Stephen Strasburg struck out ten Marlins without allowing a run over six innings of work in Washington's season finale this afternoon. Here are the latest links on the Nationals, who finish the season with an impressive 80-81 record…
- Nationals manager Davey Johnson told Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post that he hopes to be managing the team again in 2012 (Twitter link). "I know I'm the best candidate," he said. Jon Heyman of SI.com has been reporting for a while that Johnson can have the Nationals' job if he wants it, though GM Mike Rizzo is expected to go through with a complete search.
- Jayson Werth bristles at the idea that 2011 was a lost season for him and the Nationals, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. Werth feels that he's helped the team improve by working with other veterans to change its culture. Within Kilgore’s piece, Werth says he's not particularly good at dealing with failure and offers other insights into his first season with Washington.
- Livan Hernandez declined to say whether he and the Nationals have discussed a contract for next year, but he repeated his interest in re-signing with Washington, according to Bill Ladson of MLB.com.
stephen strasburg: the most-hyped prospect ever and still not overrated
Perfectly put
80-81? was there a game cancelled and not made up?
Game in DC got rained out vs. LA. Since both teams are out of contention, there’s no need to make it up.
If 2 teams aren’t going to make the playoffs and can’t figure out a day to make up the game in the last month they don’t bother making up the game. I was at a Royals game about 15 years ago, last game of the season, wasn’t raining but it was a little cold and damp, they called the game we got vouchers… still made us pay for parking, jerks.
It would seem that the Nats had a better record under the totally disrespected Jim Riggleman than they did under the high and mighty Davey Johnson.
Well im sure that Mike Quade will be available to manage by this weekend if interested.
Jim Riggleman with the Nationals: 140-172, .449
Davey Johnson with the Nationals: 38-42, .475
I also don’t think any Nationals fans were calling Davey Johnson “high and mighty,” or anything of the sort. The local news in DC certainly didn’t reflect such a sentiment.
riggleman had a winning record b4 rizzo peed him off this year and johnson was a lil bit worse
As a Nationals fan, I’m rooting for the Indians tonight. If they win, the Nationals’ first round draft pick is still protected.
And the Indians lose, so the Nationals can sign as many players as they’d like and their first-round pick will be protected.
Yay!
LoLz, Werth’s season not a failure? Seriously? I watched him make a mental error in right in the final game of the season (vs marlins) and it just fit so well…next year will tell the tale, but he wasnt even close to worth it this season. can they talk about Morse instead?
Johnson is washed up– period. Listen to one post-game interview and you see and hear an old, has-been, disinterested alcoholic. Rigg was a good manager, but in the end he left his team mid-season.
The Nationals’ success has nothing to do with their manager. Rizzo added Clippard, Storen, Strasburg, Morse, Ramos, Espo, Henry Rodriguez, and helped add Detwiler, Zimmermann.
Their club has some of the best young talent in the game, and if they can add just 1 starter like CJ Wilson and/or a short-term defense/OBP CF like Coco Crisp they’re the second best team in the NL East and one of the league’s best in the mid term.
Prospects like Harper, Rendon, Meyer, Peacock, Cole, Solis, Goodwin, Hague, Walters, Milone and Eury Perez are all big league talents with the first three having star-power. Add those names to Strasburg, the two Zims, Morse, Werth, Espo, Storen, Clippard, H-Rod, Ramos and u get an annual .550+ W% club.
The manager doesn’t matter unless you’re lucky enough to have Scioscia, Leyland, Girardi, Francona, LaRussa and maybe Melvin. Maddon gets by on the team’s insane number of draft picks and a low pressure atmosphere while Texas benefits from the Billy Bean/Howe thing with Ryan doing the heavy lifting for Washington. Showalter is a great manager and he still posted one of the worst records in the game because his front office stuck him with Mark Reynolds and Kevin Gregg…