Washington Nationals' Skipper Search: Mid-October Edition.

Drew, from a little I just read, has been inconsistent, and was on the DL for “personal reasons” several times in this disappointing year…….Had a bad hamstring, too. And, is pricey at $4mil and rising…….
  Intriguing, but Boras will go for Sox money.

It sounds as if Mattingly and Bobby Valentine are the favorites (with Valentine being strongly considered in Houston and Cleveland as well).

Based on the front-page list provided, I would like to see the club at least give guys like Brenly and Showalter a shot.

Brenly is one of the more knowledgeable baseball guys around, having experienced the game from a variety of angles (as a player, a manager, a reporter, and a broadcaster). In 3+ seasons as the D-Backs manager, he had three winning seasons, including two division titles and a World Series. There’s plenty of positive experience as a manager, as well as a wealth of experience that he can draw from to help him relate to players, fans, and the media.

As for Showalter, you can certainly say that he hasn’t been able to get his teams over the hump, but he’s certainly had something to do with helping to develop winning teams. Quite frankly, that’s something that the Nats desperately need right now. Don’t believe me?

- He took over a Yankees’ squad that endured three straight losing seasons from 1989-1991. Though he didn’t immediately transform the team into a winner, he did help boost the win total by five games (76-86) in his first season in New York. He then compiled records of 88-74, 70-43 (leading the AL East and just behind our beloved Expos [74-40] at the time of the strike), and 79-65 to take the wildcard in another strike-shortened 1995 season. Joe Torre gets an awful lot of credit for taking over that team and winning a bunch of championships, but Showalter laid the groundwork.

- He served as the first manager of the expansion Diamondbacks. Though Showalter and the D-Backs endured a 97 loss season in their initial go-around in 1998, it didn’t take long for him (surely the owners had something to do with it, too, but…..) to turn them into winners. In their second season (1999), the Diamondbacks won exactly 100 games, locking up their first division title. Showalter remained with the club in 2000, managing a solid 85-77 team before yielding to Bob Brenly. Like Joe Torre, Brenly won the World Series the next season.

I’ll admit that the follow-up in Texas didn’t quite go as well as his previous two stops. They did have their first winning record in four seasons in his second year there and remained a team that pretty much hovered around the .500 mark throughout the remainder of his tenure.

Regarding Stephen Drew, “Red Sox money” doesn’t really come into play immediately. He’s under club control for the next three years whereever he goes. He’s entering his first year of arbitration. It’s always possible that he signs a long-term extension somewhere if he gets traded, and the Red Sox would be one of the most likely fits in that case.

   Ladson: “The Nationals have decided that Bobby Henley will be their Minor League field coordinator for the 2010 season.”

   “What does the Henley promotion mean for Tim Foli, who was offered the job last month? He could go back to being manager of Triple-A Syracuse or he could have a permanent position as a Major League coach.”