Chico says that the inevitable has come to pass, and Daniel Cabrera has been designated for assignment. Chances are he's a former National, though if he passes through waivers and accepts an assignment to the minors, he theoretically could stay in the organization.

I'm glad to see him go. I don't think he's any good, and I think there's very little chance of him getting better. Unlike the conventional wisdom, I think his problem is more a matter of physical talent than mental strength (being able to throw a ball accurately is a physical skill as much as being able to throw it fast). So bye-bye D-Cab.

But I wonder why Rizzo felt like he needed to add this gratuitous swipe as Cabrera departed:

"I was tired of watching him."

Hey, I was tired of watching him too, and I don't even get paid to do it. But that's a classless quote, the kind of disrespectful, mean-spirited thing that made Bowden persona non-grata among a lot of GMs over the years.

This isn't the first time that Rizzo has taken an unnecessary swipe at a player on his way out. Remember what Rizzo said about Steven Shell when he shit-canned the guy despite his 50 innings of 2.16 ERA service to the 2008 Nationals:

"I just didn't like the way he was performing," Rizzo said. "I didn't like the mindset on the mound and off the mound and the preparation for the game and just the whole aura behind him on the mound."

Hey look, Shell's nothing special. It's totally defensible that Rizzo dropped him. Rizzo hates flyball pitchers. Shell was a Bowden guy. So we're moving on. Fine.

But why is it necessary to question his preparation, "mindset," and "aura." What does that even mean?

Ballplayers hang around the league. We may never want Steven Shell back, but maybe Shell's friends with Chone Figgins or John Lackey from his days in Anaheim, and they take offense after reading the quote in the paper and decide that DC is off their list of possible free agent destinations. Or maybe Shell's agent represents our tenth pick in the draft. Is there any situation where unnecessarily alienating people is helpful?

I'm still rooting for Rizzo. He's doing enough good things that I'm not down on him overall. But I hope he can cut this kind of thing out of his routine. It's not helping him or his team.