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Wire Taps: Dusty Baker is the Nationals' new manager; Nats called arrogant again

Nothing comes easy for the Washington Nationals these days and the baseball world wasn't kind to the Nats after a few days of drama about the hiring of the Nats' new skipper. First it was Bud Black, then all-of-a-sudden it was Dusty Baker. Link time...

By Patrick Reddington

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Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Well we're back to the Washington Nationals being called arrogant again.... yep. Apparently most people liked the fact that Dusty Baker got the gig on the bench in the nation's capital, but not many liked the way things went down.

The job was supposed to be Bud Black's, but the two sides couldn't agree on a deal, so this weekend-ish, the Nats turned back to Baker, the 66-year-old, 20-year veteran, and signed him to what is reportedly a two-year deal on Tuesday that brings him back to the majors for the first time since 2013.

The Nationals will introduce Baker to the D.C. press corps on Thursday morning at 11:00 AM EST.

There will be plenty of questions for the manager and the Nats' brass, including GM Mike Rizzo. For example: Who was really the top choice? They'll totally answer that question...

Until then, we'll have to settle for links, lots and lots of links.

Lots and lots of people talking about the Nats' new skipper and the way Rizzo and the Lerners went about finding a new manager...

NATS BEAT: Boswell and Svrluga on Nationals' manager search gone wrong

• "'[You look at] Dusty's resume and what he has done in the past, great things have come out of it. I'm looking forward to getting out to Spring Training.'" - Max Scherzer - "Nationals excited to play for Dusty Baker" - Bill Ladson, MLB.com

• "MASN color analyst F.P. Santangelo played for Dusty Baker in San Francisco, too. On Tuesday, Santangelo took to the radio airwaves to silence some of the hysteria surrounding Baker’s hiring." - "Dusty Baker is the ‘Exact Opposite’ of Matt Williams" Chris Lingebach, CBS DC

• "'It’s like they want to win the battle, and they don’t care about winning the war,' said another person with direct knowledge of the Nationals’ operation." - "Window into Nationals’ organization offers not an entirely pleasant picture" - Barry Svrluga, The Washington Post

• "The Lerner family suffers from an addiction. Its origins are easy to understand, but it continues to bedevil the Washington Nationals at irregular, but usually damaging, intervals." - "Lerners got rich doing it their way; this time, it cost the Nationals a manager" - Thomas Boswell, The Washington Post

• "Had the Nationals simply hired Dusty Baker all along, had they picked him over Bud Black last week and agreed to contract terms, few eyebrows would have been raised." - "Process was a mess, but Baker is a good hire" - Mark Zuckerman, CSN Mid-Atlantic

• "Baker's age and experience make him somewhat of a rarity in today's game. Among the active ranks, only the Giants' Bruce Bochy has spent more time as a big league manager." - "Nationals Dusty Baker returns to manager role" - Adam Berry, MLB.com

• "In fact, Baker got a higher quality start percentage in his last year with the Reds (58 percent in 2013) than Matt Williams had last year with the Nationals (56 percent)." - "No, Dusty Baker won’t ruin the Nationals pitching staff" - Neil Greenberg, The Washington Post

• "3. No stranger to personalities, Baker managed Barry Bonds for a decade in San Francisco." - "5 things to know about new Nats manager Dusty Baker" - JP Finlay, CSN Mid-Atlantic

NATIONAL(S) BEAT: Good hire? Bad hire? Hire hire?

• "Dusty Baker is not a consolation prize. He has been around too long and accomplished too much to be considered that." - "Dusty Baker not a Nationals consolation prize" - Richard Justice, MLB.com

• "They lectured us on the proper way to handle Stephen Strasburg and every other Tommy John patient, insisting that everyone else is doing it wrong. Now, they’re preaching to us on the decorum of hiring managers." - "Nationals land Dusty Baker, but D.C. still Dysfunction Junction" - Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports

• "While the money may not be what Baker expected, he does inherit a talented roster headed by MVP favorite Harper, ace Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg." - "Nationals show dysfunction once again with Dusty Baker hire" - Jay Jaffe, SI.com

• "In a weird way, you could contend the Mets lost ground to the Nationals on Tuesday. "But only in a weird way, as in this: The Nationals’ 2016 manager will be better than their 2015 manager..." - "Mets keep an edge on Nationals with dubious Dusty Baker hire" - Ken Davidoff, New York Post

• "The Nationals were psychologically prepared to replace Matt Williams with Bud Black. But according to reports, they were less financially prepared to do that..." - "Dusty Baker Is Not a Bad Hire" - Jeff Sullivan, FanGraphs Baseball

• "Under Baker’s guidance Harper will be the best player in baseball next year. He will dominate games all year long and he will make his presence felt in the postseason." - "Dusty Baker Hiring Puts Nationals On Line for World Series" - Steve Kettmann, Forbes

• "'This year offers a host of compelling races, with likely NL MVP Bryce Harper and Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant as the only sure things." - "Picking five biggest MLB off-season storylines to watch" - Cliff Corcoran, SI.com

• "It's kind of amazing, actually, considering Baker's track record of overwhelming success, how many people seem to think he is no good at managing..." - "Doubters beware: Dusty Baker is a good hire for the Nationals" - Matt Snyder, CBSSports.com

• "Failed talks in Washington gave the Dodgers one more candidate to consider." - "Dodgers managerial candidate profile: Bud Black" - Mark Saxon, Dodgers Report - ESPN

NL EAST UPDATES: Collins gets extended; Cliff Lee free; Fish FA targets; Olivera's a prospect?

• Braves: "Personally, I was surprised that BA even had Olivera  on the list, given his age and injury history. And No. 1? I never would’ve expected that." - "Hector Olivera rated No. 1 Braves prospect by Baseball America" David O'Brien, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

• Mets: "Terry Collins will manage the Mets for two more years – and David Wright says it shows the team is on the right track despite the gut-wrenching World Series loss to the Kansas City Royals." - "David Wright approves of new contract for Terry Collins" - Michael O'Keefe, NY Daily News

• Marlins: "Marlins president David Samson said Monday that he would not recommend to team owner Jeffrey Loria to allocate top dollars to a free-agent pitcher." - "Marlins seek pitchers, but at reasonable cost" - Joe Frisaro, marlins.com

• Phillies: "The least shocking news of the still-early Phillies offseason: The team has cut ties with former All-Star pitcher Cliff Lee." - "Phillies decline option on Cliff Lee" - Ryan Lawrence, Philadelphi Daily News

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