The Nationals tomorrow "will introduce Dusty Baker as their new manager" just a week after former Padres manager Bud Black was set to take the job, and the situation "offers a window into how the Nationals function," according to sources cited by Barry Svrluga of the WASHINGTON POST. A source said that Black "was offered a deal that was below industry norms in both length (one year) and compensation" at $1.6M. The Nationals opened last season with a player payroll that was nearly $165M, the "sixth highest in the sport." However, when they "needed a new leader for what had become a fractured clubhouse under former manager Matt Williams, they made a below-market offer." The Nationals "publicly say they want to be an industry standard," but it is "fair to question what industry standard-bearers would find them desirable employers." The Lerner family, which owns the team, already has shown, "in their dealing with previous managers," that it does not "put much value in the position." They have "never paid a premium for a manager, even as they developed a roster that was good enough to win a World Series." Sources said that this is "typical of how the club operates" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/4). In DC, James Wagner cited a source as saying that Black was “'deeply offended' and the talks didn’t proceed well from there." Another source said that the Nationals’ top offer to Black "was a guaranteed three-year deal with an average salary that would have been in the top half of major league managers." However, talks with Black "had collapsed" by Sunday night. By the following day, the Nationals "were deep into negotiations with Baker" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/4). USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale reports the Nationals gave Baker a "two-year contract" worth about $3.5M (USA TODAY, 11/4).
FAMILY TIES: CSNMIDATLANTIC.com's Mark Zuckerman wrote for "all the progress they’ve made in their near-decade owning the Nationals, members of the Lerner family have yet to fully grasp the importance of managerial job security." Since the Lerners purchased the franchise from MLB in '06, they have "given no manager a contract that includes more than two guaranteed years" (CSNMIDATLANTIC.com, 11/3). USA TODAY's Nightengale writes the Nationals have "managed to lead" MLB in "arrogance." If they had "just hired Baker in the first place," pundits "could have praised the Nats for giving him another opportunity." Nightengale: "Instead, we get another glimpse of the Nationals' lack of people skills." The Nats now are "trying to pretend that they believed in Baker all along and he was always their first choice." Nightengale: "Nothing like selective memory" (USA TODAY, 11/4). In DC, Thomas Boswell writes the Lerners "interact little with the rest of the sport; and they seldom contradict" Managing Principal Owner Ted Lerner "on anything." That "insularity, almost a novice arrogance, makes them tough to buck whether you’re on the opposite side of a negotiation from them, or even on their side." As pro sports ownerships go, the Lerners are "somewhere in the middle of the pack," and they "tend to improve with time." But that is "damning with faint praise when you realize the low height at which the ownership bar is often set" by the likes of Orioles Owner Peter Angelos and Redskins Owner Daniel Snyder (WASHINGTON POST, 11/4).
SAVING MLB AN EMBARRASSING SITUATION: In N.Y., Billy Witz notes Baker will be the "only African-American manager in baseball," with the only other minority being the Braves’ Fredi Gonzalez. Baker's hiring "spared baseball the ignominy of celebrating its next Jackie Robinson Day without any black managers" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/4). SI.com's Jay Jaffe noted Baker, Bo Porter and Dave Roberts this offseason are the "only black managerial candidates to interview" for five open positions. Porter, Lloyd McClendon and Ron Washington "all lost jobs over the past two seasons" (SI.com, 11/3). Meanwhile, FOXSPORTS.com's Ken Rosenthal noted the Dodgers' recent interview with Roberts for its open managerial position "raises an intriguing possibility." The Dodgers, a franchise that "takes great pride in its history of social impact, could make Roberts their first minority manager." However, Dodgers Dir of Player Development Gabe Kapler "remains the perceived front-runner" for the opening (FOXSPORTS.com, 11/3).
