Jim Bowden Players Quotations

Obviously, if we knew it was going to play out this way, we wouldn't have done it. My preference would be to keep him. We're a much better team with him. My preference is for everyone to be happy in this game. Organizations do better, players do better when we're all happy.

When these players lose it, they can't control it. It's a physical thing, not a mental thing. He's got the eye of the tiger. When I met with (Sosa), that's the one thing I was convinced of. His brain would do everything it could to succeed because he'd like to prove to people that he can still play.

Guys within the organization have a chance to step up and win the job. This is how players are found, through opportunities. Injuries do create opportunities.

We support the commissioner's office, the minor-league drug program, ... We're disappointed in the violation that two of our players caused, but we support the system 100 percent. And hopefully, this will be a good experience for the players involved and it won't happen again in the future.

We support the commissioner's office, the minor-league drug program. We're disappointed in the violation that two of our players caused, but we support the system 100 percent. And hopefully, this will be a good experience for the players involved and it won't happen again in the future.

My preference is to keep him, because we're a much better team with him. But I'll never close the door on an opportunity to make everybody happy. My preference is for everyone to be happy in this game. Organizations and players do better when we're all happy.

We have some good solid players and not a lot of strikeouts. It's better than people think.

We would like to bring both of them back, if we can afford them in our budget, but valuable players get to a point where maybe they are beyond what you can afford,

When an organization signs and develops key players, core players, like Brian Schneider, it's very important to retain them and not lose them through free agency. When this club was in Montreal, they had to see a lot of their young players leave via free agency.

When the organization signs core players like Brian Schneider, I think it's very important to retain them and not lose them through free agency. To be able to come into Washington and to be able to have the revenue to do some of the things we were not able to do when they were the Montreal Expos is very positive for the franchise.

We are very pleased to be able to lock up Nick Johnson, who we view as one of the core players who will take the Nationals to the next level. Nick is a complete player both offensively and defensively, and we appreciate his positive influence in the clubhouse. He is the type of player and person that the Washington Nationals are all about.

In the minor leagues the most important thing is developing players. The reason I want to win is I want to develop winning players. So my philosophy is you develop first, but I want to the team to win. I want the players who are prospects and developing learning how to win.

As far as the pool of players in our farm system, although it's improved, we have a long way to go and you don't redo a farm system overnight. You have to do it one draft at a time. So it takes four to five years to get it back to where you wanted to get it.

It's April. You don't panic in April. By the same token, we continue to look for good, young players you can build with long-term.

I do feel bad for how it played out (in spring). But he's been tremendous. ... His speed and power combination is obviously one of the best in baseball. There are not many players capable of hitting 40 (home runs) and stealing 40 (bases). He's certainly one of them.