The Nationals are prepared to discuss a new deal with manager Dusty Baker this offseason, Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post reports. As of yet, however, the Washington organization has yet to engage in any chatter with the skipper’s reps.
Baker, 67, guided the Nats to a 95-win season and a National League East title, the organization’s third in the last five years. But D.C. fell agonizingly shy of making it out of the divisional round yet again, falling to the Dodgers in five games.
Having signed only a two-year pact when he took the helm before the 2016 season, Baker already occupies lame-duck status. It seems only natural for the sides to come together on a new deal, then; as Castillo explains, all parties have expressed pleasure with what appeared to be a mutually beneficial relationship. Just how long Baker hopes to keep the gig isn’t known, but it appears the team will be receptive to an extension.
Managerial contracts have never been a straightforward matter for the Nats, however. Even Baker’s hiring came with some drama, rising out of the ashes of the club’s dalliance with Bud Black. MASNsports.com’s Pete Kerzel recently discussed that recent history in assessing Baker’s current situation; his piece, too, is well worth a read.
Assuming that the sides are able to see eye to eye on the term of a contract — presumably, Baker won’t be trying to achieve a particularly lengthy pact — it’ll remain necessary to work out a new salary. The current pact promises the veteran skipper $4MM over its two years, with $3MM worth of incentives also available.
What is Rizzo’s current contract situation? I can’t see the manager getting a contract extension covering more years than the GM. And for all you guys worried about Dusty ruining the pitchers; why do you think Mike Maddux was hired? He runs that part of the staff.
Rizzo is signed through the 2018 season. I agree, I love the combo of Maddux and Baker.
For the people who actually believe that Managers letting pitchers pitch when it’s their time to pitch, ruins them, are idiots. In that case, I guess Terry Collins ruined Zach Wheeler, Matt Harvey and the almost the WHOLE 2016 pitching staff. Could on further by saying EVERY pitcher that gets hurt is he blame of the Manager
Yeah, I’m no Dusty fan but the overreaction about him destroying pitchers is somewhat hilarious. The same people that blame him for ruining Mark Prior while trying to win it all in 2003, will also tell you the Nationals blew their chance to win it all by shutting down Strasburg.
Man, this is such a good point. Seriously.
I didn’t watch as many Nats games as I usually do in 2016, but I haven’t seen anything but positive reports on how he ran the club. And aside from him pulling Scherzer in game 5 of the NLDS – counter to the typical critique – I didn’t see any particularly notable in-game decisions that I disagreed with.
They’ll extend him through ’18 – that’s the current window. After that Harper, Murphy & Gio are gone. Rizzo & Dusty will be gone too if they continue to flail in the playoffs.
The Nationals apparently haven’t figured out what the rest of the league already knows. You cannot win a World Series with Dusty Baker as your manager. Period.
The man is 0-9 in series clinching wins since ’03 with the Cubs. A MLB record. He blew a 5 run lead with 3 innings to go in game 6 in ’02 that would have won the Giants the series. Another MLB record. He blew a 3-2 series lead in that one, a 3-2 series lead in ’03, a 2-0 lead in the NLDS with the Reds. Probably should get the lifetime achievement award for bad game management in the playoffs.
Dusty’s problem is not that he wears out pitchers. Dusty’s problem is he cannot manage a pitching staff in game situations, and is incompetently loyal to guys that should have been given their release. Players manager? That basically means he lets the players do whatever they want, and doesn’t hold them accountable for anything, including actual performance. For crying out loud, he gave Nefi Perez 600 PA’s in a season when his OBP was less than .300. Heaven forbid something goes wrong, because then all he does is sit on the bench and chew his toothpick until it’s too late.
I’m sure that Dusty bears his fair share of the blame, but some of those issues are on the front office. These days, IMO, even general playing time complaints are best directed at the GM. Compiling and properly utilizing a roster is a joint effort, but ultimately the manager is responsible for managing people and implementing the front office’s vision for deploying players.
Is the choice of who to go to in the pen given down from the front office? With the way things are trending, I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a thing (if it isn’t already) but I have never heard anything about whether or not managers are still given some freedoms in who they use from the pen.
For example, I can’t believe that the cubs front office was telling joe to use Chapman in game 6 of the ws, but I could be completely wrong.
I would say that a third of today’s teams are run by the front office and the manager is nothing more than a puppet on a string. The GM’s that have multiple math degrees from Ivy League schools that insist computers alone can determine the outcome of a game run these teams. The good managers won’t work for a organization with that philosophy because they are aware of the human element involved in winning championships and the computer can’t determine a finite grade for intangibles like grit, heart and determination. Joe Maddon doesn’t fall into the puppet on a string category although I do think he panicked just a little. Joe uses all the data along with his instincts to formulate his opinions for various in game situations. Things can implode very fast in a ML game and when there is no tomorrow sometimes the pressure gets to everyone, including Joe. On occasion, good players will get a manager out of trouble when a poor decision is made. It’s the managers that compound poor decisions daily that even the 1927 Yankees can’t overcome that frustrate us fans.
you should read Big Data Baseball and The Extra 2%.
stats work. they work even better when the manager is equally open minded and there is bi directional feedback.
Actually, the players blew those series. Idk how much you can blame on the manager fairly.
Four different teams, four different blown series. What’s the common denominator? Dusty. Yes it’s the players performance to a degree, but Dusty has always left pitchers in too long so they can “work things out”, and get 5 and the win, while disregarding what’s best for the team. He also clearly has favored veterans over rookies and young players to the detriment of the team.
Watch him for a full season of managing and you’ll see just how bad he is. For example, He has never believed in good, fundamental base running, or hustle. Both of which won the Cubs game 7.
Do you honestly think Dusty Baker could have won the WS with the Cubs this year?
perfect… now the Nats will be cursed even longer.. with the Cubs breaking their curse now we have dusty bakers curse to keep going.. guy couldn’t win a big game if his life depended on it..
Modern day Gene Mauch
Perfect!
That’s fine if they want to discuss ‘the new deal’, but I don’t see what relevance Franklin D. Roosevelt’s political strategies have to Dusty Baker. He wasn’t even born yet.
Ugh, read the post, man.
Dusty and Rizzo enjoy an ongoing dialogue regarding the New Deal-era socio-political milieu and its ramifications for modern bullpen usage. Also, Ted Lerner *was* alive then.
He’s a miserable manager. As a Reds fan I watched him coach like it’s the middle of June after a 2-0 lead in best of 5 in the playoffs coming home against the Giants. Bochy made him look like a high school volunteer coach
He’s SOOOOO miserable, but let me ask you this. WHERE have he Reds been since Dusty Left?? Who ya gonna blame NOW??
I have an answer. They started a rebuild basically the day they fired him. Injuries the first year then the rebuild. We couldn’t get rid of this guy fast enough, the Giants felt the same way, the Cubs felt the same way.
Funny! Playoffs two years in a row, then start a rebuild! No wonder Cincinnati is the new armpit of sports America.
No one gets handed more talent than dusty. Anyone could win 90 games with all the teams he’s been awarded. Happiest day as a Reds fan was the day they fired him. They gave him everything he needed to win a World Series he puked coaching that talent
I love dusty baker. Such a nice guy and a great manager, the Nats would be smart to keep him.