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The Spectacle Blog
Jim Riggleman has suddenly resigned as manager of the Washington Nationals. The team will name an interim manager tomorrow.
Riggleman’s resignation comes scarcely a week after Edwin Rodriguez resigned as manager of the Florida Marlins. But Rodriguez’s resignation was understandable. The Marlins had lost 17 out of 18 games.
Yet the Nationals have won 11 of their last 12 games including a 1-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners this afternoon and presently have a record of 38-37. While they are nine games back of the Philadephia Phillies, the Nats have exceeded expectations.
It seems the problem here is that Nats GM Mike Rizzo declined to pick up Riggleman’s option for next season. Riggleman took over the helm of the Nationals during the 2009 season after Manny Acta was fired. (Acta, of course, has gone to manage the Cleveland Indians and currently finds his team atop the AL Central.) The Nats were steadily improving under Riggleman. So why wouldn’t Rizzo and the Nats front office give Riggleman a vote of confidence and pick up his option? Is it just a personality conflict? Or is it something more? Whatever it is, there’s something rotten in Washington and for once it isn’t the politicians.
View all comments (7) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/06/23/riggleman-resigns-as-nats-mana
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Derek Leaberry| 6.23.11 @ 6:20PM
Rizzo is a my-way-or-the--highway type with a huge ego. Riggleman wouldn't fall in line. But Riggleman blundered as well. He is not only not honoring his 1-year contract but he has left his team in a lurch. He'll likely never manage again.
Cpm| 6.23.11 @ 6:49PM
It looks to me that, riding the Nat's recent winning streak, Riggleman just handed them an ultimatum, "sign me or I don't get on the team bus". That really isn't a very honorable way to do business. Of course, Riggleman used to manage the Cubs so there may be some serious residual brain damage.
reaganaut| 6.23.11 @ 7:48PM
Jason Werth
lydia | 6.24.11 @ 9:01AM
Riggleman used to manage the Cubs so there may be some serious residual brain damage.
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Casey Abell| 6.24.11 @ 9:45AM
I'm 59 years old, very mature but not all that beautiful.
Anyhoo, it's hard to understand why Riggleman wouldn't just serve out his one-year contract. The club will probably improve a little, though it won't make the postseason.
Then after the season, if Washington wouldn't give him a new contract, he could probably get a job somewhere else based on the Nats' improvement.
I dunno, maybe there's something else going on. The contract story seems too odd.
Sparky| 6.24.11 @ 9:55AM
Why in the world should Riggleman expect the team to exercise its option now??? If I am taking a math test and doing well with the first few questions, can I simply demand that my teacher give me an A on the entire exam? The owners' response to Riggleman's demands (we don't want to discuss it now; we'll deal with it after the season) is perfectly rational and reasonable. Indeed, if a player on the Nationals had behaved as Riggleman did, he would have opprobrium heaped upon him for gross selfishness and leaving his teammates in the lurch. Good riddance to Riggleman.
james wilson| 6.24.11 @ 10:17AM
Riggleman got to liking his team and situation there, has read all the press that the Nationals are the future (they're not) and assumed correctly that Rizzo was not going to keep him. Too bad; he had years left ahead of him as a mediocre manager of other mediocre organizations.