Bill Ladson is reporting that Kris Kline has been named Scouting Director, replacing Dana Brown. Combine that with the reports that Roy Clark is coming on board as Assistant GM, VP of Player Personnel and the attached is my best guess of the Nationals organization chart with roles I see in need of refilling.

It’s all a guess on my part, so take it with a huge grain of salt.

I’m still trying to figure out where Boone fits in the organization, assuming Clark comes on board. The only difference in their titles is Boone is VP of Player Development while Clark is reportedly VP of Player Personnel.

I would hope the Nationals would have an Assistant Director of Scouting for both Professional (other MLB teams) and amateur (high school, college, independent). As I have repeatedly harped on, I also hope the Nationals expand their international presence by not only naming an International Scouting Director (Zona is rumored) but also naming Assistant Directors in charge of Latin America, the Pacific Rim, and one in charge of the other areas (Europe, Africa, etc). The Nationals also need to replace Bobby Williams position as Player Development Director.

That’s still quite a few roles to fill (and that does not even include the crosscheckers. area coordinators and various scouts).

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, it’s a done deal …

Clark informed the Braves on Tuesday that he accepted a position as Nationals assistant general manager and vice president of player personnel, with wide-ranging responsibilities that include overseeing player development and all scouting departments, including international scouting.

The next question is what happens to Bob Boone whose title is (was?) Assistant GM & VP, Player Development.

Update: I contacted the Nationals who had no comment about the reported hiring.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution had a brief item on Roy Clark and his interview with the Nationals. From the linked article, it appears that Clark would become an Assistant GM with oversight of scouting (Dana Brown’s old role), player development (Bob Boone & Bobby Williams’ domain) and international scouting (no one officially there before outside of Jose Rijo in the Dominican). That’s quite a jump up from his current role with the Braves.

This is not Clark’s first time linked to the Nationals. Back in 2006, the Nationals spoke with Clark about coming on board. Clark turned down the role that eventually went to Mike Rizzo.

Combining the talents of Rizzo and Clark would certainly be a positive for the Nationals. Rizzo played a large role in the Arizona drafts that helped rebuild them while Clark has served in a comparable role for the Braves over the last decade.

Over the past few weeks, Mike Rizzo and the Nationals have begun the long expected house cleaning among the baseball management team and the coaching staff. The following is a list of personnel who have either not been retained or have opted for other employment:

• Director of Scouting Dana Brown (headed to Toronto)
• Player Development Director Bobby Williams (possibly in a different role with the Nationals)
• Special Advisor to the General Manager Jose Cardenal (dismissed)
• Special Assistant to the General Manager Moose Stubing (dismissed)
• Minor League Hitting Coordinator Ralph Dickenson (dismissed)
• Triple-A pitching coach Rich Gale (dismissed)
• Double-A manager John Stearns (dismissed)
• GCL coach Cesar Cedeno (dismissed)
• Hagerstown coach Ramon Aviles (dismissed)

As it seems clear, Rizzo is reshaping the organization, as he should. There are still a couple of names that might move on, Bob Boone (Assistant GM & VP, Player Development) and Squire Galbreath (Assistant GM, Baseball Administration). Boone has thus far escaped the house cleaning, but I wonder if his ties to former GM Jim Bowden will lead to his dismissal or reassignment. Galbreath is also connected to Bowden (he was the college roommate of Bowden and helped Bowden get his first job in baseball with the Pirates). Galbreath is a partner in the Nationals so that may keep him with the team but in another capacity.

There are rumors that the Atlanta Braves Scouting Director Roy Clark may be joining the Nationals (UPDATE) in a role that combines aspects of Williams’ and Brown’s former roles along with along with the title of Assistant General Manager. If Clark were to join the organization, it would seem that Boone would lose quite a bit of authority. Nationals scouts Kris Kline has been rumored as another replacement for Brown. And scout Jeff Zona  is rumored as the International Scouting Director.

Within the minor league coaching community, we still have not heard any official word on

• Minor League Pitching Coordinator Spin Williams
• Syracuse: Manager Tim Foli, Hitting Coach Darnell Coles, and Bullpen Coach John Poppert
• Harrisburg: Hitting Coach Troy Gingrich & Pitching Coach Randy Tomlin
• Potomac: Manager Trent Jewett, Hitting Coach Jerry Browne, and Pitching Coach Paul Menhart
• Hagerstown: Manager Matt LeCroy, Hitting Coach Tony Tarasco, and Pitching Coach Franklyn Bravo
• Vermont: Manager Jeff Garber, Hitting Coach Paul Sanagorski, and Pitching Coach Joel Sanchez
• GCL Nationals: Manager Bobby Henley, Hitting Coach Sergio Mendez, and Pitching Coach Mark Grater
• The entire DSL coaching staff

Both the scouting and player development staffs are in need of a Director. Along with an Assistant GM, these are two critical roles that Rizzo needs to fill as soon as possible. I would imagine we are going to hear the names of other personnel leaving and ideally we should begin to hear some new names (or new roles for existing personnel) soon.

Geoff Morrow of the Patriot News confirmed news I heard yesterday afternoon,

The Washington Nationals’ director of player development, Bobby Williams, was fired Friday after three years on the job.

This seems to be the first step as Mike Rizzo begins to reshape the organization.