Leatherpants on Fire

We all know the saying "the buck stops here."  Well, for Nats GM Jim Bowden, what if it's 1,400,000 of them?

That's the question today, as the fallout from yesterday's report that Bowden's shiny international prospect isn't really who he says he is.

Nats president Stan Kasten isn't happy.  One of his answers at yesterday's media session could be a slam against Bowden:

"We were awarded the team in early May [2006], and really soon thereafter, within maybe two weeks or three weeks, right in the early stage of the transition, we did not yet own the team, Jim [Bowden] came to me and said his staff had seen this kid, they thought he was special, they thought he would command a premier bonus, and what was our appetite for that. And, obviously none of us had ever seen the kid or heard of the kid. But he described him, the staff described him, and we said, 'Yeah, we want to be aggressive, we'd back you on something like that if that's what everyone feels like.' So we did support their recommendation, and we went ahead and signed him on the first day we were able to."

Can you hear the sounds of Kasten scrubbing his hands clean?

It's been rumored that Bowden isn't Kasten's first choice, and that Bowden's strong relationship with Mark Lerner has given him a longer shelf life than Kasten would want.  If that's the case, perhaps Smileygate is the proverbial camel-breaking straw.

The columnists for the Post and the Times have each weighed in, and they both think it's time for Leatherpants to go.

Loverro: "Even if Bowden had no knowledge of any scam, it happened on his watch and marks yet another embarrassment for a franchise that already is the laughingstock of baseball."

When asked what else Bodes would have to do before losing his job, Tom Boswell replied, "not much."

Bowden's been busily preparing for Ryan Zimmerman's upcoming arbitration hearing.  After that, he joins the rest of the team in Florida.  Could that be his last road trip with the team?

More and more people certainly think so.

Chris Needham used to write Capitol Punishment before his bonus-skimming scheme was thwarted.