(Bye, bye. Stan Kasten to resign from the Nationals at the end of the season. AP Photo)

The Plan is Dead.

Stan Kasten jumps (sinking?) ship.

"Let me assure you:  This is just about me.  This has nothing to do with anybody else, or anything else, this is just about me.  What's good for me, for my family, and my own personal expectations, goals, aspirations.  Purely that, and nothing else. ...Leaving here is going to be hard.  But the decision to leave was not hard. It was just the right thing to do now."
(Stan Kasten, via Nationals News Network, 9/23/2010)

And so, SI's John Heyman Tweeted the Truth. It's official: Stan Kasten will resign at the end of the 2010 season.

Bud Selig's shotgun wedding between the Lerner Family and Stan Kasten ends in divorce.

Here's the complete text of Ted Lerner's statement on Kasten's departure, via a Press Release from the Nationals:

"Stan Kasten will always be an important part of the history of the Washington Nationals.  He was vital to ownership winning its bid from Major League Baseball and his agreement to serve as the team’s chief executive for the last five years has been critical to building the Washington Nationals franchise.
 
Over his tenure he has positioned the Nationals to become one of the most exciting franchises in baseball and we thank him for all that he has accomplished. 
 
We certainly respect his decision to pursue other interests at the end of the regular season, but will continue to call upon him for his vast knowledge of the game, the league and the franchise.  He will remain a friend and valued partner of the team and ownership group."
 
Theodore N. Lerner
Managing Principal Owner

Fox Sports.com's Jon Morosi Tweeted this shortly after the news broke: 

Another source said a "lack of (financial) commitment from ownership" was a factor in Kasten's decision to resign

Uh oh. That doesn't sound good. Time to cue the ominous "Lerners are Cheap" music?

Via the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore, Kasten isn't retiring, wants to "do something."

"This is just about me, what's best for me. I don't feel like I'm retiring. I want to do something."
(Stan Kasten, via Nationals Journal, 9/23/2010)

Seems like only last October we were wondering when Stan would fly the coop north to Toronto. Now he can...

Bad news for the Nationals, for many reasons. Repeating what we said earlier this morning in our Dear Stan plea: Without Stan Kasten around, who will protect Nationals fans from the Lerners, and the Lerners from themselves?

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Comments

[Stan K.]

Oh, now YOU like ME?

[Zeus]

I'm on the fence post here... but I'll never forgive Stan for Opening Day 2010. Worst opening day experience ever. Stan's Travelling Bus and Truck Show will not be missed for opening day 2011.

[JDC]

FU Stan and the Phillies Party Bus you rode in on. Good riddance.

[sharks_in_the_potomac]

Please stop with the Lerners are Cheap garbarge. They learned from past mistakes and opened the checkbook as necessary, trying to build the team just like Stan Kasten told them to. Just stop it already!!

[The Nationals Enquirer]

@JDC: don't you mean "the Phillies Party bus you rode out on"? He arrived in D.C. still wearing his giant Braves #1 Foam Finger, after all.

[The Nationals Enquirer]

@sharks_in_the_potomac: Noted.