FanHouse JimBowden

Well, this is a first. The Washington Nationals, who fired Manny Acta after an absolutely dreadful 26-61 pre-All-Star break record, were compelled to send an email to their fans Monday morning. We can't really tell at this point who had the bright idea to send out the letter or who actually wrote it, because it is simply signed, "Washington Nationals Baseball Club," thus, we have to conclude it's been approved by those in charge.

The letter seems to be an apology to the fans for one of worst first halves we've seen in baseball in recent memory, and it does state that the excessive losing is unacceptable.

The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday morning.

General manager Jim Bowden is long gone, but the mess that he helped create in the nation's capital is still festering. It's bad enough two whole days into the season that by the time the Nationals return to Washington next Monday for their home opener any glimmer of optimism might have already gone dark.

Who said hope springs eternal anyway?

Left on Base is MLB FanHouse's link dump.

-- Seattle teammates Wladimir Balentien and Adrian Beltre couldn't play in this year's World Baseball Classic -- Balentien, a native of Curacao, because he is fighting for playing time and Beltre, a native of the Dominican Republic, because the Mariners forbid him.

But, as old friend Larry Stone points out, just because neither is playing doesn't mean Balentien has been sparing Beltre from trash talk in the wake of the Netherlands' shcoking elimination of the D.R.

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Washington Nationals.

The Nationals opened a shiny new ballpark last year, but the goodwill reaped from their new palace on the banks of the Anacostia River has fizzled almost entirely since Ryan Zimmerman's walk-off home run on Opening Night. On the field, the big club lost 102 games and the farm system -- which is already in a deep hole after years of ownership by Major League Baseball -- took a major step back.

This is what a pimp does: He procures the use of one human's body -- usually from someone vulnerable for a variety of reasons -- for another human with promises to the former and a price from the latter, and retains much of the profit for himself.

Or, in short, it is what the FBI is investigating major league baseball talent scouts for doing in the Dominican Republic, which on Sunday led to the resignation of Nationals' general manager Jim Bowden.

Let us never, ever forget that the players aren't the only ones cheating in baseball. Seems some of their bosses are scumbags, too. With each passing month, it becomes more laughable that this sport has been romanticized as father-and-son, apple-pie, fun-at-the-ballpark Americana.

In the Bud Selig era, please realize that baseball has been as corrupt as any business in the land, so dirty that cans of Glade deodorizer should be distributed at the gates with pocket schedules and Bobblehead dolls.

Amid bonus-skimming scandals that is being investigated by the FBI, a prospect age debacle that claimed the job of one of his assistants, and a pretty ugly track record that has the Nats poised for their fourth losing season in five years of existence, general manager Jim Bowden resigned Sunday morning.

Jim Bowden's continued employment is one of the great mysteries of the early spring to me. He's never been a good GM, neither with the Reds nor the Nationals. On top of his spotty track record, he's now got the embarrassing "Not Esmailyn Gonzalez" fiasco to go with some serious concerns about skimming bonuses from Latin American prospects. I mean, if you aren't going to fire a guy for stuff like this, what do you fire him for?

Well, the rumor mill is churning today and it looks like the Nationals may be exploring their options after all. I saw this morning (via Baseball Musings) that the Nationals' blog Federal Baseball reported last night that the Nats were considering replacing Bowden with Tony LaCava, and today Baseball Prospectus' John Perrotto is seemingly confirming those rumors.

Some important news and notes from the warped minds at The Dugout:

1. Our annual Spring Training event (hilariously named "Spring Dugz" by Nick), where we cover a different team every day for 30 days, begins on Monday. So if you like ... I don't know, the Astros, be sure you don't miss out.
2. From here on out I won't be "B" anymore, but B. Thompson Stroud. Check the byline. Same letter, same guy, same esoteric jokes about wrestling.
3. Above the words here is an old picture of Dmitri Young being run over by a clownish car, because I felt that image best expresses the 2009 Washington Nationals season.

Now that that's all out of the way, enjoy tonight's Dugout, part 2 of Nationals Lampoon, after the jump.

The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday morning.

Well at least we know now that federal investigators aren't devoting all of their energy to putting away Barry Bonds. It turns out they're after Nationals general manager Jim Bowden too, poking around to try and discern what his involvement is in illegal scouting practices in the Dominican Republic.