Nats outfielder Jayson Werth spoke after Friday’s dramatic 2-1 win over the San Diego Padres, addressing his comments in Milwaukee earlier in the week that appeared to hint at deeper trouble within the clubhouse. Were his vague quotes directed at manager Jim Riggleman? Since it’s only fair to give a man his say let’s let Werth clear it up in his own words, unedited.
Can you set the record straight on those quotes in Milwaukee…
What goes on here is between us. This is a close-knit group or whatever. I think what was said is changes need to be made or we need to make changes – or however it was said. What happened from there, where it was taken from there that’s totally out of my control. People putting words in my mouth and people not even there to hear what I said writing articles about all these different things and scenarios that had nothing to do with what I was talking about. Changes need to be made: We need to start winning ballgames. We need to start hitting the ball. We need to do what we got to do win games. And that’s all it was. What happened from the end of the game in Milwaukee until today had nothing to do with me. That’s just people making up stories and saying things that they don’t even know what they’re talking about.
Why then a meeting with Jim Riggleman…
I think he just wanted to hear from me on what was said and why it was taken out of context after that. The meeting between me and Jim that’s between me and Jim. That has nothing to do – that’s nobody’s business. But what I don’t think is fair is you say we need to make changes and pretty soon that’s got me doing whatever – I’m not even going to go there. But basically what I was saying is we need to start winning games.
So is all this behind you guys…
I don’t feel like there was ever anything to start with. You said what you said and I didn’t think it was that bad. And Jason says what he says and he wasn’t even there to hear what I had to say. And then he writes that article. You guys are starting your own thing. That has nothing to do with me and has nothing to do with Jim. We’re here to play baseball. I’m here to play baseball. We need to win ballgames, bottom line.
So you think you were misunderstood…
I’m not saying I was whatever. I said what I said and other people said what they said. It had nothing to do with anything other than me saying changes need to be made. And those changes are winning ballgames. We got to do what it takes to win ballgames. It has nothing to do with personnel changes, changes this, changes that. That’s all words put into my mouth by other people.
Asked to elaborate on what you meant in Milwaukee and chose not to do so. How come…
I didn’t want to get into it. There’s more to it than that. If you want to start talking about it we can talk about it. Why doesn’t Teddy get to win. There’s a lot of things. There’s a lot of things I said I had on my mind. There’s things that we need to change. It’s not just one thing, it’s not just two things. There’s some things that I see that are going on that need to be changed in order for us to win ballgames. That’s all. You guys write what you want to write. Whatever.
Interesting stuff, although I have to admit throwing Teddy Roosevelt’s losing streak in there – without cracking a smile – was, um, a first for me from a pro athlete. Still not sure what that was about. Werth was really referring to a story by Washington Post reporter Adam Kilgore that ran after Wednesday’s 6-4 loss at Milwaukee and – what actually upset him most – was a column by the Post’s Jason Reid that took pointed issue with Werth, who is only now breaking out of an early slump. Reid, to his credit, made himself available after the game to discuss his column. He and Werth had their own conversation after the media scrum broke up that was lively, but didn’t cross the line into insults or shouting at all. I actually thought Werth handled himself relatively well with his comments – though he hurts himself sometimes with a style of speaking that leave his meaning obscured. Not his fault, necessarily, but vague quotes inevitably lead to misinterpretation. Anyway, after a 1-7 road trip probably the best time to address that issue was after a walk-off win. A few more of those against the Padres this weekend and maybe Washington can put the last 10 days behind it.
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