Wire Taps: Bowden On Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals vs Adam Dunn?

I'm not going to add any commentary, or insult the man, I've never been one for personal attacks, but after DC GM Mike Rizzo appeared on ESPN980 this morning to talk calmly and openly about what happened with Stephen Strasburg last night (Mike Prada at SBNDC has the Rizzo bullet points HERE), it was the former DC GM's turn to offer his own comments as he opened his Sirius/XM MLB Network Radio show "Inside Pitch" with Casey Stern by addressing the Stephen Strasburg "situation":

Jim Bowden: "...I got a phone call from someone that told me that Stephen Strasburg was having an MRI, and at that point, of course I did not know what had happened, and so after a few phone calls I found out that obviously he was warming up in the bullpen to go into the game and he felt some shoulder stiffness and couldn't get loose. The general manager of the Washington Nationals Mike Rizzo did the smart thing, made the executive decision to shut him down, and they sent him immediately to the hospital for an MRI, did not play games, did not wait and see how he felt the next day, they just went right in and did the MRI which was the smart move to make, the MRI came back with 'no structural damage', but showed inflammation in the shoulder on the posterior part of the shoulder, and Casey, this is not something that you can just brush aside, this player should already be placed on the disabled list, they should not play games with him, he is their future and to downplay and say, 'Well, all shoulders are sore after pitching,' 'All MRI's are going to show inflammation,' ...this kid is 22-years-old, Casey, he should be on the disabled list, he should be completely shut down for a significant period right now on the DL, this is their future, and for him to tell the ballclub, 'My shoulder is sore, I can't get loose,'....Look, he's not used to pitching into August and September, this is something they've been concerned about all year, they've watched his pitch count, they've watched how much he's pitched, but when you get a sign like this, this is more important than any pitch counts or any innings, or whatever you want to measure, whatever your scientific theory is based on every pitcher in baseball, throw that out the window, when the pitcher is sore and a 22-year-old kid tells you he can't get loose, and you have to do an MRI, there should be no debate, he should've been placed on the disabled list last night, he should be shut down for a period of time, maybe as long as three to four weeks, and maybe pitch him in September, that way you can control his innings anyway, but this is a red flag...remember, MRI's don't show everything anyway, Casey, even a saline-enhanced MRI is not going to show every detail in there, this is a warning sign for Washington, luckily no structural damage, that being said they should not and hope I hope they don't down play this soreness..."

He's not done....

Jim Bowden: "I thought they downplayed it. I thought everyone in the media is downplaying it. I think the Nationals are downplaying it. Look, this is a tough kid. We're not talking about a normal kid here, this is an extremely mentally, physically tough kid, if he sits there and tells you he can't get his shoulder loose on his fifth day, you better be concerned, you better take the MRI like they did, and you better shut him down. Look, the Nationals aren't in the pennant race, you're going to get a better draft pick if he's not pitching every fifth day, the most important thing is to make sure he's healthy. Remember, this is a guy coming out of San Diego State where his arm was used to pitching once a week, he was used to pitching with six days rest, now all of a sudden this year his arm is getting used to five days rest, and you cannot take for granted what it's like on a shoulder like this, especially the way he throws, especially his dominating pitches, how hard he throws, how he's got those three wipeout pitches, you know, you've got a guy, if he warms up and he's sore like that and you're concerned enough to take an MRI and he's willing to go take the MRI, look, that's loud enough, place him on the disabled list, don't let him go back until that thing is completely rested, and the 'inflammation', Casey, you better make sure it's completely gone before you start throwing him again because if not, it's not the worst thing even if they shut him down for the rest of the year, he'll come back next year strong, but the most important thing, don't try to pitch through this inflammation, this is a red flag, deal with it."

Hmmm? I'm in the uncomfortable situation of not completely disagreeing with Mr. Bowden...

• Olney On Dunn: 

ESPN.com's Buster Olney goes so far as to offer a projected NY Yankees' lineup with Adam Dunn DH'ing and batting fifth in this morning's blog post entitled, "Walking the Deadline", and this after tweeting last night (@Buster_ESPN) about a, "...Yankees-Adam Dunn trade mak[ing] a whole lot of sense," but it's the comments that follow that will be of interest to any Washington Nationals fans who haven't grown tired of the Trade Deadline speculation as Mr. Olney writes that:

"...Dunn really wants is to stay with the Nationals and sign a four-year deal; the Nationals seem to prefer a two-year deal, although there hasn't been a formal offer from Washington in months."

Will Adam Dunn take another two year deal? He was quoted last night saying he'd "settle" for three, so if, in fact, the Nats are only offering a two-year deal, that might be a clue as to why the two sides seem to be at a standstill...