Nats win 11 of 12, jump over .500; Manager resigns

[GoudaBrew]

Link to MLBTR

 

 

In a surprising move, Nationals manager Jim Riggleman has resigned, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson (Twitter link). Riggleman stepped down after his club beat the Mariners this afternoon and improved to 38-37.

The manager, who was in the final year of his contract, told GM Mike

Rizzo that he would resign if his contract situation wasn't resolved,

according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post (Twitter link). Riggleman's

agent, Burton Rocks, told Jon Heyman of SI.com that "they should have

picked up the option" and that "it wore on Jim." Riggleman will manage

again, according to his agent (Twitter link).

Rizzo had discussed picking up Riggleman's 2012 option, but felt the

time wasn't right, according to Ben Goessling of MASNsports.com (Twitter links). The GM called Riggleman's decision "very disappointing to the players, fanbase, city and [himself]."

As someone in the comments of the MLBTR article I linked said,

 

"So let me get this straight...he was concerned about his job security, so he quit?"

 

The Nats are pretty exciting with the Zimmerman(n)s, Espinosa, Desmond, Storen and Ramos in the Bigs and Strasburg and Harper being about a year away. Pretty attractive managerial spot in my opinion.

[Invader3K]

Very bizarre. I wonder if there was some sort of contention between Riggleman and Rizzo beyond what's been said so far.

[RockCoCougars]

Talk about getting out while the getting was good. This is like walking away from the blackjack table up 100 bucks before the inevitable run of bad luck. He probably saw what happened with McKeon and figured that he can bounce around another 20 years. Riggleman is becoming this generation's John McNamara- how does he keep getting jobs?

[markedman5]

I think this pretty much sums up my feelings.....

 

http://twitter.com/Buster...status/84033061469171712

[kestrel79]

He's pulling a George Costanza and going out on a high note.

[hawing]

The thread title looks like something that we'd see in The Onion or on Deadspin.

[greeg35]

we should try winning 11 of 12, maybe RRR will jump ship.

[TooLiveBrew]

I think this pretty much sums up my feelings.....

 

http://twitter.com/Buster...status/84033061469171712

A rival official on Riggleman: "I wouldn't hire him for Double-A or

Triple-A job. You can't walk away... when you're under contract."

 

Yeah, he should've played out the string so the Nats could fire him in August!

[pretendastronaut]

I think this pretty much sums up my feelings.....

 

 

 

http://twitter.com/Buster...status/84033061469171712

A rival official on Riggleman: "I wouldn't hire him for Double-A or

Triple-A job. You can't walk away... when you're under contract."

 

Yeah, he should've played out the string so the Nats could fire him in August!

 

Maybe so, but good luck finding another job. Even if you convince a GM to bring you in, how are you going to get the players behind you when he walked away from a team like that? He just fried his managerial career in my opinion, though his agent says he'll coach again.

[brains and braun]

Saw some rumor that Davey Johnson might take over eventually. Is there any way that we could eliminate RRR and get Davey here first?

[Mays Hayes]

I think this pretty much sums up my feelings.....

 

 

 

http://twitter.com/Buster...status/84033061469171712

A rival official on Riggleman: "I wouldn't hire him for Double-A or

Triple-A job. You can't walk away... when you're under contract."

 

Yeah, he should've played out the string so the Nats could fire him in August!

 

Maybe so, but good luck finding another job. Even if you convince a GM to bring you in, how are you going to get the players behind you when he walked away from a team like that? He just fried his managerial career in my opinion, though his agent says he'll coach again.

 

My thoughts exactly, I have no idea who'd touch him after this, and if I was Mike Rizzo I would've wanted to see how the season played out before extending him as well. I'm not sure what Riggleman has ever done to feel so entitled to anything at this point. Here's a thought, why don't you finish out the season and EARN a contract, if there's issues with the Nats then they'll be other teams interested in bringing you in. The irony is that this was a totally selfish decision, and yet, was likely the worst thing he could've done for his career. Good luck finding your next Bench Coach job Jim.

[rwa12]

Listening to the radio this morning, apparently Riggleman was having problems with Werth and Marquis. They didn't want to listen to him because he was lame duck, so Riggleman wanted an extension to get control of his clubhouse. Olney said this morning that this was especially surprising, as he is the ultimate company man, and always toes the line. I guess he figured he wasn't going to get control of his clubhouse without an extension, and walked. I would guess that Werth and Marquis would be two of your team leaders there, if they aren't going to show respect, neither are the youngsters. Interesting decision to walk, I can respect it at some level. I would agree that it is career suicide.

[RockCoCougars]

I doubt this will preclude him from getting another big league job. He's managed four different teams already (on an interim or permanent basis) coming into this season with a sub .450 winning pct. in over 2,000 games. If he's still getting/keeping jobs with that track record, I doubt that resigning mid-season is career suicide. I think this quote goes a long way in explaining his continued employment: "he is the ultimate company man, and always toes the line".

[Thurston Fluff]

Barring something really bad it takes more than one instance to lose any possibility to get another job. If the report is true that two of his veterans didn't listen to him due to his status then I have to wonder what is wrong with those guys. Everyone has a job and role to play. Being a hindrance to someone else doing their job is really about the worst thing a person can do in any job. After all you are messing with their livelihood. I doubt either of them would appreciate it if Riggleman returned that favor by screwing with their careers. Not that it matters who does it but Werth at least is an established well above average player who just signed a major contract. Marquis is a textbook example of pedestrian. Don't know where he gets off copping any sort of attitude.

[WV Brew]

Riggleman was the lowest paid manager in MLB. He had a $100,000 buyout. He was correct that he was put in an untenable position. Either Rizzo or the Lerners just wanted a yes man in there. Manny Acta ended up just fine. Riggleman will too. He may not get another managerial job but he won't be responsible for jerks like Werth and Marquis any more. This should be a lesson to teams like the Brewers not to overpay for players like Werth.

[reillymcshane]

Dumb move by Riggleman.

 

Sure he was in a bad spot. But now he looks like he bailed on his team for money. That just doesn't look right. And let's be clear - we're not talking about a legendary or highly successful guy here. He's friggin' Jim Riggleman. But, the team was winning. He had managed to help get them to that point, so why not stick it out - even if you know you're not going to be around next year. Now, no one will trust him. He'll always be known as the guy who quit on his team over a contract dispute. I know there are many other factors, but that's what is will look like.

[Thurston Fluff]

I know there are many other factors, but that's what is will look like.

 

It will only look like that until he gets a chance to interview with another GM and tell him of the other factors. IF the GM agrees that he was put in an untenable position I see no reason why that would prevent him from a job if he was otherwise the best candidate. Not sure how he'll convince anyone that he is the best option but hat is another issue.

[reillymcshane]

Riggleman is going out having fun. Drinking it up with young women. Tearing into the local beat writers. Ripping players. Awesome.

 

http://content.usatoday.c...hotos-drinking-ripping/1

[Team Canada]

Looks like Davey Johnson is indeed the replacement.

[owbc]

Riggleman did the Nationals a big favor--the fans were calling for him to be fired as recently as a few weeks ago and he knew that he was a lame duck even if the team started playing better. His best chance to get a contract extension was now, when the team is playing well, but the response from management shows that he was probably getting dumped at the end of the year no matter what.

 

It's probably career suicide but you never know in this business, way too many incompetent managers get second or even third jobs.

[jerichoholicninja]

Milton Bradley continued to get Major League playing time despite wearing out his welcome with his attitude and lack of success. Riggleman will be fine and get another job within two years, I guarantee it.

[geddymd73]

He bailed on the team. Its just not a good legacy to leave the team just because you don't have a contract for next season. If he finishes out the season in a decent position, he gets another job in a year or so, much like Ned Yost did. But now, I don't think he gets anything better than some low order bench coach anywhere.

He should have handled it more like Macha (only 2 years older) without anything remaining, who never complained one bit.

[ninja33]

Milton Bradley continued to get Major League playing time despite wearing out his welcome with his attitude and lack of success. Riggleman will be fine and get another job within two years, I guarantee it.

there's about 750 major league players, but only 30 managers...so it's a little bit of a different scenario.

He's not a very good manager in the first place (or at least has had incredibly limited success), and combine that with the fact that he quit on his team in the middle of the season over money. Players get benched and ripped in the media for jogging to first base, how is this any different? If anything, it's much worse. I can't imagine him ever getting another managerial job.

[Tbadder]

I now love Riggleman. Good for him. He stuck by his beliefs even though its gonna cost him a lot--both financially and career-wise. I'm more apt to believe Riggleman than the club. We need more people who will stand up to the man, rather than accepting less than he or she deserve. Really, it can only hurt him, so I guess it came down to principle.