Nationals Farm Authority

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.