- Bobby Henley will stay on as the Nationals’ third base coach under new manager Dave Martinez, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports (Twitter link). As Washington’s third base coach since the 2014 season, Henley has survived the ousters of skippers Matt Williams and Dusty Baker.
Nationals Rumors
Could Jayson Werth Return On A One-Year Deal?
- Jayson Werth could potentially return to the Nationals on a one-year deal. Werth was hitting a solid .262/.367/.446 through his first 196 PA before missing almost three months due to a fracture in his left foot. He still seemed bothered by the injury after his return, leading to subpar numbers down the stretch. The Nats could conceivably use Adam Eaton as both a left fielder and center fielder next year, opening up playing time for Werth or Michael Taylor to fill whatever position Eaton isn’t occupying on any given day.
[SOURCE LINK]
- Jayson Werth could potentially return to the Nationals on a one-year deal. Werth was hitting a solid .262/.367/.446 through his first 196 PA before missing almost three months due to a fracture in his left foot. He still seemed bothered by the injury after his return, leading to subpar numbers down the stretch. The Nats could conceivably use Adam Eaton as both a left fielder and center fielder next year, opening up playing time for Werth or Michael Taylor to fill whatever position Eaton isn’t occupying on any given day.
A Look At Nationals' Ownership
“There may be no ownership group in baseball that is more involved in the selection of its manager” than the Nationals, Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post writes as part of a look at Dave Martinez’s hiring and owner Ted Lerner’s influence. Martinez’s three-year contract is “normal for the industry, outlandish for the Nats,” which indicates that Lerner (who just turned 92 last month) is more committed than ever to finally capture that elusive World Series championship. It could also hint at an aggressive offseason for Washington as it tries to add the final pieces to an already strong team.
Nationals Add Wander Suero To 40-Man
- Likewise, the Nationals moved young right-hander Wander Suero onto their 40-man. Fresh off of being named the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year, the 26-year-old could conceivably compete for a pen spot in Spring Training. He worked to a 2.48 ERA, with 9.0 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9, over 65 1/3 innings of pitching in the upper minors in 2017.
Nationals Hire Kevin Long As Hitting Coach
The Nationals have hired Kevin Long to become the team’s hitting coach, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post first reported on Twitter. He had most recently functioned in the same capacity for the division-rival Mets (and the Yankees before that).
Long was a candidate for the Nats’ and Mets’ open managerial positions, but both clubs went in different directions. It became clear once he missed out on running the dugout in Queens that Long would likely be destined for another organization.
There are a few preexisting ties between the Nationals and Long. His son, Jaron Long, pitches in the organization, for one. And current Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy flourished under Long’s tutelage in New York.
As Janes notes (Twitter link), the move means that previous Nationals hitting coach Rick Schu will be out of a job. He had held down the job since 2013.
Nationals Decline Mutual Option Over Adam Lind
The Nationals have announced that the mutual option between the team and first baseman Adam Lind has been declined. It was the team’s election to send Lind back to the open market after a single season in D.C., per Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (via Twitter).
Entering the winter, team and player had to decide whether to continue their relationship at a $5MM rate for 2018. Because Washington chose to go in another direction, Lind will take home a $500K buyout on his way out the door.
Washington got everything it could have hoped for out of Lind, who earned only a $1MM salary in 2017 (plus $800K in achieved incentives). The 34-year-old mashed to the tune of a .303/.362/.513 batting line with 14 home runs over 301 plate appearances — the vast majority of them coming against right-handed pitching.
It seemed reasonable to think that Lind could be welcomed back in D.C. Though Ryan Zimmerman had a bounceback season of his own, Lind holds plenty of appeal as a reserve first baseman, bench bat, and occasional fill-in in the corner outfield. Still, the Nats already have a lot of payroll committed, leaving questions as to just how much room the team has to spend. And there are quite a few marginal defenders with power bats once again slated to hit the open market, so perhaps the club feels it can find better value elsewhere (or, perhaps, even in a new deal with Lind).
Kevin Long In Running For Nats' Hitting Coach
- Though Mets hitting coach Kevin Long was passed over for the Nationals’ managerial opening after interviewing, Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post reports (via Twitter) that Long is in consideration to become the hitting coach under newly minted Nats skipper Dave Martinez. Long has spent the past 10 seasons as a big league hitting coach — seven with the Yankees and three with the Mets — and played a hand in helping current Nats slugger Daniel Murphy take his game to a new level. Long’s contract with the Mets is up at upon conclusion of the World Series, though there’s not yet any definitive word that he will not be returning to the Mets in 2018.
Nationals Inquired About Joe Girardi
- The Nationals ended their managerial search Sunday when they agreed to hire Cubs bench coach Dave Martinez. While former Yankees skipper Joe Girardi did not interview for the job before it went to Martinez, the Nationals “at least made a cursory inquiry about” him, Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post tweets.
- Martinez received a three-year contract, which demonstrates that Nationals ownership has learned a lesson, Eddie Matz of ESPN.com opines. Between taking over the franchise in 2006 and hiring Martinez, the Lerner family hadn’t given any of Davey Johnson, Matt Williams or Dusty Baker a contract longer than two years. Bud Black backed out of a deal to become the Nationals’ manager in 2015 thanks to their unwillingness to hand him a three-year deal, but the team avoided a repeat this time by committing to the respected Martinez.
The Nationals’ Managerial Search
The Nationals became the latest team with a managerial vacancy last Friday when they announced that skipper Dusty Baker would not return for a third season with the team. The Nats have traditionally shown little penchant for hesitation when it comes to shuffling the dugout mix, as evidenced by the fact that they’re now seeking their fourth manager since the 2011 season. No manager has lasted more than three years at the helm in D.C. since the franchise moved there from Montreal.
It’s not yet clear how many candidates the Nats plan on interviewing, but we’ll track the candidates and update accordingly here in this post as they come to light.
Finalists
- Dave Martinez is a finalist to land the job, according to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. It’s unclear whether anyone else is still in the mix, Janes adds (Twitter links).
Latest Updates
- John Farrell interviewed for the job today, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link). As with previous reports, Rosenthal also hears that Dave Martinez is considered the favorite to be Washington’s next manager.
- It is “not likely” that the Nationals have interest in former Yankees manager Joe Girardi, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). One of the reasons is that the Nats traditionally don’t pay large salaries to managers, and Girardi would certainly command a notable commitment — his just-completed contract with the Yankees was a four-year deal worth $16MM.
Will Interview/Have Interviewed
- Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post tweets that the Nationals have received permission from the division-rival Mets to interview hitting coach Kevin Long for the position. Long, who has spent the past three seasons as the Mets’ hitting coach and held the same post for the Yankees in the seven preceding years, was reportedly a finalist in the Mets’ search. However, the Mets ultimately selected Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway as their new skipper.
- The Nats are interviewing Cubs bench coach Dave Martinez today or tomorrow (Oct. 26/27), Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reports on Twitter. (Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post first reported Martinez would interview.) The 53-year-old Martinez has previously interviewed for the position in 2013, Castillo notes, before the Nats elected to go with Matt Williams. Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times further reports that Martinez came quite close to being named Nationals manager after Williams was dismissed, but ownership decided late in the process that a candidate with prior MLB managerial experience was needed. Wittenmyer writes that some within the industry consider Martinez the favorite this time around, which Jon Heyman of Fan Rag echoes. Martinez has spent a decade as Joe Maddon’s bench coach, dating back to 2008 with the Rays. Martinez spent parts of 16 seasons in the Majors as an outfielder, including four with the Expos before the franchise moved to Washington, D.C.
Quick Hits: Marlins, Nationals, Astros, Roberts/Hinch
Dan Greenlee will assume a role as Director of Player Personnel for the Marlins, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports on Twitter. R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports points out that Greenlee is the second executive Derek Jeter has hired away from the Yankees in the past week; Gary Denbo was recently hired as the Vice President of Player Development and Scouting, and is widely credited with helping to turn around the Yankees’ farm system. Anderson also notes that Greenlee is an interesting baseball exec, having a background in law and journalism, and previously worked as a merger analyst for a media organization.
A few more notes from around Major League Baseball on the night of Game 3…
- The Nationals are likely to exceed the luxury tax threshold once again, says Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. Between guaranteed salaries to ten players, arbitration projections, Matt Wieters’ player option and at least $500K owed to Adam Lind in the form of a buyout on his mutual option, Washington’s guaranteed payroll for 2018 will already top $168MM. That in and of itself doesn’t seem too scary, considering the luxury tax threshold sits at $197MM for the upcoming season. But unfortunately for the Nationals, it isn’t quite that simple. The competitive balance tax takes into account the average annual value of player contracts, and the Nats have worked a lot of deferred money into deals in recent years. According to Cot’s, their payroll is around $193MM for luxury tax purposes. The Nationals, who will be expected to pursue another NL East pennant, will almost certainly spend more than $4MM in free agency.
- Jerry Crasnick of ESPN details the connection between Hurricane Harvey and the city’s passion for Astros baseball in 2017 in a very well-written editorial. The destruction Harvey left in its wake has had a direct correlation with the city’s inhabitants showing increased Houston pride. Indeed, residents have worn #HoustonStrong shirts to games and showed up to support their baseball team in droves. Crasnick details the efforts that the Astros organization made during the storm to give back to the city, including opening kitchens at Minute Maid Park and reaching out to little league teams whose equipment was destroyed by Harvey. The fans are paying the Astros back with incredible support during the postseason.
- Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and Astros skipper A.J. Hinch are focused on trying to lead their respective teams to a World Series title. But as Kyle Glaser of Baseball America points out, this isn’t the first time these two men have been on opposing teams. The rivalry between these two skippers goes all the way back to their college days in the PAC-10. Hinch caught a no-hitter against Roberts and the Bruins on May 8th, 1994. However, Roberts managed to steal a base off Hinch at his first opportunity in the majors, during an August 24th, 1999 game between the Indians and the Athletics. Roberts jokingly considers the World Series a “rubber match” between the two.
