Just a day after the one of the most disappointing baseball seasons by a team in history ends, the front office of that team takes no hesitation. According to multiple reports, Nationals GM, Mike Rizzo, fires the whole coaching staff along with 2014 NL Manager of the Year, Matt Williams. A record of 83-79 certainly doesn’t sound like a requirement for the firing of the whole staff, but considering the expectations that the Nats had riding on them, 83 wins was about 20 short of the prediction.
Prior to the 2015 campaign, Mike Rizzo acquired Max Scherzer to head a rotation that could possibly have four 20-game winners, matching the 1971 Orioles. On the offensive side, Washington was ready to be as threatening as any lineup in the game. With the emergence of Anthony Rendon in 2014, and Bryce Harper along with Ryan Zimmerman healing to 100% during the offseason, the Nats were looking like a 100-win squad as the favorite to win it all. But, after a season of injuries, the Nats could not deliver.
Despite the huge disappointment, firing the whole staff was a huge over reaction, especially being just a day after the season’s end, but it might just have been the right move. In 2014, Matt Williams lead the team to the franchise’s second playoff berth, and second season over .500. During last year’s campaign, Williams helped develop Anthony Rendon into an all-star and the rest of the team into a solidified playoff contending squad for seasons to come, so that is part of the reason for his firing, considering missing October this year. Other than the addition of Max Scherzer, the 2015 Nationals were basically the same team, but with Zimmerman and Harper being back to 100%, the expectations jumped. Mike Rizzo might have seen it this way: Matt Williams came in to organize this team of stars, so that they can bring a compete for it all right now and out, despite setbacks, but since he wasn’t able to overcome the obstacles (no matter how big) Williams needed to go. The rest of the staff was a whole different topic.
With Jordan Zimmerman, Denard Span, Ian Desmond, Doug Fister, and others becoming free agents in about a month or so, the front office figured that in order to look superior again on paper, the rest of the staff might as well leave too. With the great possibility of new stars arriving in DC for the next season, thus creating a new atmosphere in the clubhouse, the coaches might as well be new too. In essence, Mike Rizzo is gutting this super team, and building a new one, with Scherzer and Harper at the helm.
The hope is that whoever the new manager is, he will be able to mold Harper into the leader he is supposed to be, not a super star with an attitude that gets into fights. If that goes according to plan, along with their ace of the pitching staff continuing to dominate, then hopefully the new arrivals and young prospects like Trea Turner, will help turn change the team chemistry into a winning atmosphere. Sure, with all the injuries the Nats had it hard to keep up with the expectations, but that doesn’t make it an excuse. The Cardinals who won 100 games this season, had just as many setbacks, but because of their great team chemistry and coaching staff, they actually exceeded predictions. The firing of the whole Nationals’ staff was a drastic reaction, but extreme circumstances comes extreme measures.
