NATIONALS DROP MANAGER AFTER TWO NL EAST TITLES
WASHINGTON» Dusty Baker is done as manager of the Washington Nationals after two seasons, two NL East titles and zero playoff series victories.
Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said he told Baker the news via telephone Friday morning. Baker’s two-year deal with the club is expiring.
“Our expectations have grown,” Rizzo said during a conference call with reporters. “Winning a lot of regular-season games and winning divisions are not enough. Our goal is to win a world championship and, to that end, we made the decision late last night.”
Rizzo declined to say why he believes Baker can’t help reach that goal.
The GM also wouldn’t offer any specifics about what sort of manager he will be looking for as a replacement. The Nationals will be hiring their sixth manager in a 10-season span.
Rizzo called the split from Baker “a pure baseball decision” and said it was not about an inability to reach a new deal with the skipper.
“This had absolutely nothing to do with negotiations, dollars,” Rizzo said. “It was not a negotiation with Dusty.”
The contracts for the members of Baker’s coaching staff also are finished. The team said it will work with its new manager to fill those positions.
“I think Dusty’s great. The whole coaching staff . ... They do such a good job of making sure they relate to us. That’s a great group of guys in there. They’re just as much deserving of the success we’ve had as we are. They probably work harder than us, to be honest with you,” first baseman Ryan Zimmerman said last week. “I think everyone in this room would love to have them back.”
Gardenhire becomes Tigers leader.
The Detroit Tigers hired Ron Gardenhire as their manager, bringing the longtime Minnesota Twins skipper back to the AL Central to take over a team in the middle of a significant rebuilding process.
The Tigers said Gardenhire agreed to a three-year contract.
Gardenhire takes over for Brad Ausmus, who was let go after four seasons as Detroit’s manager. The Tigers went 64-98 this season, finishing tied for the worst record in the majors.
• Former infielder David Bell is coming back to the San Francisco Giants as vice president of player development.
Pugh won’t play Sunday.
CHICAGO» Forward Mallory Pugh has a hamstring injury and won’t play for the U.S. national team against South Korea on Sunday.
Pugh was injured in the U.S. team’s 3-1 victory over South Korea in the first match of the two-game exhibition series on Thursday night in New Orleans.
U.S. soccer also announced Friday that midfielder Andi Sullivan would return to Stanford to play for the third-ranked Cardinal in their match against Oregon State on Sunday.
Top prospect retracts commitment.
Top high school recruit Jahvon Quinerly retracted his commitment to Arizona less than a month after a Wildcats assistant coach was arrested in a federal probe.
Quinerly said through his Twitter account that he and his family determined it was in his best interest to withdraw his verbal commitment to Arizona.
Olympics head Carlos Nuzman out.
Carlos Nuzman left prison after his arrest two weeks ago on eventual charges that he arranged bribes to land the Olympics he headed last year in Rio de Janeiro.
The 75-year-old Brazilian is to stand trial for money laundering, tax evasion, and racketeering, though it’s unclear how long that will take under Brazil’s slow-moving justice system.