Recently, Major League Baseball solved two major problems for the Washington Nationals. The first was getting the team an owner, a problem that had not been addressed for an extended length of time. Getting the team a new stadium -- their current stadium literally shakes whenever fans cheer -- has been standing since 1962. Here is a Q&A session to help you get up to speed on what is going on in the nation’s capital.

Who is Ted Lerner?
Ted Lerner is a real-estate developer who is responsible for building several shopping malls in the states of Virginia and Maryland. Over the years, he has amassed a small fortune in the business, which has allowed him to purchase the Nationals for $450 million (the owners paid $120 million to former owner Jeffrey Loria). After 20 months of searching, MLB settled on what it thought to be the perfect candidate. His two sons will handle most of the owner stuff, while Stan Kasten, former Braves’ president, takes control of the everyday baseball operations.

Why Ted Lerner?
The first reason that Ted Lerner got the Nationals is simple -- he’s a local guy. There have been two teams in DC and both have been moved out, one to Minnesota and the other to Arlington. It will be very unlikely that Lerner would move this franchise out of his town.

Secondly, the Nationals will now be a family-run organization. Commissioner Selig prefers these over corporate-run franchises because it is easier to interact with the owner and usually their owners care more about the team, rather than it being seen as a tax write-off that doesn’t necessarily need to be competitive.

Next, Lerner is an intelligent man. He has made a fortune in the real estate business, so he must know something about Washington DC. The city is looking to revitalize the neighborhood where the Nationals’ new 41,000 seat ballpark will be, so it seemed logical for Selig to choose the candidate who could handle the politics the best.

And finally, he’s got the best baseball people, namely Stan Kasten. The former president of the Atlanta Braves, Hawks, and Thrashers has done amazing jobs rebuilding franchises and making sure no fiscal insanity occurs. The Nationals figure to be a top rate organization with Kasten making baseball/business decisions. From 1991 to 2003, the years of his tenure with the Braves, I can’t recall them signing a stupid contract.

Who did he beat out?
The Fred Malek/Jeffrey Zients group contained former secretary of state Colin Powell, as well as many other powerful investors. Eventually, MLB chose Lerner, but they would not have gone wrong in choosing Malek/Zients. This group would have been a family-run group, as well, and would have had the diversity among its members that Commissioner Selig enjoys. They were also largely responsible for getting baseball to return to DC.

Jeff Smulyan is a good friend of Jerry Reinsdorf, the White Sox owner who also had a say in this matter. Hailing from Indianapolis hurt his chances and the fact that he never really seemed like a legitimate candidate weakened his case.

Jon Ledecky put together the final group with a serious chance of winning the bid, when he landed the 27th richest person in America, George Soros, to join his group. However, since Soros helps fund the Democratic Party, it would have been unlikely that Selig would have chosen this group to face the Republican-dominated Congress. In fact, Republican Senator Tom Davis thought there would be trouble presented if the Soros group won.

What took so long?
I don’t know why it took 20 months. Who does? Maybe Selig had so much to worry about with steroids and the collective bargaining agreement that he couldn’t find an owner. We passed by several deadlines that Selig placed (for example, the Commish said that he would announce an owner during last year’s All Star Break) before anything happened. However, all the jokes about ineptitude of MLB must now come to an end. They chose a wonderful group, one that can turn around this moribund franchise in the near future. Secondly, they also dealt with a city that wanted a franchise, but didn’t want to pay for it. Considering everything they faced, MLB did a good job choosing an excellent owner.

When will this franchise be competitive?
This is the tricky part. The big league club is already decent, with players like Nick Johnson, Jose Vidro, Alfonso Soriano, and Jose Guillen hitting and John Patterson and Chad Cordero pitching. They’ve got Major League talent, but not enough of it to beat the Mets and the Astros/Dodgers/Phillies (for the Wild Card).

The minor league system is worse. Their stud positional player, Ian Desmond, isn’t maturing as quickly as they had hoped and most of their pitching, like Mike Hinckley and Clint Everts, just aren’t shooting through the system. They need an infusion of minor league players along with a strong Major League club to win, and it doesn’t look like that is going to happen.

President Stan Kasten said he will oversee a rebuilding project. With the Atlanta Braves, he helped build the dynasty from 1991 to 2003, the year he left the organization. Kasten knows how to build a farm system, and the ballclub is expected to increase its presence in Latin countries, as well as the Pacific Rim. General Manager Jim Bowden is an excellent scout of talent and should be expected to fulfill that role excellently.

I bet the $611 million stadium (which will be paid by the taxpayers, by the way) will go up and be ready for action in 2009, even though many think it will be ready for the 2008 season. Tony Tavares, the man Stan Kasten will be replacing, says that everything would have to happen perfectly for this to happen. In a city like Washington DC, I doubt it will. Meanwhile, there is no reason for this ballclub to not be competitive the next three seasons. They’ve got a nice base of Major League talent, and if payroll goes up by a few million, they can add to their pitching. It’ll take a lot of work and a little bit of luck, but winning is what Stan Kasten is responsible for.

 

Daniel is an AtHomePlate blogger; to see his article archive, click here.