{"id":14509,"date":"2017-10-20T12:57:46","date_gmt":"2017-10-20T16:57:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=14509"},"modified":"2018-07-26T14:48:45","modified_gmt":"2018-07-26T18:48:45","slug":"first-off-season-shoe-drops-dusty-baker-is-not-coming-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=14509","title":{"rendered":"First off-season shoe drops: Dusty Baker is not coming back"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sayonara<\/a>

Sayonara Baker. Photo via UPI<\/p><\/div>\n

In a move that surprised me, the Nats announced mid friday 10\/20\/17 that\u00a0Dusty Baker<\/strong> would not be renewed<\/a>.\u00a0 I’m guessing that also goes for his whole staff.<\/p>\n

I think he did an excellent job with the team this year, given the ridiculous number of injuries the team faced.\u00a0 He clearly stabilized the clubhouse post\u00a0Matt Williams<\/strong>.\u00a0 The knock on him prior to his Nats career was handling of pitchers, over-use of relievers, and a general lack of modern baseball strategy.\u00a0 But his tenure here has seen none of these issues; there’s quibbles about starter over-use earlier in the year, but that was more about his decrepit bullpen than him riding his arms too heavily.\u00a0 The team shifts and plays modern baseball; I see no evidence that he’s a\u00a0Mike Scoscia<\/strong>-level old-school hard\u00a0 head.\u00a0 So I’m not exactly sure why they felt the need to move on.<\/p>\n

I don’t think you can pin the playoff loss on Baker either; when your team\u00a0 hits .186 and loses two games where the starter threw 6-no hit innings … its tough to win.\u00a0 Some people keep mentioning his sticking with\u00a0Jayson Werth<\/strong> instead of\u00a0Howie Kendrick<\/strong> … or his lineup construction choices batting Werth 2nd (nevermind that lineup construction theory has been proven to be practically negligible over an entire season).\u00a0 \u00a0I’m not sure I agreed with the quick hook of\u00a0Scherzer<\/strong> in his start, much like I hated the quick hook of Scherzer in game 5 of 2016’s NLDS.\u00a0 But otherwise, its hard to blame the manager for this playoff loss.\u00a0 I mean, if\u00a0Jose Lobaton<\/strong>‘s foot doesn’t come off the bag, do the Nats rally and win game 5 and we’re still playing playoff baseball right now?\u00a0 If the ridiculous 5th inning sequence of events doesn’t befell Scherzer’s outing … are we having a different conversation?<\/p>\n

Mike Rizzo<\/strong> took over in 2009 and he’s now set to be on his 6th full time manager.\u00a0 \u00a0I’m beginning to wonder about the workability of this front office.\u00a0 Here’s the history step by step of Rizzo’s manager selections:<\/p>\n