Bowden Resigns

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From Chico in Florida:

Washington Nationals General Manager Jim Bowden resigned this morning, saying he felt he had become a distraction to the club.


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Bowden's departure is the second this week for the Nationals, who on Thursday fired longtime Bowden assistant Jose Rijo. Rijo, who ran the Nationals' operations in the Dominican Republic out of his baseball academy there, was instrumental in the team's signing of 16-year-old prospect Esmailyn Gonzalez, who turned out to have faked both his age (by four years) and his name. Gonzalez, whose real name is Carlos Daniel Alvarez Lugo, received a $1.4 million signing bonus, the largest of its kind given by the Nationals. Both Rijo and Bowden are being investigated by Major League Baseball and the FBI; both have maintained their innocence, and Bowden reiterated that today.

"I am disappointed by the media reports regarding investigations into any of my professional activities," Bowden said in a statement released by the team. "There have been no charges made, and there has been no indication that parties have found any wrongdoing on my part."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2009/03/bowden_resigns_update.html

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