Stunning baseball news out of our Nations capital as the Washington Nationals have announced that manager Dusty Baker will not be retained for the 2018 season.
Baker, 68, has been managing the team for the past two seasons. Baker went 95-67 in 2016 and finished 97-65 in 2017. The Nationals won the NL East in both seasons but could not get out of the first round of the playoffs.
The Nationals have lost in game 5 of the NLDS in each of Baker’s two seasons.
Baker who was been a manager for 22 seasons has a record 1863 wins – 1636 losses. He has a lifetime winning percentage of .532.
It’ll be interesting to see who General Manger Mike Rizzo brings in next. Rizzo is not known for his patience and the Nationals are clearly in win now mode.
Both Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy have a year remaining on their deals before they can enter free agency in 2018.
