An hour or two before MLB.com's Bill Ladson wrote to all the DC Faithful on Twitter to ask what fans of the Washington Nationals thought of the additions DC GM Mike Rizzo has been able to make to the Nationals' roster and organization as a whole since taking over as the "Acting" and eventually full-time general manager, Ed Randall, the titular host of "Ed Randall's Talking Baseball", ended his weekly radio show on Sirius/XM by first interviewing the newest member of the Hall of Fame, THE EXPOS' Andre Dawson, and then offering his own opinion on the state of the franchise from Montreal that would turn into the Nationals, who are currently pursuing free agent pitchers Kris Benson and Chien-Ming Wang, both of whom are recovering from surgery, if you believe what you read, and Mr. Randall is apparently one of many old-time baseball people who like what they see from Mr. Rizzo and the Nats:
"...when the Nationals gather, (at Spring Training), it's going to be what was once a M.A.S.H unit (all) together at training camp, but nonethelesss, there is no question about the fact that Mike Rizzo has made large strides to bring this organization into the 21st century, most especially, having cut his teeth and developed an outstanding reputation in the game of baseball as a player development guy, most recently with the Arizona Diamondbacks, and he has brought that pedigree with him to the Washington Nationals, (who) really, severely, if they're going to compete in the 21st century in the National League and in Major League Baseball, really, really, need to beef up, as we say in other industries, as you say in your industry, R&D, research and development, their scouting, most especially their international scouting is something that they really need to work on, and they have been working on, and now they're going to camp with a number of players that are coming off of injuries, but nonetheless, frankly, considering where they're coming from, what's the harm here? And one would think that they're going to be more competitive, they have dipped into the free agent market, getting Jason Marquis, and they are going to be I believe, a lot better, whether or not they can challenge the New York Mets remains to be seen, because the Mets are right now, I think, in no position whatsoever to contend, even though they're going to have all their players back, there are three much better teams in that division with Philadelphia, Atlanta and the Florida Marlins."
?'s For The DC Faithful...And Some Quotes From The DC GM After The JUMP...
?'s For The DC Faithful...And Some Quotes From The DC GM...
• Is anyone in the NL East going to unseat the Phillies?
• Who has the best starting rotation in the NL East?
• What did you think of Mike Rizzo before he arrived in DC? Were you aware of his work in Arizona? Has your opinion of Rizzo changed since he took over as GM?
• Do you notice a change in baseball circles about how people view the Nationals since Rizzo took over?
• Are you concerned with (or aware of) the Nationals' lack of an international presence and their ability to find and sign the best talent outside of the U.S.?
• DC GM Mike Rizzo addressed the state of the Nationals' international scouting last summer in an interview with members of the online media, when asked by a writer if there were any plans to expand their operations, which the writer thought were narrowly focused...Mr. Rizzo's response, (as I recorded it that day):
Mike Rizzo: "I disagree with the narrow part, we do a really good job in the Dominican Republic. We do have to expand ourselves into Venezuela specifically and the other Latin American countries. We signed eleven solid guys out the Dominican Republic this season, this year alone, but, uh, we always felt that Rawlings Academy was a temporary fix for us although it's served us quite quite well this season, but we're looking in the future to go down there and make more permanent accomodations for our players and we're going to do that in the very near future, so it is a priority for us."
Q: Any plans on expanding into the Pacific Rim, Japan, Korea, Australia?
Mike Rizzo: "Definitely. The Pacific Rim will be a place of focus for us. The Pacific Rim is for, strictly to supplement your major league club. We have, uh, Bill Singer is our coordinator, of the Pacific Rim, ex-major league pitcher, and he goes there several times, at least one per season, some seasons he's gone twice, he's currently getting set to go the World Games that are in Europe this year, and he keeps his finger on the pulse pretty good in the Pacific Rim."