Talks between Davey Johnson and Washington Nationals not finalised yet - MLB Update
As the offseason is in progress, Washington Nationals has not yet confirmed that whether they will retain Davey Johnson as manager for the next year or not.
While the Nationals’ General Manager Mike Rizzo earlier stated his desire to keep Johnson in the club, he has not given any indication with regard to the exact state of the negotiations.
Rizzo enjoyed a great relationship with Johnson during 2012 regular season.
Together they took important decisions as they went a long way in aiding the Nationals qualify for the post-season.
Johnson was crucial to transforming the young lot of players into a competitive unit in the Major League. He rightly indentified the talent of the emerging stars in the team and assigned them appropriate roles.
Ian Desmond and Bryce Harper benefited from his experience immensely.
Harper could not have asked for anything more than doing his debut under the supervision of such a seasoned manager.
The tremendous success achieved by the Nationals this year under Johnson can easily spread the impression that he will be offered another contract as skipper.
Johnson is equally ready to assume the responsibility for one more year, explaining that he has not attained all what he wanted yet. He is waiting for the announcement coming off from the top management.
“I think I’ve accomplished what was needed to this point,” Johnson said. “Is there some unfinished business? Yeah, there’s some unfinished business. But that’ll be up to ownership. That ball is in their court. I don’t have a bad feeling, and I don’t mind
waiting until November like last year.”
Johnson has understood the culture of the Nationals. If he stays there, he is more likely to help Washington continue with their improved performances in the seasons.
At the moment, the club is looking for stability and consistency. Their young players are on the way to become permanent members of the unit.
The change in skipper may make it difficult for them to develop co-ordination with new manager. For the same reason perhaps, some of the players have explicitly expressed the desire to see Johnson again in the dugout.
It will be interesting to see as to for how long the Nationals take to unveil their plan regarding Johnson.
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