FoxSports.com Takes In-Depth Look At Nationals Organization

Questions surrounding the Nationals –- “questions raised in interviews with nearly a dozen former employees and several current employees, as well as officials from rival clubs — go beyond the Nats’ 9-18 start,” raising concerns about “flawed management impeding progress at the major-league level,” according to FOXSPORTS.com’s Ken Rosenthal in a four-part examination of the team. Approximately 50 employees “have resigned or been fired since [GM Jim] Bowden took over” in November ’04, “including a number whom Bowden promoted or hired.” Also, former employees said that “slow reimbursements of scouts’ travel expenses, a tedious approval process for expenditures and nitpicking over minor purchases contribute to poor morale.” But Bowden said, “There have been a lot of changes because, to be honest, our standards are much higher” (FOXSPORTS.com, 5/4). In DC, Mark Zuckerman writes under the header “It’s Just Too Soon To Judge.” The Lerner family, which owns the team, has “added an exorbitant number of layers of protocol when it comes to expenses. Some former club employees were not treated with appropriate dignity on their way out.” But the Lerners have had “less than 12 months to turn a mismanaged franchise into a success. Just as it’s unfair to judge them on the team’s won-loss record already, it’s unfair to judge them on everything else so soon” (WASHINGTON TIMES, 5/7).

BLUE JAYS: Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi told a Toronto radio station that the club “fabricated the nature of [P] B.J. Ryan’s injury during spring training,” saying it was a lower back injury, when he had an injured elbow. Ryan is now on the 60-day disabled list with a strained elbow ligament (TORONTO SUN, 5/5). In Toronto, Garth Woolsey writes, “Would you buy a used car, or a used relief pitcher, from a guy who admits he has lied about what was ailing one of his key and most expensive assets? ... It is one thing to hide the truth, even to spin it, but another to tell outright lies.” But Blue Jays President & CEO Paul Godfrey said, “J.P. is not a deceptive guy.” Godfrey also “denied the suggestion there might have been insurance concerns involved in the deception, or any other motives” (TORONTO STAR, 5/7).