Bowden has a penchant for getting hooked on "five tool" players. As a
lifelong Reds fan, seeing guys like Deion Sanders, Reggie Taylor and Ruben
Mateo getting shuttled thru was a major irritant.

Bowden's fly by the seat of his pants manor and trading for trading's sake
combined to make the Reds a rudderless ship, having zero plan for the future,
just working on being competitive day to day.

His last draft, 2002, was by far his worst, with literally 1 to 2 players
who've made any impact in the system at all.

The end came when the lack of planning for the future showed itself when the
team flopped badly in the first year of the opening of the new ballpark.
Bowden stepped on toes, had wild trades repeatedly vetoed by ownership, and
had burned all his bridges up to that point, making the teams poor
performance the final straw.

It just seemed that as the new stadium got closer, Bowden just cashed in his
chips in Cincy and let the system rot.

Now, all that being said, he is a perfect fit for what the Nationals need
right now.

One thing he excelled at in Cincinnati was taking spare parts, retreads and
castoffs, which is exactly what the Nationals need. To be competitive for the
short term, to build up excitement, then to find a long term GM solution to
plug in there to get the team on the right long term track.

The Soriano trade is a gamble I wouldn't have made, but it could pay off big
time if he can flip him for something else, or trade Vidro in the near
future. Wilkerson will turn into a stud in Texas IMO.

The signing of Castilla didn't turn out too badly, as he's off the payroll
now, but Guzman's contract may go down as one of the worst ever.

Sad thing is, Bowden strikes me, baseball smarts wise, as the perfect Asst.
GM to a strong willed GM, who can take his knack for finding value in the
trash heap and combine it with long term goals. But Bowden's ego, which is
the size of the Washington Monument, will never allow him to step back to
that level.

He nees more of the "vision thing" which he's always lacked.

It wouldn't surprise me to see him get run out of DC in the not so distant
future.