Friday Firings: Washington Nationals Edition

Riggleman is pretty selfish. (AP)

For the Washington Nationals, it is both the best of times and the worst of times. The Nationals are fresh off an 8-game winning streak and are 38-37, the latest the team has been above .500 since 2005. But after a 1-0 walkoff win over the Mariners on Thursday, manager Jim Riggleman resigned and potentially destroyed the momentum the team had built.

Fire Jim Riggleman -Riggleman said he resigned because the Nationals were not willing to discuss this week extending his contract, which would have expired at the end of the season. Riggleman has said in the past that not having a deal for 2012 undermined his leadership and said yesterday that GM Mike Rizzo's unwillingness to discuss the deal is disrespectful. Riggleman's contract was among the least lucrative in baseball so his frustration is not without merit. But even in an age in which selfish behavior is increasingly tolerated, Riggleman's self-absorption is on another level because he sabotaged his team and may have undone all the progress it has made. A needless distraction now exists in Washington as players will spend weeks answering questions about how they are doing without their former skipper. Riggleman said he doesn't know if anyone else will hire him and based on his actions, they shouldn't.   

Fire Mike Rizzo - If the Nationals return to their losing ways, Mike Rizzo is partly to blame. Riggleman did more than enough to justify a contract extension (or at least a discussion), and even if Rizzo didn't want Riggleman to push him around, he can't deny that Riggleman had the team playing its best ball in six years. As such, Riggleman needed to be appeased. Instead, Rizzo was complicit in Riggleman's sabotage, and as such he is no better. He is also sending a terrible message to future Nationals managers that success may not be rewarded. Why, then, would anyone who's any good want to manage the team for very long?

The Nationals have struggled to draw fans since they migrated from Montreal, and the Riggleman/Rizzo debacle is going to set the team back in its quest for baseball relevance. Fire them both.