Well, since I want to be a General Manager one day, and I have what you call a 5 year plan where you rebuild the minor league system and start from scratch, I think I should put it to the test. The Washington Nationals new owners want to start over and build the system up and start over, clean slate. That's easier said than done. However, looking over this sytem, it's got a lot of talent, just nothing to build with. To rebuild your team, you have to have corner stones to build on. Now, I think they have at least a few with Chad Cordero and Ryan Zimmerman. Here's what I would do. Some trades minor league moves.

***BREAKING NEWS***

The Washington Nationals trade 2B/LF Alfonso Soriano to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for SS Erick Aybar, C Mike Napoli and P Jered Weaver.

Nationals trade RF Jose Guillen to the LA Dodgers. Dodgers trade LHP Scott Elbert to the Atlanta Braves. Braves trade LHP Chuck James to the Nationals.

Nationals trade SS Cristian Guzman and 1B Nick Johnson to the Kansas City Royals for 1B Kila Kaaihue, IF Andres Blanco and LHP Juan Cedeno.

Nationals recall OF Brandon Watson, 1B Larry Broadway and RHP Clint Everts.

So, now that the transactions are out of the way, lets get down to brass tax. These moves shed some payroll. Soriano, Johnson, Guzman and Guillen make $20-$30 million, plus the payments owed to Johnson and Guzman after this year, you're looking at close to $35 million dumped off. That's enough to sign Soriano to a 2 year deal. Then, we look into dumping off Jose Vidro for a few pitching prospects. Wait! Breaking news!

***BREAKING NEWS***
Nationals trade 2B Jose Vidro to St. Louis Cardinals for RHP Chris Lambert and RHP Stuart Pomeranz.

Now, here's the new lineup!

CF Brandon Watson
2B Andres Blanco
LF Ryan Church
3B Ryan Zimmerman
SS Erick Aybar
1B Larry Broadway/Kila Kaaihue (RHP/LHP)
  C Brian Schnider
RF Mike Napoli
PITCHER

STARTING ROTATION/BULLPEN
SP - Livan Hernandez
SP - John Patterson
SP - Mike O'Conner
SP - Chris Lambert
SP - Stuart Pomeranz

LHP - Chuck James
LHP - Juan Cedeno
RHP - Jered Weaver (6th Starter)
RHP - Clint Everts
RHP - Jason Bergmann
SU - Luis Ayala
CL - Chad Cordero

Now, I don't know about you, but that lineup looks good. Then, what I do is, I look for some non-MLB ready prospects that I trade Hernandez for so I can move Weaver into the rotation as the number 3. Then, the bench is stacked with MLB talent, but cheap talent (i.e. Matt LeCroy). The bullpen and starting lienup are completely rebuilt. Now, you may be wondering why I make these moves. Well, here you go!

The back of the bullpen is settled and is quite good. The starting rotation is good, but now it's been upgraded with some pitching talent. I moved that catcher that I got from the LA Angels to the outfield because Schnider is a very good catcher and outfield help is needed. Watson and Church cover left and center very well. Zimmerman anchors the lineup.

Now, for why the other teams make the trades.

  Soriano can play left and second. Garret Anderson can play left and center. This move gives the Angels a power hitting DH, and it also lets Erstad, Anderson, Vlad and Soriano get some rest as they split time in the OF and DH.
  Then, the Dodgers have JD Drew in right, but is injury proned. Jose Guillen can play right and let Drew play some center. Lofton can move over to left and this also gives the Dodgers a power outfielder that they despertly need. The Braves, in this deal, give up the 99th rank prospect in Dayn Perry's top 100 for the 100th...not that big of a deal.
  Now, lets face it, the Royals need all the help they can get. Johnson can play first. He's not as good defensively than Mientkiewicz, but he puts up better offensive numbers. Guzman is good at defense, horrible at offense and can be a late innings sub until he's up for free agency.

With these new players and a new start, why not new management? So, here's the management!

MANAGER           PITCHING COACH    HITTING COACH
        

FIRST BASE/HIT COACH   THIRD BASE COACH      BENCH COACH
                  

BULLPEN COACH

For those of you who can't tell by the pictures, here are their names:
MANAGER: Frank Robinson
BENCH COACH: Kevin Kennedy
HITTING COACHES: Tony Gwynn and Paul Molitor
PITCHING COACH: Dennis Eckersley
1ST BASE COACH: Paul Molitor
3RD BASE COACH: Tony Beasley
BULLPEN COACH: John Wetteland

Now that's a coaching staff. Three Hall Of Famers, one that will be and one that could be. That's nice.

And that folks are your 2007 Washington Nationals (and parts of 2006).