Wednesday, April 25, 2007

The Line Of The Day


Today, During Mark Zuckerman's online chat I asked him the following question:

From Screech'sBestFriend in Alexandria:

How has Nats management handled the rough start by the Nationals? Pretty much what they expected? Worse? Or not concerned with winning right now?


His Final Line in the answer was TERRIFIC!!:

Mark Zuckerman:

Management (and by that I'm referring to Jim Bowden, Stan Kasten and others in the front-office) seems to be handling this fine. They knew what they were getting into. I did hear something interesting from a front-office exec, though. This person didn't exactly think it was a great idea to go into this season with such a low payroll and so few established players (particularly in the starting rotation) but was overruled by others high up in the organization who felt there was no good reason to spend millions of dollars to sign second-tier free agents who wouldn't help this team win this year. There is a difference, this person noted, between a 110-loss club and a 95-loss club, certainly in the public's eye. Fans are less likely to throw a fit over a bad-yet-competitive team as opposed to one that frequently has no chance to win on a given night. Here's how this person summed it all up: "This is a learning year for these players, but maybe it'll also be a learning year for ownership." Interesting.

"...but maybe it'll also be a learning year for ownership."

What a Great Line and Telling at the same time!

1 comment:

JayB said...

What is you take on what the quote means SBF?

Could it be that having some veteren leadership on the team could have provided at least a reasonable chance of winning 70 games and that would have been a better long term development PLAN?

The current approach seems to really be hurting Zimmerman's ability to relax and focus at the plate and the field. Perhaphs a mentor would help?