Kasten Says Nationals Are On Right Track According To Plans

Nationals President Stan Kasten last night on Versus' "Sports Take" said the franchise is "moving in the right track according to the plan we put in place and enunciated very clearly on our first day on the job." Kasten: "We know that the record on the field is deplorable and every night that you lose, no matter how many years I've been doing this, I still can't sleep after a loss. ... It's our job to focus on the big picture and that's made it easier for me because our big picture is so good." Kasten discussed his time as Hawks GM from '79-90, and he compared the Nationals' situation to what he faced with the Hawks. Kasten: "It's similar, not just to what happened in Atlanta, but what has happened in city after city after city that has had success, but not just success, sustained success, which is what we're after." Kasten added he does not "resent" the media for criticism of the Nationals. Kasten: "I realize that I need them a lot more than they need me. I've been beaten around pretty good, but on balance, when I look at other cities and other colleagues of mine, I think the media's been extraordinarily generous to me." Meanwhile, when asked if No. 1 draft pick P Stephen Strasburg will transform the Nationals, Kasten said, "No, you don't have those kind of players in baseball. ... That's not how baseball works. Baseball has always been about 25 players." He added not "one player, no matter how good he is, has ever transformed a franchise."

COMPARE & CONTRAST: Kasten compared Nationals Owner Ted Lerner to then-Hawks Owner Ted Turner, saying the two "couldn't be more different, except in the core business sense of understanding long-term visions." Kasten: "I think they're both great at that, and that's a critical element in building a franchise." He said Turner is the "epitome of publicity," a "human publicity machine." Lerner "couldn't be more different -- a family-run business, used to doing business privately, confidentially staying out of the public eye" ("Sports Take," Versus, 10/6).