I know that we have a Nationals-only thread, but this news is so mind-blowing that I was afraid it would get lost. Moderators, feel free to move this thread if you disagree.
The Washington Examiner columnist Jim Williams is reporting that there is "an 85% chance" that the new Nationals owernship will land Theo Epstein as general manager and Cal Ripken as team president:
Sources close to both Major League Baseball and Wall Street have confirmed the ownership bid of Jeffery Smulyan is in trouble...Sources inside baseball with knowledge of the two remaining local ownership groups claim both have been in touch with Epstein and Ripken...This past Sunday, newspapers in both Boston and New York reported that there is an 85 percent or better chance the team of Epstein and Ripken will be part of the Nationals new front office.
"Nah, I trust the laws of nature to stay constant. I don't pray that the sun will rise tomorrow, and I don't need to pray that someone will beat the Cowboys in the playoffs." - Irn-Bru
No, I didn't say I would change my team. I would root for both, unless they were playing each other.
RIP 21
"Nah, I trust the laws of nature to stay constant. I don't pray that the sun will rise tomorrow, and I don't need to pray that someone will beat the Cowboys in the playoffs." - Irn-Bru
"Nah, I trust the laws of nature to stay constant. I don't pray that the sun will rise tomorrow, and I don't need to pray that someone will beat the Cowboys in the playoffs." - Irn-Bru
The Washington Baseball Group (Fred Malek's potential ownership team) has been in contact with Ripken for well over a year now, maybe even two. Ripken said he wouldn't be interested in any sort of coaching/managerial type roles b/c they would take him away from his family (on the road) too much but did say he would be intested in developing a team and building their farm system. So, I don't think this possibility is that far fetched.
BTW - they posted the 2006 schedule... I'm hitting up everyone of those Balto-stink games:
"Nah, I trust the laws of nature to stay constant. I don't pray that the sun will rise tomorrow, and I don't need to pray that someone will beat the Cowboys in the playoffs." - Irn-Bru
Let's talk about Hockey... Toronto beat Washington!
The Cap's are made up of a bunch of 20 year olds - you're supposed to beat us with those vets! I can't believe we were up 2-0 last night and blew it - those new rules are rough on goalies, lol!
The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject.
Jake wrote:I'm not so sure how well Ripken would do in a Presidential position and Epstein needs a big surrounding cast.
There isn't a general manager in baseball who doesn't need a big surrounding cast. And as for his needing "guidance", there is no question that Larry Lucchino held Epstein back in Boston rather than hold him up. Not to mention the fact that Epstein would likely bring most of his assistants with him to Washington.
Epstein would undoubtedly be an upgrade over Bowden. Epstein makes mistakes, but he's young and learns from them. Bowden, on the other hand, is a veteran general manager who still thinks it's a good idea to give a four-year, 16.8 million dollar contract to a shorstop with a .698 OPS. For all the good things Bowden did, that move will haunt the Nats until 2008.
If they land Ripken, I'll root for them.
