First general manager Jim Bowden “resigned.”
Then center fielder Lastings Milledge was exiled to the minors while the pitching staff and its coach were sent packing, too.
Now manager Manny Acta appears next to depart as the team bus always seems to return with fewer passengers.
The Washington Nationals are baseball’s joke. The 16-45 record is so far in last place that visiting fans and Nats loyalists are practically the only ones filling a half-empty ballpark. It’s not just New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore fans, but even Cincinnati, which is a generation removed from its Big Red Machine powerhouses.
What’s next? I’ll tell you what’s next — team president Stan Kasten should be on the clock the moment Acta departs.
This is Kasten’s mess. Forget his Atlanta success. That was another town in another time. Sometimes the magic can’t be replicated. Ask Joe Gibbs.
Kasten was charged with rejuvenating a franchise. Instead, the five-year plan must have come from the Soviet handbook. The Nats are worse than ever. Worse than last year’s 102 losses. They may shatter baseball’s worst single-season record. Just wait until the final weeks when they really bag it. The scariest part is players are still trying.
If Acta goes, let bench coach Jim Riggleman finish the season and decide in October who’s the next skipper. Don’t pick the next manager until you know who is the general manager, and don’t pick him until you know who’s team president.
Blowing up the entire front office isn’t easy, especially when the owners aren’t baseball people. The Nats would have the same problem that’s haunting the Redskins — constant policy shifts. It’s hard to gain traction when changing course more often than Congressional leaders. Maybe they should block that view of the Capitol dome from the stadium.
Acta is a good baseball man and a stand-up guy. Too bad his 148-233 record merits change. The Nats aren’t better off without him, but sometimes change is needed if only to bait fans into returning through false hope of better days.
The Lerner family should take a 360-degree look at the franchise before making widespread changes. After all, there’s plenty of blame by everyone.
While they’re at it, let Teddy win the season’s final race and replace the Mount Rushmore four next year with Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com or e-mail [email protected].
