Nats Will Get Joe Girardi.

I always get a good chuckle at reading Jon Heyman.   If the Nationals found a cure for cancer, Heyman's headline would be "Nationals Brass Cruelly Hang On To Cancer Cure, Leaving Millions to Die."   Jon, a supposed journalist, dislikes the Nationals about as much as Elaine Benes dislikes The English Patient.

So, today, Jon, tweets the following "information": "initial word hearing out of DC is that girardi is "not likely." for one, nats don't believe in paying big bucks to manager."  And this tweet is being cited in credible places, like the excellent  MLB Trade Rumors website, as an actual "update".

But really, what does this tweet say?   Are these internal sources?  Or did Jon call someone who lives in DC who told him what he wanted to hear?  Jon also tweeted recently that the Nats were "weeks behind" the other teams in their managerial search.  Weeks means more than one.  Baker was informed he wouldn't be returning on October 20.   Two weeks before October 20 is October 6.  Thus, just doing the math, and putting two and two together, Jon Heyman claims the Nats mismanaged their decision on Baker because they didn't let him go before the NLDS even began.

Well, sorry, Jon.  I think you're going to be proven wrong here.  The Lerners aren't cheap.  They put resources where they think they are most important.  And clearly, here, no matter what managerial decisions they made on Jim Riggleman or Manny Acta 10 years ago, they, at this point, consider the manager to be key to a World Series victory.   It would have been easy to keep Dusty Baker.  They didn't do the easy thing.

They felt they needed someone to teach the team how to win.  They signed Jayson Werth to a $126 million contract.   Then, in 2014/15, they felt they another starter. They signed Max Scherzer to a contract over $200 million.  They felt they needed a closer in 2017.  They increased payroll to get Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson.  And Brandon Kintzler.

The decision not to retain Dusty showed that they now feel they need a manager who can get the most out of the players in the games that mean the most.   The Nationals method of operation in this instance isn't to skimp, rather, the exact opposite.  They go get the best man available.

Joe Girardi.

Of course there is no guarantee of anything here.  But if past behavior predicts the future, we'll see Joe G in West Palm Beach in March.

P.S. Update from Chelsea Janes, with real information on Girardi. "The Nationals pursued Girardi when they first moved to D.C., but were still unsure of the veteran’s interest in managing as of Friday morning, according to a person familiar with the situation."   Janes also reports "Nationals ownership might be willing to provide a longer deal (than two years) to their next manager, in part because of the state of the market."