Fire Rizzo

[UMDNats]

You think other teams don't have vets like Howie/Adams/Sanchez because their AAA depth is so awesome?  Wow.  Just stop.

whatever, dude. you keep the moving the goalposts. you seem to have a personal issue considering your tone so i'll just stop going in circles here since you say the data i presented is bad information. it was a good discussion for a while but now it's just a waste of time.

[HalfSmokes]

the original point was in 10 years under rizzo we've below-average at drafting and you laughed at the mets being "better" than us when they've gone to a world series with maybe half the spending we do. maybe we shouldn't laugh at them until we've won a playoff series

Rizzo is like to pope to some fans- completely infallible- if something goes wrong it’s always ownership’s fault. Bad signing, missing out on a signing, always ownership. The supposedly awesome scout has a horrible draft record, so it can’t possibly be the case

[varoadking]

The supposedly awesome scout has a horrible draft record...

Certainly seems to be the case...at least here in DC.  Maybe that's why he kept going back to the D-backs picks...he's run outta whatever mojo he may have once had.

I don't see him getting the boot though...even if we miss the playoff's again this year.  The Lerner's seem to like having someone to give the dirty work to...

[HalfSmokes]

I’d let him stick around through the end of Strasburg/Scherzer’s effectiveness to see what happens, but that’s just me

[UMDNats]

I'm overall cool with Rizzo overall - no GM is perfect after all - but yeah I'd probably give him through Strasburg/Scherzer and then see if we need to go in a different direction.

[varoadking]

I’d let him stick around through the end of Strasburg/Scherzer’s effectiveness to see what happens, but that’s just me

Yeah...I think he's here for a while...he has that new contract, so maybe the new CBA timeline is when we ring in a new GM as well...

[dracnal]

Certainly seems to be the case...at least here in DC.  Maybe that's why he kept going back to the D-backs picks...he's run outta whatever mojo he may have once had.

I don't see him getting the boot though...even if we miss the playoff's again this year.  The Lerner's seem to like having someone to give the dirty work to...

I see an alternative to lost mojo - he may simply not have as much time to scout as he used to, and relies on others to get him the info needed.  If he's too busy being a GM to be a scout, his skill, real or imagined, won't matter much.

[UMDNats]

GMs delegate their amateur scouting to the scouting director. Rizzo doesn't have time to analyze reports on the mid-round selections, he has a say in stuff like first-round picks especially in a case like Rendon or Giolito but by and large it's the scouting director's call. It's more of an indictment of Rizzo's personnel management than his scouting ability.

[HalfSmokes]

GM’s hire their staff and are routinely held responsible for their performance

[GburgNatsFan]

I see an alternative to lost mojo - he may simply not have as much time to scout as he used to, and relies on others to get him the info needed.  If he's too busy being a GM to be a scout, his skill, real or imagined, won't matter much.

Interesting take. But nuanced and thoughtful, so therefore to be ignored. On to the next hot take. Rizzo is garbage.

[DCFan]

Interesting take. But nuanced and thoughtful, so therefore to be ignored. On to the next hot take. Rizzo is garbage.

Absolutely. He’s gone if the Nats don’t go to the playoffs.

[Scrapple]

Absolutely. He’s gone if the Nats don’t go to the playoffs.

I don’t believe any franchise covers / scouts Latin America born players better than the Nationals. How can we be talking about firing Rizzo with players like Garcia, Robles, Soto, Sánchez, and others in our system ???... i’ve been locked in a data center for 7 months so maybe I missed something?.... why do so many dislike Rizzo when we’ve been in contention since he became our GM? Someone bring me up to speed on this please.

Go Nationals!

[HalfSmokes]

You can say been in contention, you can also say never been out of the first round.

[rileyn]

This thread is preposterous.

[HalfSmokes]

The level of adoration for a gm who has had the job for 10 years and never had a team get out of the first round despite one of the largest payrolls in baseball is preposterous

[DCFan]

The level of adoration for a gm who has had the job for 10 years and never had a team get out of the first round despite one of the largest payrolls in baseball is preposterous

 

[dracnal]

The level of adoration for a gm who has had the job for 10 years and never had a team get out of the first round despite one of the largest payrolls in baseball is preposterous

Yeah, the bum doesn’t have a single hit in the postseason either.

[Scrapple]

You can say been in contention, you can also say never been out of the first round.

“On paper” Rizzo has put many quality players on that field to contend for a World Championship/Championships over several years and the Nationals are again being picked by many to reach the World Series this year.
 That being said, it’s still gonna take a manager the players all believe in, great leadership from veteran players, and some luck with injuries to bring all forty players together while pulling in the same direction as one. T-E-A-M.

Here’s some more excuses that may have had something to do with our Nationals one-n-done Playoff failures;
1)  ****second-rate, unrespected managers**** (Matt Williams and Dave Martinez)(Dusty Baker’s abysmal Playoff win pct.). Tough to overcome.
2) Key injuries of the past - Strasburg, Ramos, Werth, Kendrick, and so on....... (bad timing)
3) Envy, jealousy, or resentfulness of Bryce Harper. Not all pulling in the same direction.(Don’t have to worry about that anymore.)
4) Lack of veteran leadership - Gomes, Suzuki, Dozier, and Kendrick should help there.
5) Not battle tested - NL East very weak for several years. (Might be the best this year.)

You never stop learning from your mistakes and that includes Mike Rizzo;
1) Patch the bullpen - Rizzo did a very good job this past offseason. Not great, but very good. I’ll take it.
2) Bad apples - Shawn Kelly, Gio Gonzalez, and Bryce Harper distractions all GONE.

As long as Rizzo learns from his mistakes and keeps putting players between the lines such as Kieboom, Soto, Garcia, Robles, and Sánchez i’m behind him 100%.

Go NATS!!!

[LoveAngelos]

His hits on managers so far is a 0 fer

[imref]

In looking at the OD 25, I'm struck by how much change in one year.

Out from 2018: Gonzales, Roark, Cole, Gott, Kelley, Kintzler, Madson, Enny Romero, Solis, Montero, Goodwin, Harper, Wieters

In for 2019: Rosenthal, Gomes, Suzuki, Sipp, Noll, Barraclough, Corbin, Sanchez, Stevenson, Suero, Miller, Robles, Dozier, Soto

Two of the 2019 new faces are temporary injury replacements for Kendrick and Taylor who were on the 2018 roster, but still, that's ten new faces.

Seems like some pretty significant improvements.

[DCFan]

In looking at the OD 25, I'm struck by how much change in one year.

Out from 2018: Gonzales, Roark, Cole, Gott, Kelley, Kintzler, Madson, Enny Romero, Solis, Montero, Goodwin, Harper, Wieters

Is it any wonder the Nats had a major letdown last year with this bunch taking up roster space (aside from Bryce)?

[imref]

Is it any wonder the Nats had a major letdown last year with this bunch taking up roster space (aside from Bryce)?

yeah, that's pretty much an independent league roster that we released (well, Madson was good too).

[CoryTheFormerExposFan]

Is it any wonder the Nats had a major letdown last year with this bunch taking up roster space (aside from Bryce)?

Out from 2018: Gonzales, Roark, Cole, Gott, Kelley, Kintzler, Madson, Enny Romero, Solis, Montero, Goodwin, Harper, Wieters

Gio was really, really good in 2017 and of course Roark had 2 great seasons in the past as well.  Kelley was a really good set-up man and spot closer when we got him.  Madson was good when we got him in 2017 then broke down last year.  Same for Kintlzer...he just fell off.  Just a lot of injuries and regression.

[PowerBoater69]

Turner and Adams go down hard. Good thing $197 million buys a deep bench.

[rileyn]

I've been a Rizzo supporter, and continue to be because I think the Lerner's are difficult to deal with, but it's almost becoming time to press the reset button.  His two biggest blunders are hiring Matt Williams and then hiring Davey Martinez.  I know he wanted to keep Dusty and the Lerners forced that firing, but he he was smitten with Martinez for some reason.  His bullpen building is also clearly an issue and when you combine that with the manager he hired trying to make use of it, you are left with a steaming pile.