Fire Dusty Baker!

[GburgNatsFan]

Apparently it's time for people to start singling you out for this kind of treatment.

I’m a fan. I’m not the one playing in these games. What I care about in my actual life and what I do in sports teams are completely different. It would probably do some people here some good to remember that.

[Natsinpwc]

They haven't even competed.

Actually they have as evidenced by the 4 division titles. And they have gone to game 5 three times and game 4 once.

Are you one of those who claims he would be happier with a bottom feeder team rather than playoff failures? If so, good luck with that.

[bluestreak]

Apparently it's time for people to start singling you out for this kind of treatment.

Huh?

[imref]

Baker to the Mets?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2017/10/20/dusty-baker-fired-nationals/785731001/

[MarquisDeSade]

Why is Brad Ausmus' name being thrown around by some people here? 

He, myself, and ownership have a lot in common.

[MarquisDeSade]

Actually they have as evidenced by the 4 division titles. And they have gone to game 5 three times and game 4 once.

Are you one of those who claims he would be happier with a bottom feeder team rather than playoff failures? If so, good luck with that.

Outside of that fluky year the Mets had have any of the NL East teams been anything other than non-competitive trash during that time period?  Barves?  No. Phillies?  No. Marlins?  No. Mets?  Once. Not a real high bar to clear.

[aspenbubba]

To all the Dusty defenders and I was not one , as I felt a change should be made , let's see how quickly he is hired by another team. Remember he was out of baseball for two years before the Lerner's hired him. No one else was pounding his door down and the team was able to low ball him at 4 mil for two years. Baker and the team both benefited. Time to move on.

As far as having seven different managers in 14 years let's look at the success rate ( in terms of desirability to be hired by other organizations) of Acta, Williams and Riggleman . The only managers that were worth it were Robinson , Johnson and Baker ( and unfortunately his time has come and gone).

[tenken627]

I understand that its better to make the playoffs than not. And only one team wins a championship out of 30 any given year. But C'MON!!! At least get out of the freaking first round!! Is that really too much to ask???

[GburgNatsFan]

Forget it. Not important. And not really about you, per se.

Huh?

[Slateman]

Actually they have as evidenced by the 4 division titles. And they have gone to game 5 three times and game 4 once.

Are you one of those who claims he would be happier with a bottom feeder team rather than playoff failures? If so, good luck with that.

Sorry but winning a division isn't competing. It certainly isn't competing for a team that has been WS favorites for five years.

And yes, I would rather be a 100 loss team that is building towards the future, than a "good" team with no chance at winning at the playoffs.

[Natsinpwc]

Sorry but winning a division isn't competing. It certainly isn't competing for a team that has been WS favorites for five years.

And yes, I would rather be a 100 loss team that is building towards the future, than a "good" team with no chance at winning at the playoffs.

I think you need to check the definition of competing. You do know that most of the 100 loss teams don't end up winning the World Series.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

To all the Dusty defenders and I was not one , as I felt a change should be made , let's see how quickly he is hired by another team. Remember he was out of baseball for two years before the Lerner's hired him. No one else was pounding his door down and the team was able to low ball him at 4 mil for two years. Baker and the team both benefited. Time to move on.

As far as having seven different managers in 14 years let's look at the success rate ( in terms of desirability to be hired by other organizations) of Acta, Williams and Riggleman . The only managers that were worth it were Robinson , Johnson and Baker ( and unfortunately his time has come and gone).

acta got a manager spot with Cleveland right after we fired him, so by the standard of "has anyone hired him since," he's a success.

[Kevrock]

No one will want to manage here. The organization treating managers and candidates like garbage is of more concern than any single managerial decision.

[aspenbubba]

acta got a manager spot with Cleveland right after we fired him, so by the standard of "has anyone hired him since," he's a success.

And failed miserably not to be hired again

[Scraps]

 So Baker captures 2 division titles in back to back years versus 4 bad clubs in the worst division in MLB yet Baker and the fans around here are upset and “surprised” he has been “DISMISSED” from his duties??????...... give me a freaking break.

I was warned about lame brain Baker before he arrived here but didn’t want to believe it. He simply doesn’t have the brain capacity to think beyond what is happening directly in front of his face at that moment. If he were truly such a  “players coach” as they say, you would think those same players would have found a way to win something for the old buzzard. TOO TOO BAD, SO SO SAD. ☹️

[Slateman]

I think you need to check the definition of competing. You do know that most of the 100 loss teams don't end up winning the World Series.

Being the easy win in the divisional round doesn't constitute competing. Like I said, we're the Caps of baseball.

[Mathguy]

While you're right about other NL East teams, what about the Nats winning 90+ games ?  Those wins come from all NL teams, not just the weak East division.

So Baker captures 2 division titles in back to back years versus 4 bad clubs in the worst division in MLB yet Baker and the fans around here are upset and “surprised” he has been “DISMISSED” from his duties??????...... give me a freaking break.

[Slateman]

While you're right about other NL East teams, what about the Nats winning 90+ games ?  Those wins come from all NL teams, not just the weak East division.

Considering they played a bunch of crap teams, its reasonable to believe they might not be a 90+ win team in another division.

[bluestreak]

Considering they played a bunch of crap teams, its reasonable to believe they might not be a 90+ win team in another division.

They had a better record against the other divisions than they did against the NL east, but let’s not let facts get in the way of a good argument.

[Slateman]

They had a better record against the other divisions than they did against the NL east, but let’s not let facts get in the way of a good argument.

They didn't play those other teams 19 times each. Sorry, but the truth is, the Nats division was the worst in baseball.

[aspenbubba]

They had a better record against the other divisions than they did against the NL east, but let’s not let facts get in the way of a good argument.

They played 76 games within their division. The record was 47-29. Against the other NL teams their record was 40-23 and inter-league play was 10-10. They had a losing record against Milwaukee and Pittsburgh at 3-4. It is all speculation that playing in another division would produce a worse record but I would think so. Our record against the Mets and Marlins combined was 26-12.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

So Baker captures 2 division titles in back to back years versus 4 bad clubs in the worst division in MLB yet Baker and the fans around here are upset and “surprised” he has been “DISMISSED” from his duties??????...... give me a freaking break.

I was warned about lame brain Baker before he arrived here but didn’t want to believe it. He simply doesn’t have the brain capacity to think beyond what is happening directly in front of his face at that moment. If he were truly such a  “players coach” as they say, you would think those same players would have found a way to win something for the old buzzard. TOO TOO BAD, SO SO SAD. ☹️

I probably would not have hired him in the first place, but, if the Nats management thought he was worth hiring to begin with, what unDusty-like thing did he do over the past 2 years to convince management, "OMG, that's not what we expected when we hired Dusty Baker, so let's move on?"  Arguably, he was better this year than anyone thought he would be based off his track record before the hire.  He handled 14 different outfielders, had more position players make contributions out of our minor league system than perhaps ever before (Taylor, Difo, Sanchez, Goodwin - that's a starter and most of a bench), even got some good use out of AAAA guys like Cole.  For a guy who was supposed to be a veteran's manager, I'd say that was a positive surprise.

Maybe what management would say is that, after the Williams debacle, we needed someone to rebuild chemistry, keep things loose, get veterans to produce, and steady the ship so the talent could just perform.  If we made a mistake, it was going to be with a guy with a track record rather than 1st time manager like Williams.  Maybe now they say, hey, we righted the ship, the team can self-motivate, so now we just need someone who is tactically smarter.

If this is the case, then I could see Farrell getting a look.  I'm not a huge Farrell guy because he has minimal influence on his clubhouse, but he also managed and helped integrate into starting roles young players like Betts / Bogaerts / Benintendi / Bradley / Shaw, which could be the Nats version of Robles / Taylor / Difo / Catcher X / Soto.

[blue911]

Baker was a self fire. He didn't sit Werth for any of Lind/Kendrick/Goodwin or Robles although all were clearly better choices. Zimmerman should have never faced Kyle Hendricks, who not only owns Zimmerman but fits the profile of the type of pitcher Zimmerman struggled against. Lobaton had no business in the post season roster especially since he was there as a backup only. At least Severino could be used as a pinch runner. Not starting Robles against Lester is indefensible.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

He, myself, and ownership have a lot in common.

You've all dropped ten grand at Russia House at some point?

[tenken627]

Maybe what management would say is that, after the Williams debacle, we needed someone to rebuild chemistry, keep things loose, get veterans to produce, and steady the ship so the talent could just perform.  If we made a mistake, it was going to be with a guy with a track record rather than 1st time manager like Williams.  Maybe now they say, hey, we righted the ship, the team can self-motivate, so now we just need someone who is tactically smarter.

My thoughts exactly. Dusty was brought in to clean up after the Matt Williams thing. Thats what he is good at.

But like a specific type of manager whos brought onto a rebuilding team to turn it into something respectable, its time to appreciate and thank him for his job well done and get someone who can make the right in-game decisions.

Not sure about Farrell though. Im not big on rehashes, and willing to take risks if it means finding someone great. Just because Matt Williams didnt work out as a first time manager doesnt mean we should never go that route ever again.

I wouldnt mind giving Mike Maddux a try. Hes already familiar with our team, which is a plus. And our pitching has really stabilized (early season bullpen issues and game 5 aside). Im sure he would have a lot of interest on his end. He could be a candidate to help our team get over losing Dusty pretty quickly.

And for the Lerners sake, im sure he wouldnt be tooooo expensive