Second Verse, Same As The First

Remember a few months back when Ken Rosenthal wrote a long story detailing some of the stupid things the team was doing organizationally, especially in how it treated personnel? Remember how they said that that would be fixed? Consider this.

Jose Cardenal, Bowden's special advisor, said he didn't receive his contract for 2008 in the mail. Cardenal's 2007 contract expired on Oct. 31. Cardenal said he is now a free agent. He said he has been trying to reach Bowden the last few weeks, but the latter didn't return his calls.

"Somebody should have called me and told me that my contract was not renewed," Cardenal said.

But in an e-mail, Bowden said "not true," when referring to Cardenal's contract not being renewed.

Cardenal was more than an advisor. He often traveled around Minor League cities to teach the Nationals players the art of baserunning and playing the outfield. Cardenal spent the last two weeks of the season teaching Justin Maxwell how to play the outfield the right way.

Not a huge deal in and of itself, but it seems like it's part of a pattern. The Nats lost a few minor league coaches (perhaps intentionally) over the last few years doing the same. Eh, whatever.

The more important news from that is that the Nats are interested in acquiring Tom Glavine or Livan Hernandez.

I'd peg both of 'em at about the same level, capable of being a #4 at this stage in their careers.

I've always loved the way that Livan pitched, especially with that big balloon curve (well, and gut). And it'd be nice to have a pitcher who can hit! But I imagine that someone's going to give him 3 years, and I'm not sure I'd want to commit to him that long given his slow decline and his blogger-type physique. If he'd come at one or two year, I could get behind it.

I used to follow the Braves when I was younger, back when they were on TV every night. I always loved watching Maddux and Smoltz pitch, but never Glavine. I dunno. Just something about his style, even as he's been effective more often than not. But he'll be 42. His ERA has risen three straight years, and his ERA was below league average for a starter last year. He doesn't miss ANY bats. But he's still capable of a quality start -- 23 of 34 starts last year. (The 34 is probably his most impressive number; he takes the ball every 5th day, unlike most of our sad sacks.)

If Livan wants a three-year deal, I take Glavine. If Livan only wants 2, maybe I lean in his direction. Of course what other teams decide to do is going to impact the whole thing a lot.

Article sez that Bowden's also interested in Rocco Baldelli, who's basically a spare outfielder for the Rays at this point. That's a classic Bowden move -- taking a chance on someone that a team's about to give up on. Rocco's got a TON of potential, but he's also on the Nick Johnson Catastrophic Injury Insurance Program. I could definitely get behind that move.