For Ryan Zimmerman, another new manager

First baseman Ryan Zimmerman holds a unique distinction with the Nationals: He's played for every manager who has skippered the club in its 11 years.

Zimmerman made his debut as a rookie in 2005, when Frank Robinson helmed the Nats, and the year after when the Hall of Fame slugger was unceremoniously ushered out of D.C. He was there for the rebuilding years under Manny Acta (2007-2009), the good and the bad under Jim Riggleman (2009-2011) and John McLaren's three-game interim stint after Riggleman resigned when general manager Mike Rizzo wouldn't entertain talks about an extension. Zimmerman enjoyed reaching the playoffs for the first time under Davey Johnson (2011-2013) and the Nats' return to the postseason under Matt Williams (2014-2015) followed by last season's disappointment.

Dusty Baker will be Zimmerman's seventh manager in 12 major league seasons, something he said Saturday that he hadn't given much thought to.

"I didn't realize how many different managers I've had," Zimmerman chuckled at Winterfest. "I enjoy getting to know all the new guys. We're lucky that we have such a good group of players, I think. Mike and front office ... do a good job of drafting those guys and molding these players in the minor league system to come up and fit right in. Honestly, I feel like every manager that comes here inherits obviously a talented team, but a pretty fun team to manage, at least in my opinion."

So with last season's foot and oblique injuries behind him, Zimmerman embarks on his next phase with the Nationals. He's an elder statesman now, and Bryce Harper has become the face of the franchise. With Ian Desmond departed via free agency, Zimmerman is as close to a team conscience as the Nats have.

How Baker will affect the Nationals, Zimmerman said, depends on what kind of team Rizzo puts at the newcomer's direction.

"If guys like me and Jayson (Werth) and guys like Stras (Stephen Strasburg) and Gio (Gonzalez) - people that have been here for a while now," he said. "The sense of the tight-knit clubhouse we have, we all get along. We feed off the manager, obviously. I think that's one of the biggest jobs of the manager in professional sports is to be that rock, be that same person, be positive. And everything I've heard about Dusty, that's the way he is."

Last season ended with a free fall that saw the Nationals dip quickly out of contention to repeat as National League East champs and then out of the playoff picture all together. Along the way, there were reports of a lack of communication between Williams and his players, frequent bullpen implosions and the well-publicized dugout tussle between closer Jonathan Papelbon and soon-to-be NL MVP Harper.

Will there be any lingering effects?

"I think it would have been weird if none of that happened," Zimmerman said. "We should have been upset and frustrated. We were in first place ... sometime in July, I think, and obviously didn't play well. We had a chance to make the playoffs and I don't want to say let it slip through your fingers - because the Mets played great baseball and I don't want to take anything away from them - but you realize how hard it is to get to the playoffs and you don't get many chances to do that.

"Not that I would say that I would condone some of the stuff that happened, obviously, but I think it would have been weird if everyone was in a good mood and happy and high-fiving each other. It's just one of those things where all of us were frustrated and we were trying as hard as we could to win and we weren't winning. A lot of us were going through battling through injuries. There;s a lot of variables going on and people get upset. I think that kind of shows you what kind of team we have. I don't think we need to fight each other all the time - which sometimes that happens - but I didn't have a problem with anything that happened."