Nats fire five coaches

[shoeshineboy]

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080928&content_id=3565496&vkey=news_was&fext=.jsp&c_id=was

[BerkeleyNat]

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080928&content_id=3565496&vkey=news_was&fext=.jsp&c_id=was

I was just about to post this. I'm thrilled to see Harris and Tolman go. This is good news and maybe it's a sign that the Nats ownership is serious about making this team a contender.

[tomterp]

I'm surprised they did it before the game, and also surprised it was 5 of them.  My over/under was 2.5.

[sportsfan882]

FANTASTIC!!!

[ronnynat]

WASHINGTON -- The Nationals informed all of manager Manny Acta's coaches, except for pitching coach Randy St. Claire, on Sunday morning that they will not be back for the 2009 season. No reason was given as to why the coaching staff is being overhauled.

All the coaches were in uniform for Sunday's season finale against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

Pat Corrales was the team's bench coach, while Tim Tolman and Jerry Morales were the third-base and first-base coaches, respectively. Bullpen coach Rick Aponte and hitting coach Lenny Harris also will not be back next season.

There was no immediate word on who the Nationals will bring in to replace the coaches. General manager Jim Bowden was not available for comment.

All good decisions, IMO.

[PANatsFan]

Why would they fire Corrales and not Acta? Doesn't Corrales do 50% of the strategizing? This seems like the old cutting off your nose routine.

[hammondsnats]

i know sportsfan is gonna kill someone, but seriously, i'm happy st. claire is still with us.  look @ who he's had to throw out there.  levale speigner?  you serious.

[Coladar]

I'm rather shocked they dumped every single coach save for Claire. Signs that there might be an even bigger change coming with any luck... Like someone else mentioned, they either should have also dumped Acta or kept Corrales. It's the same as cutting out part of the cancer (If they believe Corrales deserved firing) without getting all of it.

[hammondsnats]

This is good news and maybe it's a sign that the Nats ownership is serious about making this team a contender.

No it was probably that the Lerners didn't want to spend money on new contracts

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Corrales was fired?  I'm kind of surprised at that.  I thought he was decent.

I'm thrilled to see Aponte, Tolman, and Harris go.

[cmdterps44]

Im happy that tolman and harris are gone.

[hammondsnats]

And I still don't understand why a lot of people here think Manny should be fired.  Look at the talent on his roster?  Is it his fault we have a roster made up of 35% of AAAA players? 

Yeah he has plenty of room to improve, but the team respects him and he did a lot with nothing last season. 

[Air Zimmerman]

why the freak is St. Claire immune?!

[Why Not?]

I'm surprised they did it before the game, and also surprised it was 5 of them.  My over/under was 2.5.

Which coach was going to be half fired? 

These guys might have already known they were not coming back.

[tomterp]

Which coach was going to be half fired? 

These guys might have already known they were not coming back.

1 or 2 would be under, 3, 4, 5 or 6 would be over.  Saying 3 is my over under would not resolve the tie that would occur if exactly 3 were fired.  Of course, I could have made my over/under 2.000000000001 and achieved the same end.

[shoeshineboy]

Why would they fire Corrales and not Acta? Doesn't Corrales do 50% of the strategizing? This seems like the old cutting off your nose routine.

The coaching staff under Acta has been made up of Randy (who was a holdover), Corrales (who was an Acta suggestion when required to have an experienced bench coach), and all of Acta's buddies. The buddies are now gone. Randy was retained, and Corrales is barely mobile and probably needed to retire anyway. To me, this all makes perfect sense. With a young manager, they allowed him to bring in his friends to get his feet wet, plus they were really cheap. Now that Manny has a couple of years under his belt, he needs a real staff, and if the FO is ready to spend money on the big club, they don't want their money going to pay people like Tolman, Harris, and Aponte. Time to bring in professionals.

[hammondsnats]

maybe bill cowher will come out of retirement and coach.

oops wrong thread.

[tomterp]

Time to bring in professionals.

I bet they hire the Columbus hitting coach, Eckstein.

[The Chief]

I bet they hire the Columbus hitting coach, Eckstein.

Our ARPG since he came up has been a phenomenal increase over before, but the same thing happened last year when we cut Paige and brought up Harris, so that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

[tomterp]

Our ARPG since he came up has been a phenomenal increase over before, but the same thing happened last year when we cut Paige and brought up Harris, so that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

Right, I have no idea if the guy is any good or not, just saying.

[The Chief]

Right, I have no idea if the guy is any good or not, just saying.

Yeah I know, I was just observing.

[nats2playoffs]

What are Manny Acta's and Randy Claire's VORP ratings as manager/coach?

The idea of hiring Acta was the belief that he'd work well with young, inexperienced players.  I don't see it.  Maybe Tony Gwynn can be lured away from San Diego State, teo replace Manny and join Strasburg here.  I found it interesting how Strasburg was developed into a star, in large part, from physical conditioning, something that's seriously LACKING on the Nationals.  I'd like to see if Gwynn could do what Manny seems to be clueless at.

[MrMadison]

The coaching staff under Acta has been made up of Randy (who was a holdover), Corrales (who was an Acta suggestion when required to have an experienced bench coach), and all of Acta's buddies. The buddies are now gone. Randy was retained, and Corrales is barely mobile and probably needed to retire anyway. To me, this all makes perfect sense. With a young manager, they allowed him to bring in his friends to get his feet wet, plus they were really cheap. Now that Manny has a couple of years under his belt, he needs a real staff, and if the FO is ready to spend money on the big club, they don't want their money going to pay people like Tolman, Harris, and Aponte. Time to bring in professionals.

tolman was a holdover.  and Harris took over for Mitchell Page mid-season and the FO decided to keep him. I don't think he was "Manny's buddy"

[ronnynat]

tolman was a holdover.  and Harris took over for Mitchell Page mid-season and the FO decided to keep him. I don't think he was "Manny's buddy"

I think Harris was buddy buddy w/ a few players. I'd rather have a hitting coach (any coach, really) that players fear.

[shoeshineboy]

tolman was a holdover.  and Harris took over for Mitchell Page mid-season and the FO decided to keep him. I don't think he was "Manny's buddy"

Tolman was brought in by Manny Acta. He, Aponte, and Morales had long associations with Acta. Lenny Harris was indeed brought by the organization to replace Page.