I'm In Control Here

Stan Kasten had his Alexandar Haig moment last week, calling a press conference, disguised a luncheon, to assure the wary press corps that he had a plan. And that he was fully in command.

So, the flailing that you've seen with candidates like Girardi and Pendleton pulling out for the most flimsy of Washington excuses ("family reasons") is ok. That's all part of the plan. Accounts of prospective managers being called once or twice then ignored for weeks? That's part of the plan too. Have no fear. Stan Kasten is in control, and if those pesky, meddling scribes didn't need to fill inches for their yellow-stained broadsheets, there wouldn't be any controversy.

Whatever. An exhaustive search was hopefully part of the plan, but I have a hard time believing that Trent Jewett (god love him) was part of plans A, B or C. If Terry Pendleton hadn't pulled out, do you think they'd actually be interviewing Trent? It's possible, I guess.

But what galls me about the press conference is the ridiculousness of it. Kasten protested the media's coverage, basically implying that it was inaccurate. Well, if they want accurate media coverage, they need to be up front with the reporters. Let them know who's being interviewed. Let them know what's going on so the fans have a farkin' clue.

Because right now, the impression we get is one of managerial candidates running away from the Lerners like they have cholera, people we've never heard of phoning from Venezuela to throw their hat in the ring, and poor saps like Dusty Baker sitting longingly by the phone like a smitten teenage girl. And we're supposed to be confident in this search and the way it's being run?

The media is part of the story, Stan. Maybe in an attempt to control the story he's let the story take on a life of its own. It can't work that way; the Nationals don't control the media and don't have a monopoly on the truth -- and most importantly, the interpretation of said 'truth'.

Kasten continues to play the coy little "We're still interested in signing Soriano," game. Left out is the little parenthetical he mutters under his breath "As long as he's willing to take a contract significantly below his market value."

The Nationals, it seems, don't want to really bid on any free agents (other than the same class of crappy Ortiz-quality ones they scraped off their shoes last year.)

"I don't want to rule anything out, but [signing big-name free agents] is not my current game plan," Kasten said. "I have said that when you sign free agents I actually think you take yourself farther away from your goal, if you are not ready to take advantage of the money you spend."

Could someone please explain that last sentence to me? That doesn't really make sense. How does signing a free agent (and maybe most of this hinges on the definition of 'big-name free agent') hurt the team? Especially on the pitching side, there are holes that need to be filled with someone better than the Billy Trabers of the world. A Free Agent would not harm player development because it's not taking away a job that's likely to be filled by a minor leaguer.

The team said they're likely to pursue a slew of minor league free agents. There are some useful players floating around, and it's a good way to stock some emergency depth, especially at the AAA level, where the Nats are as barren as the Great Salt Flats, but they seem like they're counting on them for roles with the Major League team. God help us if I'm watching Mike Venafro throw innings for us.

Minor League Baseball helpfully has a listing of available minor league free agents. Some decent bench guys there.... maybe a stopgap starter or two, but, other than cheap, they're not really offering much.

To that end, the Nats have made at least one signing, Mike Restovich, the former Twin. Restovich is a slugging cornerman (stats)who fields like a slug. But he hits right-handed, and he does hit pretty well, especially in a platoon role. He's got as good a chance to make it with the team as any, and would be a good solution as a 4th or 5th outfielder.