Nationals Farm Authority

The Nationals management team is reportedly meeting today to discuss who would be the best choice to take over as General Manager of the Nationals. With that in mind, here is a list of things I would hope the Nationals consider when making this huge decision.

1. A clean resume. This cannot be undersold. The next choice for GM needs to be fully vetted to ensure there are not any skeletons in the closet. Specifically with regards to the ongoing investigations in Latin America. The Nationals are still part of the investigation so the next GM needs to have clean hands.
2. A network within MLB. This can pay huge dividends. The next GM needs to have a solid reputation among their peers. They do not necessarily have to be the most popular person (though that has its merits), the next GM needs to be well-respected among their peers. This is something the Nationals need right now. The Nats reputation within baseball has taken huge hits over the past couple of seasons and they would do well to consider a person who has respect and can facilitate the rebuilding of the team’s reputation.
3. A strong scouting and player development background. This is critical. The Nationals have been promoting a plan to rebuild the team from the minor league up and the next GM needs to be ready to hit the ground running. The rebuilding of the Nationals is a work in progress, Bowden did leave the team with some pieces, but the hard work is still on the horizon. The next GM needs to have a solid footing in the scouting and player development worlds. This person needs to be able to explain that vision to Stan Kasten and the Lerners, but more importantly, be able to direct that vision down to the folks responsible for implementing it.
4. A plan to expand the Nationals international presence. This is where we have not seen any progress at all. The academy in the DR is basically starting from scratch. The next GM should cast the net far and wide. The Nats presence needs to be established/increased throughout Latin America. A quick scan of last year’s media guide showed one international scout in Puerto Rico and five in the Dominican Republic. The next GM needs to have someone (or multiple someones) in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Mexico, as well as solid contacts in the smaller countries in Latin America. Additionally, they need to become more visible in the Pacific Rim than just one person. A more visible presence in Taiwan, China, Korea, Australia, and Japan are critical for the team moving forward. There needs to be scouts on the Nationals staff in Europe and any other corner of the world where there might be talent.
5. The next GM needs to be given carte blanche with their staff. They do not need to be saddled with holdovers from the previous regime unless they believe they can contribute. At this late point in the process, the choice for GM is unlikely to be able to shape the entire staff but ideally they should be able to bring one or two people on board in the near term who fit the direction they want to go. Once the off-season comes around, they need to have the ability to completely clean house (if necessary). As a 5A to this, I would hope the next GM keeps a consistent player development staff.
6. They need to be a delegator who assigns their personnel responsibilities and then trusts them to make the correct decision. They are in charge, but there is no way they can do it all by themself. It’s a team effort and everyone should be a stakeholder in the process. The next GM should share the benefits of the successes while taking the lion’s share of the responsibility when things go wrong.
7. A solid background in contract negotiations. The GM is most often the point person on contract negotiations with free agents and the top draft picks. The next GM needs to be comfortable handling multi-million dollar contract discussions with the full backing and support of team ownership and upper level management.

(You may have noticed that I did not include media presence in my checklist. That is more a “nice to have” not a “have to have,” the next GM should not have an adversarial relationship with the media, but I don’t care whether they have a Q rating. There are plenty of GMs who do excellent work without having to yuck it up in front of the camera or on the radio.)

To me, those are the seven most important things I hope/expect to see in the next GM.