The Curious Case of the Washington Nationals

Patrick Zeng

USA Today

For a couple of years now, the Washington Nationals have been the most head scratching team in all of Major League baseball. They have had four 95+ win seasons in the last six years yet only have seven postseason wins in that same period. Most surprisingly, none of those wins have come outside the Division Series. And on Friday, they let Dusty Baker go, a man that had amassed a an average of 96 wins over his two years in charge. In the last ten years, the franchise has had six managers with varying success signaling the volatility of that franchise.

So thus another off season of searching has begun for Nationals. Not only searching for a new manager, but for what is the secret to getting over the hump, and why can this team not accomplish that.

This past year should have been the one. This was the year where the Nationals were going to have success not just in the regular season, but the post season as well. Even after the loss of off season acquisition Adam Eaton in late April the offense still was able to click. The Nats checked in ranked 5th in baseball in runs as well as 4th in both OPS and average.. Bryce Harper returned to his MVP self and Anthony Rendon turned himself into a contender for the award. That along with the unlikely revival of Ryan Zimmerman and the sweet swinging Daniel Murphy gave the Nats a powerful punch with their lineup along with possibly the fastest man in baseball in Trea Turner in the leadoff spot.

NY Post

Clearly the offense was firing on all cylinders, so it must have been the pitching that failed them right? Wrong. Their staff led the league in quality starts, had the 5th best batting average against and was 7th in strikeouts which gave them an incredibly respectable starting pitching staff. The front three of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez all had dominate stretches throughout the season to lead the charge. And the bullpen which was an absolute train-wreck for most of the early season was fortified with midseason pick ups. Doolittle, Kintzler, Madson and Albers gave Dusty Baker a plethora of options to close out ballgames and their improvement there should have solidified their spot among National League contenders. But yet again it all went wrong, so what happens next for the D.C. franchise?

This is the most intriguing question in all of baseball. There is no glaring spot where this team needs to upgrade. Mike Rizzo isn't the one to blame, he has done a solid job as the general manager throughout his tenure. Though all the moves he has made to make this team better may be overshadowed by if he is unable to extend Bryce Harper's stay in our nation's capital beyond next year.

So when it comes down to it, the issue for Washington is their inability to find the leader they so desperately require. It's the reason that they have gone through so many managers over the past decade, because they continually strike out when it comes to selecting the man to lead the team. Davy Johnson will forever be haunted by the infamous Stephen Strasburg 2012 shutdown. The years under Matt Williams are a testament to how talented the Nationals teams have been, averaging 89.5 wins a season with a near incompetent manager. And Dusty Baker was able to develop a strong relationship with his players, but his game management left a lot to be desired.

Business Insider

The Nationals have often been let off the hook the past couple of years due to a poor division. The Phillies and Braves have been in periods of full on rebuild mode, and the Mets and the Marlins are constantly in a flux of inconsistency. This has often allowed their teams to become complacent without a true challenger to push them and when push came to shove in 2015, they crumbled under the pressure of a division race. What the Washington Nationals need more than any type of on the field upgrade is a leader that keeps them accountable in the dugout. A manager with swagger, bite and strategic pedigree.

Brad Ausmus is the man I have in mind to bring the Nationals to where they should be. The former Detroit manager is young, bright and was able to accomplish a decent amount with an aging and over-budget roster during his first go around as a major league manager. Surrounded by the talent already in place in D.C. along with the shrewdness of Mike Rizzo to acquire players, Ausmus should have a much better chance of achieving sustained success with the Nationals than he did with the Tigers.

Whatever the Nationals end up doing with their vacant managerial position is absolutely crucial for the future of the franchise. They have whiffed time and time again when it comes to the man in the dugout and it has cost them dearly whenever the pressure has been turned up. This time they need to make it count to ensure that this era of D.C. baseball brings about the spoils it has seemed destine to achieve, rather than being defined as a Sisyphean period.