After—or even before—their 2008 season ended with an 8-3 loss to the Phillies, the Nationals were headed for an offseason full of questions.

The team announced in the eighth inning of the Sept. 28 finale that it would not retain seven staff members, including five of the six coaches on manager Manny Acta's staff. That added a coaching search to the list of tasks awaiting general manager Jim Bowden as he seeks to improve the team with the majors' worst record.

"There are a lot of changes that we need to make to get to where we want to get to," Bowden said. "We're going to start on 2009 tomorrow morning."

Besides hiring new coaches, Bowden's top task is to improve a lineup that lacked punch even before it was riddled with injuries. ...More