A baseball team’s bench, especially in the National League, can help a team win several games. In years past, the Washington Nationals bench has been filled with marginal major league players, has-beens, or never-weres. This year, 2008, is completely different. With a current bench of Willie Harris, Felipe Lopez, Dmitri Young, Jesus Flores, Rob Mackowiak and Aaron Boone, the Nationals have their best bench since they began playing in Washington. Throw in Johnny Estrada, Elijah Dukes and Wily Mo Pena, all now on the DL, and you have unprecedented depth. It’s a feather in Jim Bowden’s cap — and let me make it clear now I’d much prefer Mike Rizzo as the team’s GM, Bowden’s arrogance and lack of emphasis on on-base percentage drive me crazy — that he’s been able to build this strong a bench with almost nothing to trade and little to no free agent money to burn.