I wouldn't say Stan Failed at all

Stan Kasten failed?

I beg to differ.

What exactly were these "decisions" Kasten made that failed? Was it to let Alphonso Soriano become an overpaid albatross on the payroll of another national league team while adding a young #2 starter?

Yes, I know 205 losses the last two years. I understand that. And we all know who you blame for the dearth of talent at the major league level.

But what exactly were Stan's options? Would the Nationals be better off as a franchise if he had gotten his way (allegedly) and opened the pocketbooks?

Who would the Nats have signed? Mark Texeria? C.C. Sabathia? Sure, the Nats would be a better team assuming they had chosen to spend wildly on premium FA's who alos happened not to decline precipitously (A.J. Burnett anyone?)

Don't give me any BS about the Nats making a trade for an established starting pitcher like Roy Halladay or Johan Santana? Why?

Because of the root cause of the current state of the franchise: the ownership tenure by MLB.

Take a good look at the Nats/Expos drafts this century. There were 4 exceptional picks prior to the Kasten regime: Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore and Jason Bay. What do they all have in common?

Oh, THEY WERE TRADED AWAY BY THE DOPE THAT RAN THE TEAM FOR THREE MONTHS OF FATOLO COLON AND SOME SCRUB I CANT REMEMBER.

Go ahead amateur GMs. Try and build a winning team without one single useful young player on it. I'll give you $100m. Try it this offseason. See where you get in three years. Nowhere is where you get.

Cheap, young controllable talent is the key to success for any franchise with salary limitations. You don't need one at every position but you need enough so you can overpay on the FA market to fill the holes. YOU CANT OVERPAY FOR EVERY POSITION! Not only would it be a terrible investment but it's very likely to not work anyway. I for one am damn glad Stan couldn't talk the Lerner's into my dumb ass idea about John Lackey. How'd you like to have four more years of that overpaid crapbag stealing paychecks.

The strategic decision, who ever was responsible, was the most correct one given the circumstances. Imagine where this team would be had the last two years resulted in 81-81 finishes? Oh, there would be no Strasburg, no Harper. Just a couple of Detweiler clones most likely.

Should they have spent more to get better faster? Yes. They should have signed Chapman. They shouldn't have cheaped out on the rest of the '09 draft. But the only inference from saying Stan failed is to say they should have spent on mediocre free agents to fight for .500. And that was exactly the wrong strategy (See KC and Pittsburgh)

Finally, you want people to show up at the ballpark? Simple: Win. Follow through with a long term strategy and build a perennial winner and the stands will fill. Just look at the Caps for gods sake.