At Home Plate - Bowden Faces Tough Challenge

Written by Robert Democh (Contact & Archive) on March 04, 2009

Grim disbelief. That’s how players and staff of the Washington Nationals greeted the surprising news that GM Jim Bowden had resigned. He tendered his resignation March 1, less than a week after Sports Illustrated published a report about an FBI probe examining MLB scouting practices in Latin America. Part of the investigation focused on allegations that signing bonuses for top prospects were being skimmed, with Bowden implicated in the scheme.

Signing free agent slugger Adam Dunn may have been Jim Bowden's final major move as a Major League general manager.

Photo by Chris Creamer / SportsLogos.net .

According to ESPN.com, Bowden was interviewed by the FBI in connection with its investigation last summer and rumors of it began surfacing shortly thereafter. The SI report further suggests investigators will burrow through records dating back to 1994, coinciding with Bowden’s tenure as Cincinnati Reds GM. When questioned about the matter, Bowden told ESPN, “I’m innocent of any wrongdoing,” refusing further comment. He acknowledged he had to go, concluding, “I’ve become a distraction.” Bowden knew the hourglass was nearly empty when Washington President Stan Kasten fired Jose Rijo, Bowden’s special assistant on Feb. 26.

It was at Rijo's Dominican academy that the Nationals courted a player introduced as Esmailyn "Smiley" Gonzalez. The Dominican prospect received a $1.4 million signing bonus in 2006, when the Nationals thought they were signing a 16-year-old shortstop. However, a subsequent MLB investigation determined Gonzalez was born in November 1985, not September 1989. It was also discovered his real name was Carlos David Alvarez Lugo.

Kasten signaled his intentions. "We needed to completely overhaul our Dominican program, cut ties with the way we've been doing it before, with the way it has been done since the team got here from Montreal, and just completely change personnel and facilities, everything," he told ESPN.com.

Bowden was the only GM in Nats history, having accompanied the franchise south from Montreal at the end of the 2004 season. Washington’s quest for a winning season continues, its best showing being an 81-81 mark in 2005. Bowden burst on the scene in 1992 when the Reds made the 31-year-old the youngest GM in major league history. Within three years of his hiring, Cincinnati advanced to the NL Championship Series.

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