quentinFormer Washington Manager, Riggleman, Resigns
June 23rd 2011 22:20
Jim Riggleman, the Washington Nationals skipper, resigned from the club today. The Nationals, who are one of the hottest teams in the league are one game over .500 for the first time since 2005 (38-37). They have won 11 out of 12 games, which included a win over the Mariners today. Riggleman said the franchise was not ready to commit to him over the long run. He said the reason he quit was because the team did not pick up his option on his contract for next year; said he was a placeholder until the Nationals found someone better. Riggleman said the talk about picking up his option, “It's been brewing for a while. I know I'm not Casey Stengel, but I do feel like I know what I'm doing. It's not a situation where I felt like I should continue on such a short lease.” Riggleman's decision caught the team by surprise. General manger, Mike Rizzo, said “Jim told me pregame today that if we wouldn't pick up his option, then he wouldn't get on the team bus today. I felt that the time wasn't right for me to pick up the option, and certainly today's conversation put to me in the way it was put to me, you certainly can't make that decision in a knee-jerk reaction. It's too big of a decision.”
Mike Rizzo will announce the new manager of the Washington National on Friday. The National will be playing the Chicago White Sox over the weekend. Rizzo said he was disappointed about this distraction and that the team should be celebrating going to play against the White Sox. The former manager, Riggleman has been working on one year deals since 2009 when he succeeded Manny Acta. He was being paid $600,000 this year and would have been paid $600,000 for next year. Riggleman has been a manager for 12 seasons and holds a 662-864 record overall. He coached San Diego (1992, first managerial job), Chicago Cubs( Helped them to the 1998 NL wild card spot), and Seattle (Midway in 2008 season). Riggleman became the Nationals coach in 2009. If he didn't get the Nationals' job, Riggleman considered going to Japan if a job opening was available. He was a minor league infielder in his playing days.
| 28 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
