Bowden talks

Nats GM Jim Bowden finally held court with reporters today during the morning workout. Below is the transcript of that interview, but be cautioned about one thing: He, like everyone else in the organization, has been told by team president Stan Kasten not to discuss the Esmailyn Gonzalez case. So you won't find any thoughts on that matter here. So what did Bowden talk about? Well, just about everything else involving the club: Odalis Perez's holdout, the possibility of signing another free agent (sounds unlikely due to payroll constraints) and the preparation for the No. 1 pick in this summer's draft. Here you go. Enjoy... Have you had any contact with Odalis? "He's not returned my calls. He hasn't returned Manny's calls. And he hasn't returned his agent's calls. So we're waiting to hear back from him." What step will organization take if he doesn't report today? "We're looking all of our options. We're taking the position, obviously, that we have an agreement with the player and we're expecting the player to honor the agreement. But we'd like to talk to him first. So we're going to wait until he calls us back, and then address the other options at that point." How shocked are you by this? "Look, I understand the disappointment. I've been through this before. I had Tony Fernandez in 95, where he signed a $500,000 deal and his normal market was $2 or $3 million. He was very upset about his contract, was unhappy. We ended up winning the division that year, and he had a lot to do with that. But I understand someone feeling disrespected. He gave us a lot of starts last year, had a 2 ERA at home. But the fact remains, he agreed to the deal. He had a chance to sign with any of the 30 teams, and he made an agreement with us, and we expect him to honor it." Did Odalis have any hesitance at the time he signed the deal? "He gave his agent authority to close the deal, and the agent signed off on his behalf and agreed to the deal. And we're expecting him to honor it. He doesn't have to like it. But if he agreed to it, he has to honor it." How close were you to arbitration with Willingham and Zimmerman? "Both sides, we just kept working at it, and the idea was to get a fair deal for everybody. And I think we accomplished it." Based on what you've seen last few days, what do you think of your team? "I think it's improved a lot. We've got a lot more depth than we had before. Obviously, we appear a lot healthier than we were last year, which is a good sign. But it's still early." What are reasonable expectations for this team? "Oh, it's too early to make that judgment. It always comes down to pitching. It always has and it always will. We'll know more by the end of March where our young starters are. But certainly it's nice to see young arms like Olsen and Lannan and Cabrera and Balester and Martis and Jordan Zimmermann. We certainly have a good number of them." Is there one guy who, if he reaches his potential, could have a huge impact on this team? "I think there's several. It's a good question. You really can't point to one. We have several players who are kind of in that mold who can have breakout years. And if they have them all at the same time, it'll be a really fun summer for us. That's something you can't calculate with young players. But whether we're talking about a Flores or a Milledge or a Dukes or a Lannan or an Olsen or a Cabrera, there's just a lot of young talented kids. Even Zim, his potential at any time is off the charts. If it happens all at once, we'll have a really good team." Does this remind you of any other teams you've had in the past? "The closest would be the 99 team we had in Cincinnati that came together and won 96 games. But this is different, because we brought some proven veterans in. We've got a lot of veterans that were hurt last year that we didn't get performances from: Nick Johnson, Austin Kearns, Dmitri Young. We got nothing from them. Now they're all healthy. And we brought in Willingham and Dunn to go along with all the young players were were just talking about previously. So we have competition as well as a lot of potential for Comeback Player of the Year as well as potential for breakout years." Can this be this year's Rays? "It's way too early. We haven't even played a game yet. It's way to early to tell. We've got a lot of competition. Manny's got a lot of difficult decisions on who plays and what the lineup looks like. A lot has to be decided between now and Opening Day." Do you have to be careful not think you can count on Shawn Hill because of his injury history? "We can say the same about Nick, and you can say the same about a lot of players. You can't count on anyone. It's part of the game. Injuries are part of the game. And certainly people that are historically hurt, you can count on even less. That's why you need depth." What ultimately will decide whether your young prospects are ready to make this team? "I don't think that this team, except in the pitching staff ... the position players, we don't really have anyone who fits that mold. Most of them are already here. On the pitching staff is where decisions are going to be made, because there are some pitchers from Double-A, even A-ball that are going to get a long look here. So their performance and how they handle it will determine whether they're ready to go. But we certainly have a fight for jobs." Where are you at in rebuilding process? "We've made a lot of progress. For the first time, we've got prospects throughout our entire system. It's taken a while to get there. But we now have them at every single level. We're making progress. And certainly we're all looking forward to the June draft, where we not only pick first and 10th, but we get the first pick in every single round of the entire draft. It's a very important drafta nd our guys are already grinding it out." On surplus of outfielder/first basemen: "You always want depth, not only for trades, but also to protect yourself from injuries. We all saw what happened last year when we had injuries and we didn't have the depth to handle it. We lost 102 games. So this year, if we have injuries, we feel we have major-league players that can step up and can perform." Do you see yourself going after any more veteran free agents still available? "We've had some discussions. I think our payroll right now is where we want to be. So if we add anybody, I think we'd need to reduce payroll in order to fit more in. I think Adam Dunn kind of topped us off right now where we are. But we've had discussions with guys who are there, because you never know what can happen between now and March 1 or March 2." Is the bullpen where you'd most likely do something like that? "Pitching is always our first priority. So we're always looking for pitching." Pressure of having No. 1 draft pick? "Like arbitration, it's a long and hard process. But certainly historically that first pick signs. And we think probably Scott Boras is going to have our pick, no matter which player we select. And we have a great relationship with Scott. Sometimes it takes longer than you want. Sometimes it takes until midnight on Aug. 15. But we're pretty confident we'll be able to sign our pick." How is the second base competition stacking up? "I think no one can do anything but respect what Anderson Hernandez has done. He hit .300 for us in September. He went to winter ball and was second in MVP voting in the Dominican. And certainly he's got a shot. But you look at Ronnie Belliard. He's lost a lot of weight, is moving a lot better with his feet. And we all know he can hit. You've got Willie Harris, had a good year last year, can be in the mix. I think we've got some choices there and some competition."