals need is for Bowden to go out and throw huge dollars at a player in a weak market (cough ... Paul Konerko ... cough). He can serve his purpose as a placeholder until a new owner assumes control and hires his own management team. There is one additional concern I have with the retention of Bowden. As Chris mentioned, the retention of Bowden leads me to believe the Tavares/Bowden cabal will not retain Frank Robinson as manager. While not the biggest fan of Frank, I worry Bowden's choice of a replacement will be Bob Boone. Boone is part of Bowden's Cincy posse and will likely get serious consideration. THAT would be a mistake. Boone has proven himself inept as a manager in both Kansas City and Cincinnati. If people were frustrated with Frank Robinson and his decision making, Frank doesn't hold a candle to Boone's style. As scary a thought as it sounds. The best course of action for the Nationals is to make no changes. Stay with Tony, Frank, and Jim until a new owner enters the picture. And then, the fun will begin.