The Topps Comapny, in conjunction with Minor League Baseball, named their 2009 Class A All-Stars today, and two Washignton Nationals proscpects were on the team.

Danny Espinosa, for Potomac of the Carolina League, was named at shortstop for the team.  From the press release: 

Danny Espinosa (22), of Santa Ana, Calif., scored 90 runs for the Potomac Nationals, tops in the Carolina League. He also led league third baseman with a .965 fielding percentage. Espinosa ranked in the top five in the circuit in homers (18), walks (74), on-base percentage (.375) and extra base hits (53). The Washington Nationals tabbed him in the third round in 2008 out of Long Beach State (CA) University.

Derek Norris, catcher for Hagerstown of the South Atlantic League, was named at designated hitter.  HIs press bio: 

Derek Norris (20), of Goddard, Kansas, finished among the top five in the South Atlantic League in homers (23), extra-base hits (53), RBI (84), runs (78) and slugging percentage (.513). The Hagerstown Suns catcher led the league with a .413 on-base percentage and 90 walks in being named the SAL’s Most Outstanding Major League Prospect. The Washington Nationals tabbed Norris out of high school in the fourth round in 2007.

Espinosa is fresh off his experience in the Arizona Fall League, where he acquitted himself quite well.  Norris was supposed to play in Arizona as well, but broke his hamate bone and had surgery to remove the bone. He was thus forced to miss the top off-season prospect league.  He is expected to be ready for spring training.

Congratulations to both players from Nationals News Network.

The Washington Nationals announced today the hiring of Jim Riggleman's 2010 field staff.  Some of the names we knew.  Others?  Not so much.  But the new names certainly aren't new to the skipper, each having extensive experience working alongside Riggleman at various points in their careers.

Returning are Rick Eckstein (hitting coach), Steve McCatty (pitching coach) and Pat Listach (infield/third base coach).

The new hires are John McLaren (bench coach), Dan Radison (first base coach) and Jim Lett (bullpen coach).

What's apparent (and important) is that the organization allowed Riggleman the opportunity to bring in folks he was familiar and comfortable with.  Radison worked with Riggleman in Chicago and San Diego, and Eckstein in St. Louis, while Lett was with the Dodgers when Riggleman was Jim Tracy's bench coach there.

And of course, Riggleman was MacLaren's bench coach in Seattle, and took over for him when he was dismissed in mid-season of 2008.

Here the press release:

Eckstein returns for a second season in Washington, as his offense showed significant gains in 2009 in runs per game (+0.40 per game), home runs (+39), batting average (+.007), on-base percentage (+.014), slugging percentage (+.033) and OPS (+.047) compared to the previous season.

McCatty was named Nationals pitching coach on June 2. The Nationals’ Triple-A pitching coach for four seasons before being summoned to Washington, McCatty employed numerous pre-existing relationships with Nationals pitchers to help his staff post an ERA exactly one run better than that recorded in the season’s first two months (5.69 ERA from Opening Day-May 31, 4.69 ERA from June 2 through season’s end).

Listach will return for a second season as Nationals third base coach. Last season, Listach’s judgment saw only 11 Nationals thrown out at home plate on non force-outs, a figure bettered by only the Cardinals (eight) in MLB. With added responsibilities as the Nationals infield instructor, Listach had a hand in Ryan Zimmerman earning his first career Rawlings Gold Glove.

McLaren, 58, will draw on 22 seasons of big league coaching experience, including a stint as Mariners manager for portions of the 2007 and 2008 seasons. He replaced Mike Hargrove as Seattle’s manager on July 2, 2007. While skippering the Mariners, McLaren hired Riggleman as his bench coach in 2008.

McLaren has worked on Lou Piniella’s staff for 15 seasons, and also enjoyed stewardships under Mike Hargrove, Cito Gaston, Jimy Williams and Joe Morgan. He has experienced five post-seasons, including four division titles (Toronto in 1989, Seattle ‘95, ‘97, 2001). McLaren spent the 2009 campaign as a Rays special assignment scout. He also served as Team USA bench coach during the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006.

Selected by Houston in the 1970 Draft, McLaren caught for seven professional seasons before beginning his coaching career in Toronto’s system in 1977. After serving the Blue Jays for nine seasons as a minor-league coach, manager and scout, McLaren joined Toronto’s big league staff as third base coach in 1986.

Lett, 58, will draw on 15 seasons of Major League coaching experience, 11 spent as a bench coach with the Reds, Blue Jays, Dodgers and Pirates. He served as Dodgers bullpen coach from 2001-04, where he worked alongside Riggleman, who was Jim Tracy’s bench coach at the time.

Lett joins the Nationals after spending the previous two years coaching in Milwaukee’s minor-league system. Lett has worked in professional baseball for each of the last 35 seasons as a player, coach, manager or front-office executive. Lett is also a highly respected catching instructor.

The 59 year-old Radison begins his third tour with Riggleman, as the two worked together during Riggleman’s managerial stays in San Diego and Chicago (NL). Outside of his stints with the Cubs and Padres, Radison has managed, coached or scouted for the Yankees, Cardinals and Mets organizations from 1984-2006.

He spent the previous three seasons as the Cardinals Minor League Hitting Instructor. While there, Radison worked closely with Eckstein, and helped Rick Ankiel (as a hitter), Skip Schumaker and Colby Rasmus graduate to St. Louis.

Radison was drafted by the Cardinals in 1972 and played professionally for three seasons. He commenced his career in coaching at the college level, serving as an associate or assistant coach at Broward (FL) Community College, the University of Georgia and Old Dominion (VA) University.

The Washington Nationals announced today that Davey Johnson has been hired as Senior Advisor to the General Manager.  Here's the press release: 

The Washington Nationals today named Davey Johnson Senior Advisor to the General Manager. Nationals Senior Vice President & General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

A former World Series winning player and manager, Johnson joins the Nationals after managing Team USA to a semi-finals berth in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Johnson has managed or coached five Team USA professional squads since 2005, including the 2008 Olympic team that claimed the bronze in Beijing. Johnson spent the summer of 2009 managing amateur players with the DeLand Suns of the Florida Collegiate Summer League.

Johnson skippered four big league teams—the Mets, Reds, Orioles and Dodgers—for 14 seasons, compiling a 1148-888 (.564) record. In those 14 big league seasons, Johnson’s clubs finished first or second 11 times, including five division titles, one pennant and one World Championship earned with the Mets in 1986. In 1997, Johnson was named American League Manager of the Year after guiding the Orioles to a 98-64 (.605) record. He was recently named one of 10 managers to be placed on the new Veterans Committee ballot for potential induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

As a player, Johnson hit .261 with 136 home runs and 609 RBI in 13 big league seasons during a career that included a stint in Japan. Johnson was a four-time All-Star, won three Gold Gloves, played in five post-seasons and earned a pair of World Series rings with the Orioles in 1966 and 1970. He is also the only player to have hit behind Hank Aaron and Japan’s all-time home run king, Sadaharu Oh.

While the last sentence is a bit fluffy, it still speaks to the wealth of baseball information Davey Johnson brings to the Nationals organization.  If he's going to be Mike Rizzo's trusted right-hand man, I'd have a hard time nominating anyone more qualified.

Rizzo has done an exceptional job this fall surrounding himself with top-notch assistants, and a conference call with many of those new lieutenants took place the other day with the regular media.  According to reports, each spoke to the quality of the man hiring them as one of the primary reasons they would leave jobs in other markets and come to a franchise that has lost 100-plus games two years in a row.

Hopefully, some top-notch personnel that actually play the game will feel the same way once the free agent signing period opens up.

The Washington Nationals announced today the hiring of Bryan Minniti and Jay Sartori to the front office.  Minniti was named Assistant General Manager and Sartori Director of Baseball Operations.

From the press release (emphasis by NNN): 

Minniti joins the Nationals after spending the previous nine seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the last two as their Director of Baseball Operations. With the Pirates, Minniti’s focuses included rules compliance, transactions, budgeting and contract negotiations. Minniti graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a double major in Mathematics and Statistics.

Sartori worked for the Commissioner’s Office as Salary and Contract Administration Manager in Major League Baseball’s Labor Relations Department before accepting his position with the Nationals. His expertise included knowledge and interpretation of the Basic Agreement, contract language, salary arbitration and Rule 4 Draft bonus recommendations and analysis. Sartori graduated with a Finance and MIS degree from Boston College and is currently working on an MBA from the same institution.

So the Nats hired two men with upper degrees in math, statistics, finance and MIS for positions in the baseball operations departments.  Sounds like they felt like they needed serious upgrading in the number-crunching business.

Bringing on a couple of young numbers guys with good pedigrees in the department will allow Mike Rizzo to concentrate on what he knows best:  finding good baseball players.

Here's an article by The Bucco Blog about Minniti.  It sounds like he has a really bright future. 

Elijah Dukes made his DWL debut Saturday night starting in centerfield. He went 1-for-2 with a walk and a two-run homerun.

Photo Courtesy of http://www.licey.com/

According to Bill Ladson, former Major League outfielder Marquis Grissom will not be back as the Nationals' first-base coach.  No reason was given for Grissom's departure, and Grissom and general manager Mike Rizzo were not available for comment. A baseball source said that Grissom has been offered a job in the organization.

Photo © 2009 Cheryl Nichols. All Rights Reserved.

It is a good thing that Silver and Gold go very well together.  In just over 24 hours, Ryan Zimmerman earned his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards for this amazing play at the hot corner and power at the plate.

Thank you Ryan Zimmerman for giving your all every single game.  It is a joy to watch your talent unfold right before our eyes.  I have a feeling that these will be the first of many awards to come.

CONGRATULATIONS TO RYAN ZIMMERMAN

ON THE SILVER SLUGGER AWARD!

Photo © 2009 Cheryl Nichols. All Rights Reserved.

CONGRATULATIONS JIM!

Photo © 2009 Cheryl Nichols. All Rights Reserved.

The Nationals have selected Jim Riggleman as their 2010 skipper, promoting the former interim manager to the full-time position.  All of Washington's coaches from this season were assured by general manager Mike Rizzo they would be retained either on the big league staff or elsewhere in the organization (Former bullpen coach Randy Knorr already agreed to become manager at Class AA Harrisburg.).

*On a personal note, I think that it is a little odd that the Nats were so hush hush on the managerial search and then decided to make manager announcement on the website late Wednesday night.  Why not wait until Thursday to do a formal announcement and give Ryan Zimmerman a few hours to enjoy his Gold Glove?

CONGRATULATIONS

RYAN ZIMMERMAN!!

Exciting news for a rainy day.  Zimmerman earned his first Gold Glove and is the first Nationals players to win the award.  #11 on 11/11.  Click here for the complete list of winners.

Photo © 2009 Cheryl Nichols. All Rights Reserved.