Jim Bowden going down?

SI's look into the Nationals' lawless international scouting department heats up. Looks like Bowden could be headed for a big fall. This is the "steroids" story of the next year, between the Nationals and White Sox, and god knows who else.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/02/22/segura.feds.investigate.nationals/index.html
The Chicago Trib has more on it...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-dominicanfeb23,0,7909180.story

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-dominican_siderfeb23,0,489995.story

The latter has this odd detail on David Wilder, the erstwhile head of the Sox's development team:

According to documents obtained by the Tribune, Wilder in November 2006 opened a night spot, Club Burn, that operated "at a great loss" despite being voted Phoenix's top gay bar in 2007. Records show it lost about $570,000 in a matter of months and closed its doors in January 2008.

 

Not sure Bowden gets the blame for this one.
Lots of other teams got burned by the same info on Lugo.

 

As a marginal Nats fan, I would not be disappointed to see Bowden run out of town on a rail

 

Sorry, links were messed up. It's not just about that prospect. Bowden is accused of skimming as far back as 1994.

 

Does that mean you are a marginal fan of the Gnats or a fan of the marginal Gnats?

 

I know, I'm just saying that this will not be the final blow to him because a lot of people got fooled on this one.
Had he been the only one, different story.

 

I would not be surprised if he knew something fishy was going on.

I would be surprised if he knew the extent. Just because he may have turned a blind eye to what he may have thought was happening doesn't mean he did so with the understanding of the entire scheme.

 

... not on me.

 

Either works, both work.

 

This looks familiar. ESPN is probably laughing at SI.com for its D_B of the Fainaru-Wada/Quinn exclusive of last summer.

 

Whatever. At the very least, Mr. Bowden is in for some lengthy chats with that nice young man from the IRS.

 

Actually it's just a major update on that story, which I remembered fully. In the ESPN story, this graph particularly has been changed:

Reached in his office Friday evening, Bowden said he and other Nationals officials have spoken to both MLB's investigators and the FBI, as have officials from other clubs. But he said neither the FBI nor Major League Baseball has told him he is suspected of taking part in the scheme or in any way suspected of wrongdoing. Bowden said he was never asked about his own activities, and denied having any role in the scandal.