Hell Hath No Fury Like Stan Kasten Scorned.

 

"You know, to say I'm disappointed doesn't begin to describe how I feel. I'm [expletive deleted] angry. I am very  [expletive deleted] angry. We've been  [expletive deleted] defrauded, and make no [expletive deleted] mistake -- this wasn't a [expletive deleted] college kid with a  [expletive deleted] fake ID that came in and did this. This was a deliberate, premeditated  [expletive deleted] fraud with a lot more to this [expletive deleted] story, and we are going to get to the [expletive deleted] bottom of it. There were many, many  [expletive deleted] people involved in this  [expletive deleted] premeditated fraud."
(Stan [expletive deleted] Kasten, via Nationals Journal, 2/18/2009)

Stan Kasten is [expletive deleted] pissed.

No StanSpeak Translator Required: Stan Kasten is pissed, and you better bet your ass someone is gonna pay.

From our read of Stan Kasten's comments from his conference call with the media earlier this evening (a big thank you to Chico Harlan for posting the transcript), he's setting up a certain Segway-riding GM to take (at least some of) the responsibility for this fraud:

"Let me give you some background on all of this... 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, which was July 2."

According to the Washington Times, Jim Bowden was among those told to keep his mouth shut by Stan this morning:

After the story broke this morning, Kasten forbade anyone else in the organization from commenting on the situation. This included general manager Jim Bowden, who as of this afternoon had not returned a reporter's phone call requesting comment. Bowden was believed to be in Arizona, where he's handling the team's arbitration cases.

Dan Steinberg, toiling away in the Viera sun, had the best headline yet on the story: "Stan Kasten and the Player to be named later".

Meanwhile...doesn't it feel like something big is about to drop?

(Photo by Reuters Pictures. Stan Kasten is the guy on the left right in this photo.)

Comments

[Jon_inDC]

Why not just come right out and say it. You have wanted Bowden fired for long time, and this is yet another chance to pile on.

How does it feel to be judge, jury, and executioner?

[The Nationals Enquirer]

>How does it feel to be judge, jury, and executioner?

To be honest, it feels pretty damn good, Jon. Come on - in general, we think Bowden has done an OK job. Not great, not bad. We enjoy a good laugh at his expense. I don't think we've ever openly advocated for his firing - but we may have openly speculated about it.

Head over to NJ and read the full transcript of Stan's conf call. There's an undercurrent of Stan drawing a distinct line between "them" and "us"; I get the sense Jimbo falls on the "them" side. Just a gut feeling we got.

Next, I suggest you head over and read Nate's take on the situation over at Nats Triple Play. That post probably captures what we're feeling a little better than anything you might read over here.