MLBits: Dusty Baker Will Not Return as Nationals Manager and Other News from Around the League

Oct 20, 2017

The Cubs season may be over, but there’s still some baseball left, as well as a pretty crucial offseason coming up. So before you kickstart your weekend, let’s get to some news from around the league.

Starting with …

Some big news out of Washington:

#Nats announce Dusty Baker will not return as manager of the team in 2018. @mlb @MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) October 20, 2017

Wow. That’s pretty surprising. Dusty Baker made it just two seasons with the Nationals, despite having won the division in both seasons. I suppose back-to-back early postseason exits with extremely talented rosters must be taken into consideration, but damn. That’s a rough ticket. Here’s the official statement from the Nats:

Here's the statement from the Nationals on Dusty Baker and his coaching staff… pic.twitter.com/pR29C34TwZ

— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) October 20, 2017

The Nats will apparently begin their search for a new manager immediately, and he’ll bring in his own coaching staff (which is pretty common). You can bet on Cubs Bench Coach Dave Martinez’s name being thrown into the ring, as it does every almost time an opening arises.

That’s not the only high-profile exit around baseball lately, as the Arizona Diamondbacks have officially parted ways with Chief Baseball Officer Tony La Russa. La Russa was actually sapped of his real “power” last offseason, when the D-Backs brought in GM Dave Stewart, so this was really just the end of the end, for La Russa. I’m not sure there’s going to be a GM or President job waiting for La Russa out there, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he stuck around baseball, perhaps even with the league office.

The Yankees are making moves that’ll probably make them a lot of money (because, of course):

The Yankees have announced a new partnership with Vision Esports to help create and manage an “ecosystem” of esports properties. pic.twitter.com/gARezbFVtL

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 19, 2017

At FanGraphs, Dave Cameron suggests that the Cubs “already need to retool,” which sounds a bit harsher than the article actually reads. Basically, with several exiting players and a myriad of talented, but flawed youngsters, the Cubs might be best suited by making a significant trade or two over the offseason and changing things up. Don’t get too worked up, though, this is more so “they’re not the dynasty we thought, but they’re still really good” than anything else.

The Tigers are officially hiring Ron Gardenhire as their new manager, and his contract is expected to be three years. Dave Martinez was interviewed for this job, but was once again passed over in favor of someone else. To be fair, Gardenhire managed the Twins in the Tigers division for 13 seasons (2002-2014), before spending some time as the D-Backs bench coach, so he has plenty of experience and qualifications. It remains just a matter of time for Davey.

The Astros and Yankees will play Game 6 of the ALCS tonight at Minute Maid Park. After falling down to an 0-2 deficit in the ALCS, the Yankees were able to make the comeback the Cubs could not, and now lead the series 3-2. A win tonight would mark a Dodgers/Yankees World Series. The dark-side has truly won.

written by

Michael Cerami

Michael Cerami began covering the Chicago Cubs for Bleacher Nation as a part-time contributor in 2015. One year later, he joined Bleacher Nation full-time, covering the Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball. Today, Michael runs Bleacher Nation, contributing as a writer (Cubs, MLB) and an editor for all sections of the site, including the Chicago Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks, as well as MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL. In 2019, Michael was the co-host of NBC Sports Chicago's Cubs Post-Game Show Outside the Ivy. You can find him on Twitter/X @Michael_Cerami

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