Dylan Buell/Getty ImagesWashington Nationals general manager and president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo sees manager Davey Martinez as
part of the team in 2019 despite what has been a massively disappointing 2018
campaign."I haven't considered any other scenario
http://www.diamondbacksfanproshop.com/authentic-nick-ahmed-jersey ," Rizzo said Wednesday when asked whether Martinez would return for next season,
per MASN's Mark Zuckerman.Rizzo added he doesn't plan on executing a full-scale
rebuild in the offseason."The core is in place to have a championship club," he
said, perZuckerman.Granted, some of Rizzo's belief may hinge on whether the
Nationals re-sign Bryce Harper, who's a free agent in the winter. Although he's
Washington's only big star headed for free agency, he'd leave a big hole in the
lineup if he were to sign elsewhere.Regarding Martinez, there's only so much
blame to place on a manager for a team that has encountered as much bad luck as
the Nationals have.According toBaseball Prospectus, Washington has a .549
third-order winning percentage, which would put the team at 76 wins and right in
the National League playoff hunt. Nationals relievers are also 26th in FIP
(4.48), perFanGraphs. Yadier Molina's two-out, two-strike grand slam in the top
of the ninth in Tuesday night's 11-8 Washington loss to the St. Louis Cardinals
sums up the bullpen's fortunes this year.Joe Sheehan joe_sheehanAt the end of
the day, I believed in the #Nationals??chances more than anyone employed by the
team did. An 0-2, two-out grand slam. Uncle.Martinez may have a hand in the
team's failure to close out games, though."Martinez's ability to handle a
pitching staff emerged as the primary concern in the Nationals clubhouse in the
first part of this season, according to on- and off-the-record conversations
with players and those familiar with this team?? inner workings," theWashington
Post'sChelsea Janesreported in July.Specifically
Jake Lamb Jersey , Nationals players were worried Martinez was pushing the relievers too hard.TheWashington Post'sBarrySvrlugaalso questioned whether
Martinez was capably handling the team in the clubhouse, highlighting the trade
ofBrandon Kintzler as an example of the team going out of its way to show
support for the manager and send a message. According toSvrluga, the team dealt
Kintzler because "he had been too critical of the club?? inner workings and
clubhouse culture."With the season still going on, Rizzo has little reason to
undermine Martinez's position by allowing for the possibility he could be out of
a job in the offseason.Firing Martinez after just one year would be a surprising
move, but it wouldn't be too hard in seeing the Nationals' justification for
doing so with how much things have unraveled so quickly. NEW YORK (AP) — Now
that the regular season is finally in the books, time to bestow baseball’s
biggest individual prizes. It took one extra day to sort out the playoff
bracket, but these debates have been underway for weeks.Christian Yelich seems a
cinch for NL MVP, but is it Mookie Betts or Boston teammate J.D. Martinez in the
American League?Jacob deGrom or Max Scherzer for the NL Cy Young Award?Shohei
Ohtani or Miguel Andujar for AL Rookie of the Year?Martinez has been a monster
at the plate in his first season with the Red Sox after signing a $110 million,
five-year contract. He launched 43 home runs and led the majors with 130 RBIs.
He compiled a 1.031 OPS and hit .330, finishing second to Betts (.346) in the
batting race.All big reasons why Boston had the best record in baseball at
108-54.Hitting at the top of the order, Betts had 32 homers, 80 RBIs, 129 runs
and a whopping 1.078 OPS.But on defense and the bases, it’s no comparison.
Martinez started 57 games in the outfield but 93 at designated hitter. Betts, a
sensational defender, started 115 games in right field and 13 in center. Plus,
he stole 30 bases in 36 attempts.All those elite skills. That’s why he led the
majors in wins above replacement with 10.9 (per baseball-reference.com).“I’d
vote for Betts
http://www.diamondbacksfanproshop.com/authentic-robbie-ray-jersey ,” Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. “The impact that he has defensively is
what sets him over the top for me. I told people, he’s the best right fielder
I’ve ever seen. He makes plays that people in the stands don’t realize are not
routine. Throws well. Steals a base when he needs to. He’s special.”Angels star
Mike Trout merits his annual look, along with Houston third baseman Alex
Bregman, Cleveland infielder Jose Ramirez and Indians shortstop Francisco
Lindor.But in the end, Betts is the clear winner after being runner-up to Trout
two years ago.Voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America is
conducted before the postseason opener Tuesday night, and results will be
announced in November.Here are our selections for the other top awards:NATIONAL
LEAGUE MVP: With a huge second half, Yelich practically carried Milwaukee to an
NL Central championship and the best record in the league during his first
season with the team. He came within a wisp of becoming the first Triple Crown
winner in the National League since Joe “Ducky” Medwick in 1937. Yelich won the
batting title with a .326 average and had 36 homers to go with 110 RBIs, 118
runs, 22 steals in 26 tries and a 1.000 OPS that led the league by a wide
margin. He came through with three hits and an RBI as the Brewers beat the Cubs
3-1 on Monday in a one-game tiebreaker for the division crown at Wrigley
Field.That’s how MVP awards are won, and this election won’t be close. Could be
unanimous.“Down the stretch, he’s been willing that team it seems like. One
night it’s the cycle, one night it’s a homer late, another night he walks five
times. I think it’s Yelly,” said Don Mattingly, manager of the Miami Marlins
team that traded Yelich last offseason.AL CY YOUNG: Young lefty Blake Snell of
the Tampa Bay Rays wins with a 21-5 record and league-leading 1.89 ERA in 180
2/3 innings. But it should be a tighter vote than projected. The guy getting
overlooked a bit is Houston ace Justin Verlander (16-9, 2.52), who had a lower
WHIP than Snell in 214 innings. Verlander struck out a league-high 290 hitters
and walked only 37. Incredible.NL CY YOUNG: At one point late in the
season
Jeff Mathis Jersey , this was a close and compelling three-way race between deGrom, Scherzer and Aaron Nola. And then deGrom left everyone in the
dust, finishing with a major league-low 1.70 ERA in 217 innings. His pedestrian
10-9 record for a struggling New York Mets team that provided little support?
Pretty irrelevant.Nola tailed off a bit with Philadelphia and went 17-6 with a
2.37 ERA and 224 strikeouts in 212 1/3 innings. Scherzer, winner of two
consecutive NL Cy Young Awards with Washington and the 2013 AL prize for
Detroit, was 18-7 with a 2.53 ERA in 220 2/3 innings. He struck out 300 batters,
31 more than deGrom, but also gave up 13 more home runs.“I would say it’s still
pretty close,” Mattingly said. “I’m probably like everybody else, because I’m
kind of like, what Jacob’s doing is incredible, you know? Max, too, but Max has
done it so many times. So I think deGrom wins it.”AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Maybe
the toughest award to dissect, because one of the top candidates was a two-way
player for a while. How much of a boost does Ohtani get for the 10 starts he
made on the mound before his elbow injury put pitching on hold? The Japanese
star went 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 51 2/3 innings. Not to
mention he batted .285 with 22 homers, 61 RBIs, 10 stolen bases and a .925 OPS
in 367 plate appearances as a designated hitter. Pretty much
unprecedented.Meanwhile, the steady Andujar hit .297 with 27 homers
http://www.bravesfanproshop.com/authentic-nick-markakis-jersey , 92 RBIs and an .855 OPS in 149 games as the everyday third baseman for a Yankees
team that made the playoffs. Hard to compare.Ohtani wasn’t on the field all that
much, but hey, it’s not an MVP award. Picking him seems more fun.NL ROOKIE OF
THE YEAR: Another close call. The impressive numbers for 20-year-old Atlanta
outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. and 19-year-old Washington slugger Juan Soto are
remarkably similar. Acuna earns a slight edge for his speed and defense. “For
me, just seeing Acuna straight up, I think he had a bigger impact on that club,”
Mattingly said.AL MANAGER OF THE YEAR: So difficult to choose between Oakland’s
Bob Melvin and Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash. They both did a masterful job despite a
low payroll and little starting pitching. Melvin piloted the Athletics (97-65)
to a surprise playoff berth, while the Rays somehow went 90-72 in a division
that included the Red Sox and Yankees. Take a look at the two rosters, though.
And while the A’s were adding help at the trade deadline, Tampa Bay was selling
off veterans. So by the slimmest of margins, it’s Cash.NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR:
Craig Counsell was our pick from a competitive field last year, even though
Milwaukee fell short of the playoffs. He received three first-place votes but
came in fourth. Often overlooked, Counsell gets the nod this time after the
Brewers won their final eight regular-season games to finish 96-67 and overtake
the favored Cubs in the NL Central. A close second is Brian Snitker, the
62-year-old skipper who did a wonderful job in guiding the Baby Braves to a
surprise NL East title.
