Just out from the Nationals …
The Washington Nationals today named Bryan Minniti Assistant General Manager and Jay Sartori Director of Baseball Operations. Nationals Senior Vice President and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.
Minniti joins the Nationals after spending the previous nine seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the last two as their Director of Baseball Operations. With the Pirates, Minniti’s focuses included rules compliance, transactions, budgeting and contract negotiations. Minniti graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a double major in Mathematics and Statistics.
Sartori worked for the Commissioner’s Office as Salary and Contract Administration Manager in Major League Baseball’s Labor Relations Department before accepting his position with the Nationals. His expertise included knowledge and interpretation of the Basic Agreement, contract language, salary arbitration and Rule 4 Draft bonus recommendations and analysis. Sartori graduated with a Finance and MIS degree from Boston College and is currently working on an MBA from the same institution.
It appears Mike Rizzo found his contracts guy in Sartori
#1 by theredskin - November 16th, 2009 at 14:42
is there anyone responsible for the pacific rim yet?
#2 by JayB - November 16th, 2009 at 15:31
I knew this was not just a little tweaking of the Front Office and Player Development Staff. We lost almost 4 years under Jimbo…..Mark Lerner should have been removed by Ted for his support of Jimbo……what a waste of time and money. Looking back at D Young, A Kearns, Guzman, Le Duca, Willy Mo, Nick Johnson, D Cabrara…..what could have been with all those Millions of Dollars if Mark Lerner had let Stan Fire Jimbo in July of 2006?
#3 by Mark L. - November 16th, 2009 at 16:36
I guess that satisfies the recreational whining post for this thread.
#4 by Brian Oliver - November 16th, 2009 at 16:43
Mark – I understand from where JayB is coming. The previous regime really fouled things up. But I have begrudgingly dealt with it and tried to turn the page. Sometimes I still get agita about it.
This is something that should have been done earlier.
But it wasn’t and now all I can do is look at 2009 as the year that someone finally realized that and made the change.
#5 by JayB - November 16th, 2009 at 16:54
I think we still have a long way to go to de-stink the organization…..Rizzo and his new staff have not even begun to address people like Spin Williams and the MiLB side of the organization. I think we will see similar amount of purging…..20 jobs or so.
#6 by NICK - November 16th, 2009 at 17:05
Brian, I wrote this in the previous thread. I’m really curious to know whether the new hirees are well regarded throughout the industry or not. I’m a strong believer in Mike Rizzo, but it’s easy to garner praise when you are replacing anything and anyone that has to do with Bowden. In other words, are Rizzo’s hirings and firings really for the better or is it change for the sake of change and he really changed 4 quarters for a dollar? I’d like to think it’s former.
#7 by Mark L. - November 16th, 2009 at 17:11
Brian — appreciate the quick reply. Was reminded of a something a heroe of mine said 30 years ago. There is one, and only, one thing that separates a young man and an old man. — An old man looks back while a young man looks forward. That’s what makes your place so great; we spend so much time only looking forward.
#8 by JayB - November 16th, 2009 at 18:15
Mark L.
I think you have to have a balance. If you do not learn from your mistakes then you are destined to repeat them….which is what we did around here for 4 years.
Steve on Capital Hill and others before him called out Jimbo early on……Brian always keep his cards close to the vest. Admirable yes,I am sure it helped Brian’s relationships in the organization at the time but…….. what was needed is people who called it straight up and the sooner we all did that the better off this team was..Boswell, Barry none of them had it right early on Credit to Steven who did get it right and said it louder than anyone…By fall of 2008 everyone in town and even Ted Lerner knew Jimbo had to go…..Last to admit was Mark Lerner.
#9 by Sue Dinem - November 16th, 2009 at 19:02
Does this mean we’ll get a break from the constant bitching and moaning?
#10 by BinM - November 16th, 2009 at 19:30
Brian: It looks more like Rizzo has his Contracts team in place, with Schueler / Minnitti / Sartori. With his double major, Minnitti could also become the sabremetric guru on staff.
#11 by JayB - November 16th, 2009 at 20:12
Sue,
I think we have Stan for the sunny side…..”Nats have so much pitching that other organizations are green with Envy” BA Podcast recently says the Nats have nothing but #5’s and Middle Relief……I try to just keep it real. This team should have been 4 years ahead of where they are now.
#12 by BinM - November 16th, 2009 at 20:28
@theredskin: Brian may have better information on this, but the Nationals may lean on Singer’s experience in the Pacific Rim for input on the short-term.
#13 by Guy Holly - November 16th, 2009 at 21:55
JayB,
You have to remember its just a game. No one gets killed. Its just a game!! Enjoy watching.
ITS JUST A GAME!!!!!
#14 by Sue Dinem - November 17th, 2009 at 11:39
@GH – I suspect very strongly that what we have here is the equivalent of the letter-to-the-editor writer that never votes.
#15 by JayB - November 17th, 2009 at 12:13
Sue,
So nice to hear from your pleasant voice again….I am a 6 year season ticket holder….I “vote”. Sorry you do not like to hear flip side of all this organizations “progress”. With fans like you who see all good we would still have Jimbo as GM who just needs some more time, right?
#16 by Pilchard - November 17th, 2009 at 12:46
Not sure about a lot of the new hires, but I know Roy Clark, who was brought to DC from Atlanta has reputation as having a great eye for talent.
When do MLB rosters need to be finalized for the Rule V draft?
#17 by Marcus - November 17th, 2009 at 13:14
K. Goldstein is having a chat today @ 2:00 the more Nats questions in his que the better…
#18 by Sue Dinem - November 17th, 2009 at 13:22
That’s a pretty neat trick, considering the Nationals have only been here for five seasons (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009). It’s not that I don’t like to read the flip side of the organization, it’s that we can’t stand the incessant complaining and never having any adult opinions or mature perspective. Instead, we just get childish sniping, ad infinitum.
And you may think you’re witty by referencing my opinion from last year, but you’re only half-right. But you’re too busy banging out your one-note symphony to notice. (Do you take requests? How about John Cage’s 4′33″ – it’d be perfect!)
#19 by Pilchard - November 17th, 2009 at 14:01
Sue,
Agree that to criticize without basis gets old, but when Bozo the drunk clown was running the franchise and his cronies in the DR were lining their pockets with Nats money while signing a bunch of aging non-prospects, I believe that you were also defending (or attempting to defend) the Nats joke of a front office (correct me if I am wrong). Sometimes (like throughout the Bowden regime, when the Nats PR people were saying one thing, and player personnel were doing the opposite) criticism is appropriate.
That said, I agree that it appears that the Nats appear to have learned from past mistakes, and are at least trying to head in the right direction. As a result, I agree that it makes sense to give this new group a chance.
#20 by jeff e. - November 17th, 2009 at 14:17
this is the final time I will mention this: promise! the combination of the “shake the tree bear of fruit before moving” MLB29 coupled with Bowden’s excessive patch the leaks job equals what Rizzo is dealing with right now. The Colon may go down as one of the most bone headed deals in MLB history. interesting guess venture by USAToday MLB special with 2012 nats starting line-up. The new regime should be able to add some alternative names to that list. perhaps a swithc-hitting talent at another skill position or at least just LH. we shall see how many bodies are added to the big board in Indpls.
#21 by mjames - November 17th, 2009 at 14:47
I will not disagree that JayB’s comments tend to be on the negative side but in my opinion they do contain a good does of realism. Maybe the negativism was due to the fact that this organization was an embarrassing joke for 4- 5 years.
Sue, while you comments have not always contained this negative flavor, you have to admit that the majority of your comments certainly have a prickly edge to them.
I will know this organization is making progress when JayB comments graduate to a more positive level.
#22 by VladiHondo - November 17th, 2009 at 15:17
Think rosters have to be finalized by Friday – though ML free agents can be added later, think minor leaguers cannot. Thought I read it someone but can’t find it now.
#23 by JayB - November 17th, 2009 at 15:40
Sue,
I have paid for 2010 tickets already….you can get off your high horse now….
#24 by Sue Dinem - November 17th, 2009 at 15:50
Pilchard – There were times when I did defend Bowden, et al, but it was relatively few and far between, mostly because I was under the impression that this blog was focused on the farm system and not the parent club per se. That hardly makes me a Pollyanna. Mostly, I’ve been making the point that jeff e. also makes, which is that this organization was raped and razed before it ever got to Washington.
For all intents and purposes, this is an expansion franchise. Except that it wasn’t given a head start in the minors. And it wasn’t given extra draft picks. In fact, quite the opposite on both counts — the best players were dealt away and the minors were (to put it as kindly as possible) put on autopilot.
But the whining about four (4) losing seasons? Please. Kansas City hasn’t had one since 2003. Cincinnati hasn’t had one since 2000. Baltimore hasn’t had one since 1997. Pittsburgh hasn’t had one since 1992.
Hardly unique, and certainly not worth the amount of b!tching.
#25 by JayB - November 17th, 2009 at 16:42
Sue,
You sure set the bar low don’t you? KC, CIN, PITT, BAL is that the best we can do for comparisons? Should we be happy with that?
We are a large market with deep pockets. If we are well run we should be much better than 17 losing seasons in a row. I for one refuse to settle for small market, poorly run status. Even if we were in that lower teir, the FISH prove you can still win….you just have to be smarter….something I am expecting from the new Rizzo group. I just have not seen it yet. I know Jimbo was a waste of time at the MLB and MiLB level…….something you must have missed with your 20 20 eyes in Potomac.
#26 by Sue Dinem - November 17th, 2009 at 17:52
JayB – You remind me of this chart from another blog, so I’ll try to explain it in smaller words for you. Other, more successful organizations have endured longer losing streaks than the one Washington is currently suffering. It is not a reference to, or a comment on, either their market size or their payroll.
I agree that Washington should be doing better than it is, and hope that the Rizzo group can make it happen, but I would disagree that we haven’t seen anything yet. If nothing else, we did sign our #1 draft pick this year, which many of you thought (feared) we wouldn’t.
Furthermore, the new regime was much more patient this season than the last with promoting players through the minors, something I did see in Woodbridge and commented on over the summer. Perhaps you are unable to infer that as a sleight against the previous front office, but that’s what it was. My apologies for being too subtle.
#27 by Dick - November 17th, 2009 at 18:01
Setting the bar low, eh? Rizzo gets named GM in August and in November we’re griping that he hasn’t overcome the rape of the franchise by MLB, which included the hiring of Bowden among other things. I don’t even think the Fish straightened things out in 3 months!
Now that is what I call setting the bar in the stratosphere. Wow! I can see why JayB is so upset if the expectation is that Rizzo should have been ’smarter’. True, he hasn’t been smart enough to sign any free agents yet, not that the signing period has opened, of course.
Sure looks to me like getting Strasburg will prove to be pretty smart, something many didn’t expect the Nats to be ’smart’ enough to do. And Rizzo did it as interim GM.
#28 by JayB - November 17th, 2009 at 18:38
I have high hopes for Rizzo and the New Front Office. Time will tell but if they pick up Josh Bard on the Cheap again in March and call him the starting catcher I will not be impressed.
#29 by Ryan Sullivan - November 17th, 2009 at 18:57
Sue-
I have often defended you and your posts in the past, but you never let an opportunity pass to insult others.
You complain about JayB’s “whining” which I find equally or less annoying as your insatiable need to insult others and act morally and intellectually superior to others.
Ignore JayBee if he bothers you so much, but insults and juvenile behavior certainly isn’t going to change him, and certainly diminishes your often substantive posts about baseball.
#30 by JayB - November 17th, 2009 at 20:41
JJ Hardy would have been a nice pickup……Rizzo could have tried…..perhaps he did but I doubt it.
#31 by JayB - November 17th, 2009 at 21:03
Maxwell, Mock and McGrady might have got it done.
#32 by JayB - November 17th, 2009 at 21:05
McGeary or Smoker I mean
#33 by Sue Dinem - November 18th, 2009 at 08:24
Brief update from Sickels this a.m.
Strasburg came in as an A, no surprise. Burgess as a B- is a surprise, at least considering that Desmond is currently a C+ (I realize Sickels grades on what he thinks they’ll eventually be).
Veloz and Severino as C’s is also rather kind, especially considering Sickels’s rep as a tough grader. The former may be young, but hasn’t done diddly at A+ and the latter just turned 25 and hasn’t cracked AAA.
#34 by VladiHondo - November 18th, 2009 at 09:09
Thanks for the link Pseu, I voted for Brandon King over Robinson Fabian (23 yr old minor league FA last year, pitching in Hagerstown, 3-7, 5.32 ERA, 107 IP, 126 H, 25 BBs, 64 Ks) and Greg Veloz who hit .215 in A and A+.
#35 by Marcus - November 18th, 2009 at 11:37
Brian,
It’s been awhile since you’ve compiled one of your own Nat’s prospect lists….
#36 by Mark L. - November 18th, 2009 at 12:09
You’re right, Sue, he is a tough grader. Wonder what he’ll give J.P. Ramirez.