“Kurt Suzuki is not a rental,” says Washington Nationals’ Mike Rizzo - MLB Update
Washington Nationals plan to keep catcher Kurt Suzuki in the team as a permanent member after they acquired him through a trade during the season with Oakland Athletics. General Manager, Mike Rizzo has unambiguously stated that they fancy Suzuki as an important
part of the team’s expedition in the upcoming seasons.
Suzuki performed reasonably well since his acquisition by the Nationals. Both, defensively and offensively, his contributions were incredible for the team. More importantly, he rightly served the purpose for which he was obtained.
During the season, the Nationals foresaw that their regular catcher Jesus Flores may suffer an injury down the line. To address such an eventuality, they clinched a deal with the Athletics and brought Suzuki into the team.
In all those matches when Flores was not a hundred percent fit, he was given the opportunity.
While some may have thought that he will take the performance of the team down, he did not disappoint at all. In-fact, he struck home-runs and contributed for runs just as the rest of the batters in the Nationals’ line-up did.
He immediately adjusted to the environment of the clubhouse and mingled with the rest of the players conveniently.
He was fortunate enough to become part of the glory that the Nationals earned by winning the National League East Division title.
As soon as the season came to an end, the experts doubted that the Nationals will retain him for the next year. Some of them were of the view that they will get rid of him because the purpose they wanted to achieve from Suzuki had been attained.
Rizzo has said it loud and clear that Suzuki is not in the club for just one year. He believes in case Wilson Ramos, who is injured currently, does not recover in time, Suzuki will have an important role to play in the upcoming season.
"'He's not a rental,'" Rizzo said. "'He's going to be here for more than this season. He's a guy who can really take that rotation together and get it going better than it already has.'"
Suzuki will be looking to learn from his experience in the current season and use it to perform well in the upcoming years.
Tags: