A week after the World Series, the Nationals still don’t have a manager for next season. That is, unless they intend to leave their interim manager as an interim manager indefinitely. By default, doesn’t that just make him a regular manager? Originally, I was going to title this posting “What Are They Waiting For?” as all the talk pointed to Jim Riggleman getting the job. That is, until I read the latest rumor from Ken Rosenthal.
Before that, I thought that if Riggleman was getting the job, why wait? Call a press conference and say that he’s got it. However, now Rosenthal says that while Riggleman is a finalist, so is Bobby Valentine. According to Rosenthal, “Interim manager Jim Riggleman is one of the finalists, Rizzo said. Bobby Valentine is the other, according to major-league sources.” So one of those is confirmed by Rizzo, Bobby V is more on the unconfirmed but highly suspected side.
It is possible that the reason they are waiting
is that they don’t know who they want. But what is also likely is that maybe Riggleman isn’t their first choice and they are doing their best to come to terms with Bobby V. Everyone knows he will cost money, much more than Riggleman. As for whether or not Bobby V can stomach some losing seasons, I’m not sure it’s a problem. He’s done that before, and both times he’s come on as a manager, it has been for losing teams. Of course, the difference is now he is an NL pennant winner, so maybe he is too good for that sort of stuff.
Regardless, look for news soon. The other thing that Rosenthal mentions is that the Nats “expect to make a decision by the end of the week, general manager Mike Rizzo said Monday night.” Again, coming straight from Rizzo, this is pretty reliable. Funny thing is, in the past, not to name names, but if it was coming straight from the GM, I might still classify it as only a rumor.
Oh, and I’ll ask the same question Rosenthal does, although presumably this will be more confined to Nats fans: