Jim Bowden Rumors

GM Trade Histories: NL East

Brendan Bianowicz is back with a bunch of updates to the GM Trade History series.  The Excel spreadsheets linked below cover each GM's trades, free agent signings, and top draft picks via tabs along the bottom.  It's interesting to see each GM's most frequent trade partner - for example, Omar Minaya has matched up with Larry Beinfest and Mark Shapiro most often in his career.

• Washington Nationals - Jim Bowden and Mike Rizzo
• Philadelphia Phillies - Pat Gillick and Ruben Amaro Jr.
• New York Mets - Omar Minaya
• Florida Marlins - Larry Beinfest and Michael Hill
• Atlanta Braves - Frank Wren

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Odds & Ends: Nationals, Teixeira, Ligtenberg

Links for Friday...

• RotoAuthority looks at the April offensive stat leaders.
• Jim Callis of Baseball America discussed Jim Bowden's Stephen Strasburg comments.  Bowden says the Nationals' decision to draft Strasburg has been made, and predicts they'll sign him for around $15MM minutes before the deadline.
• ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. talked to Nats interim GM Mike Rizzo about their revamped Latin American plan.
• Mark Teixeira talked to Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times about his decision to sign with the Yankees.
• Brian Stensaas of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune writes about Kerry Ligtenberg, who is attempting a comeback with the St. Paul Saints.
• SI.com's Tom Verducci spoke with one GM who points to struggling older teams and says "it's better to be young these days."
• Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press writes that the Tigers are being patient with pitchers Ryan Perry and Rick Porcello.
• MLB.com's Corey Brock doesn't expect GM Kevin Towers to sit back and watch if the Padres continues to struggle.
• Here's Baseball America's list of the hottest prospects in the minors right now.
• ESPN.com's Keith Law scouts a pair of college players who could turn up on BA's list next year: Tim Wheeler and Drew Storen.
• Twins reliever Juan Morillo cleared waivers, so he'll head to Triple A according to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

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Odds & Ends: Bowden, Owens, Flores

Links for Thursday...

• MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo and ESPN's Jason Churchill say high school catcher Luke Bailey is having Tommy John surgery.  He might fall out of the top 20 in the draft, says Churchill.
• Thom Loverro of The Washington Times transcribes all kinds of amusing comments made by former Nationals GM Jim Bowden earlier this month.  Bowden touched upon Stephen Strasburg, Mark Teixeira, and Aaron Crow.
• Alex Speier of WEEI notes that free agency hasn't done much for the Red Sox recently, outside of the Tim Wakefield and David Ortiz bargain signings.
• ESPN's Jim Caple talked to pitcher Jeff Zimmerman, who is on the comeback trail with the Mariners.
• Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune notes that White Sox outfielder Jerry Owens may be on the way out.  It sounds like Scott Podsednik is coming up, but there will be no roster move today.
• Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post says Rockies reliever Randy Flores, currently in Triple A, is debating whether to opt out of his contract.
• Zach Berman of the Washington Post gathered quotes on new Nationals pitcher Logan Kensing.
• Tonight at 10pm CST, Seth Stohs and Twins pitcher Glen Perkins will co-host the MN GameNight radio show.

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Heyman On Strasburg, Lackey, Pedro

SI.com's Jon Heyman has a new column up.

• In talking to club execs who have spoken with Scott Boras about Stephen Strasburg, Heyman believes Boras does have $50MM in mind.  Boras allegedly likened Strasburg to fictional pitcher Sidd Finch, with the plan being to shatter previous draft pick bonuses by using Daisuke Matsuzaka's contract as a model.  One Nationals person told Heyman, "We'll pay the $10 million, and we'll get him signed."  This much is clear: we'll have something off the field to talk about in August.   For more Strasburg Mania, check out this article by Steve Henson at Yahoo.
• Heyman learned from Nationals sources that Stan Kasten and team ownership, not Jim Bowden, cut off the Aaron Crow negotiations at $3.3MM.  Kasten's had many applicants for Bowden's GM job, but Heyman's sources expect Mike Rizzo to retain the gig.
• A Heyman source estimated that the Angels offered John Lackey four years and around $50MM.  Talks are on hold given Lackey's elbow injury.  He didn't want to negotiate during the season anyway.  The latest report on Lackey's injury is pretty good.
• Pedro Martinez still wants $5MM, and is "willing to wait well into the season."  Heyman believes the Dodgers, Indians, Pirates, Astros, and Mets are possibilities now.

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Odds & Ends: Bowden, Stanton, Baker

Sunday night linkage...

• Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Dodgers "will not restructure Juan Pierre's contract to make him go away."
• Murray Chass likes Jim Bowden, while Hal McCoy has a negative recollection.
• ESPN's Peter Gammons wrote about teams clamoring for Marlins prospect Michael Stanton last July.
• Jesse Spector of the New York Daily News talked to Baseball-Reference mastermind Sean Forman.
• Aaron Gleeman analyzes Scott Baker's new extension with the Twins.
• RotoAuthority recently looked at catcher tiers for fantasy baseball drafts.

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Jim Bowden - GM Trade History

By our count, Jim Bowden made over 168 trades as GM of the Reds and Nationals over the years.  MLBTR contributor Brendan Bianowicz compiled all of Bowden's deals in this spreadsheet.  Click here to see the other entries in the GM Trade History series.

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Odds & Ends: Marte, Wilkerson, Bowden

Links for Wednesday as we enter the short post-Manny phase of the offseason...

• RotoAuthority has 18 undrafted players to watch for mixed leagues.
• WEEI's Rob Bradford talked to Bill Lajoie, who was behind Boston's acquisition of Andy Marte while Theo Epstein was on hiatus.  Lajoie admitted he acquired Marte with the intent of flipping him.
• SI.com's Melissa Segura writes about fraud involving Dominican prospects.
• Nothing cooking yet with the Red Sox and Jason Bay, says Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe.
• Jorge Says No! says shortstops Bobby Crosby and Khalil Greene are at the crossroads of their careers.
• WEEI's Alex Speier notes that Boston outfielders Jeff Bailey and Brad Wilkerson have opt-out clauses if they're not in the bigs by certain dates.
• Fire Jim Bowden has the ten best moves of their namesake GM.
• Nick Piecoro wonders if Randy Johnson took a subtle jab at Chris Snyder.
• Updated June draft order at Baseball America.
• Ken Davidoff of Newsday looks at each team's 2012 commitments.

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Stan Kasten Performing GM Duties For Now

11:43am: Harlan says Nationals president Stan Kasten is performing the GM duties for the moment, at least as far as trades.  Kasten didn't offer much else regarding the search for Bowden's replacement.

8:55am: The Washington Post has all kinds of reading material in the wake of Jim Bowden's resignation.

• Thomas Boswell says Bowden shouldn't blame the media.  Bowden's #1 job was to build a farm system, but the Nationals are in the bottom third of baseball in that regard.
• Barry Svrluga looks at Bowden's significant moves as Nationals GM.  Svrluga and Chico Harlan gathered quotes from many who worked with Bowden.
• Joshua Robinson and Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times note that baseball investigators have examined 6-8 teams' dealings in the Dominican Republic - not just the Nationals.
• Harlan figures Mike Rizzo and Tony LaCava are candidates to replace Bowden.

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Jim Bowden Resigns

7:52pm: According to Ladson, the Nationals were shocked by Bowden's resignation.  Manager Manny Acta and several players made complimentary remarks Sunday evening.

"The news caught me by surprise," Acta said. "It takes a lot of courage for him to do that. As a manager, I appreciate what he did if he felt that he was being a distraction here. I will always be grateful and have a soft spot for Jim."

9:48am: The Washington Post has provided a link to Bowden's official statement.

9:04am: According to Chico Harlan of the Washington Post, Nationals GM Jim Bowden has resigned.

ESPN.com has more, including quotes from Bowden. Most notably, Bowden says, "I've become a distraction," and, "my ability to properly represent the Washington Nationals has been compromised."

Finally, Bill Ladson of MLB.com captures a classic quote from the GM: "I have become a distraction. Unless you are Manny Ramirez, there is no place for distraction in baseball."

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Odds and Ends: Bordick, Sheets, Bowden

Here are your Thursday links...

• Former MLB shortstop Mike Bordick has been hired by the Blue Jays as a minor league infield instructor.
• Richard Durett of the Dallas Morning News has the transcript of a radio interview with Rangers owner Tom Hicks.  It sounds like his club will make another run at Ben Sheets once he's back to full health.
• The Orioles and Cardinals might share players this spring, according to Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun.  "My gut is there would be nothing wrong with it,'' said St. Louis manager Tony La Russa. "We're in different leagues."  UPDATE: That idea was shot down pretty quickly.
• Mark DeRosa told Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com that he left the Cubs on good terms.  There were rumors of a feud between he and manager Lou Piniella.
• Contrary to some reports, the Nationals have absolutely not contacted Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava about possibly replacing Jim Bowden.
• Check out Tim's interview with "The Yankees: Minors to Majors," a blog.

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