THE BELTWAY BOYS: Selig Sinks Nats Free Agents Hopes

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Selig Sinks Nats Free Agents Hopes

[November 10th] -- Up until now, Major League Baseball's refusal to finalize and complete the sale of the Nationals has been little more than an irritant, something to gripe about during baseball's long off season.

Time to belly-up. It's no longer a "what-if" senario.

Selig's foot dragging and Jim Bowden's "dream job" shopping has not only scared away the available free agents, but has jeopardized the team's chances of re-signing Hector Carrasco and Esteban Loaiza as well.

Players agents are staying far far away from Jim Bowden and the Nationals this week at Indian Wells, California. Said one, "We're going out into a marketplace with clubs that have ownership in place ... the agent said. "You can't sit there and say the same about Washington. Who wants to go to an organization that doesn't know who's going to be running the team?" Translation: we can forget about any "outside" help for the team this year. And it's not looking like we're going to keep Loaiza or Carrasco either.

Carrasco's 2005 season has earned him a multi-year deal from somewhere, and the Nationals are likely not going to have the money to make that work here.

It get's even worse on the Loaiza front. His agent is looking for a three year, $20 million dollar contract, a sum nowhere near what the Nats will be offering. "Esteban would have liked to return to Washington," John Boggs said. "They just haven't developed an offer that's anywhere near competitive to what we think we're going to find in the free agent market. ... Come Friday, all bets are off."

I don't know about you, but that sounds awfully "past tense" to me.

# posted by Farid Rushdi @ 5:14 PM

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Rasner Rocks For Yanks

What was it that Jim Bowden said when he lost Darrell Rasner to the Yankees through waivers last winter? Wasn't it something like, "C'mon, it wasn't like he was going to make an impact at the major league level?" Well Jimbo, it seems like some of your "minor" transactions are coming back to haunt you.

Rasner, a 6'3" righty from Carson City, Nevada, was waived February 11th by the Nationals, just a couple of weeks before the start of spring training. He was picked up and assigned to 'AAA' Columbus. He had some injuries this year, but it didn't effect his pitching. In 58 innings for the Clippers, Rasner went 4-0, 2.76. But wait. There's more.

Pitching on Sunday against the Twins, Rasner pitched 6 strong innings, allowing just 1 run on 6 hits. In two starts, he's now 1-0, 1.17.

What do you always like to say, Jim, something about "You can never have enough pitching?" Let's see, you waived Rasner, and he's starting for the Yankees. You waived Claudio Vargas, and he's starting for the Diamondbacks. You waived Byung Young Kim, and he's starting for the Rockies. You traded Tomo Ohka for a guy no longer in the major leagues, and he's starting for the Brewers.

Jim, if I were you, I'd stay away from the waiver wire. Seems like you haven't figured it that it's supposed to help the team, not hurt it.

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Big Changes, Little Names

Big happenings? Nah. Just happenings. Zach Day was designated for assignment by the Colorado Rockies and Capitol Punishment is reporting that the Nats have claimed him off the waiver wire. So we ended up getting Preston Wilson for nothing. That's nice. Billy Traber, he of the tight leash, was sent down to New Orleans and replaced by Mike O'Connor.

That's all well and good, but don't look to any of these moves making a difference in the play of the team. But hey, it's something to talk about. Right?