On Mike Rizzo and the Nationals' managerial search

Well, the parade has begun. Just not the one Bryce Harper envisioned when he uttered, "Where's my ring?" and thought hopefully of what a Constitution Avenue celebration might look like.

The procession of potential candidates to replace the fired Matt Williams as manager of the Nationals is under way on South Capitol Street. Well, we assume the candidates are interviewing at the team's Nationals Park offices. The way the Nationals are handling this managerial search is so surreptitious that very little about what is happening is really known. There's radio silence from the team. The Nats could have an underground bunker deep beneath the Red Porch seats, where a subterranean elevator plummets potential hires deep into the ballpark bedrock to a windowless room where general manager Mike Rizzo puts would-be skippers through a rigorous interview.

Decorated Triple-A manager Phil Nevin has already been through the paces. Former major league field bosses Dusty Baker and Bud Black have come in this week for interviews, and Ron Gardenhire is expected to have his next week. The name of Hall of Fame shortstop Cal Ripken Jr., he of the Orioles' orange and black, has been mentioned, though Ripken has not been contacted by the Nationals.

Two major league bench coaches - Ron Wotus of the Giants and Dave Martinez of the Cubs - are reportedly on Rizzo's radar. Martinez, though, probably won't be available until after the Cubs finish their postseason run. Ditto for Royals bench coach Don Wakamatsu, assuming he's not just a name bandied about to make the search appear more far-reaching. Deposed Nats bench coach Randy Knorr's hat was briefly in the ring, though his decision this week to accept a front office position as senior assistant to Rizzo focusing on player development may mean he's no longer in the mix.

Ex-Nationals infielder and current ESPN analyst Alex Cora may be brought in to interview. Cora was a smart player - former Nats manager Jim Riggleman once told me he was the most likely guy in his clubhouse to become a big league skipper - and has been the general manager of the Caguas club in the Puerto Rican winter league for the past several years. I profiled him during a trip to San Juan and Caguas two winters ago. He's been linked to openings in Miami and San Diego this offseason, too.

Those are the candidates we know about, but there are likely others whose names will surface in the coming weeks while the Nats use baseball's postseason as a smokescreen for their managerial machinations.

That's a lot of potential managers for Rizzo and whatever panel the Nats are throwing at candidates to sift through.

Rizzo has been his usual circumspect self during this process, and you really can't blame him for that. First, it does Rizzo no good to broadcast his plans publicly, not when there are three other clubs out there trying to hire a manager to shape their futures. Throw in the fact that Rizzo's two-year extension signed in August 2013 is only guaranteed through next season (with a club option for 2017) and it's clear that fire is uncomfortably licking at his feet. This hire is important, one that could shape the Nats' short- and long-term futures - and one that could have implications on whether Rizzo is searching for a job at this time next year.

What do we know about what Rizzo is looking for in a new manager? We know a lot and we know very little.

When he conducted a conference call with reporters following Williams' dismissal, Rizzo talked about previous major league managerial experience being one of the key elements he was looking for in the guy who would inherit a club with significant talent in presumed National League Most Valuable Player Bryce Harper and right-hander Max Scherzer, the $210 million man who tossed a pair of no-hitters last season and flirted with no-nos several other times. If that's the case, why are folks like Nevin, Ripken, Wotus, Martinez and Cora even on the radar?

Did the Nationals not learn that an inexperienced manager might have trouble building cohesion with a clubhouse dominated by veteran players? That old saying - those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it - comes to mind. And we're talking recent past. Like three weeks ago.

Rizzo said previous experience adds an attractive layer to the other qualities he's looking for in the Nats' next manager - leadership ability, communication skills, tactical expertise. Williams wowed in his interview in 2013 by laying out a detailed plan for how he'd direct his first spring training. That turned out to be too much sizzle and not enough steak. His inability to reach out and touch his players - despite his reputation as a preparatory taskmaster who expected from his charges the same demeanor and approach he exhibited in a 17-year big league career - was a tangible deficiency. Williams' mantra that the only things his club can control relate to that day's game, an oft-repeated response that was totally inappropriate on the day the Nats were eliminated from postseason contention, rung hollow on the one day when he should have felt a sense of failure, or at least frustration, for how a disappointing season played out after such promise and build-up.

More than anything, choosing an experienced hand to lead in 2016 and beyond demonstrates more that Rizzo acknowledges that communication and leadership are critical more than it indicts him for choosing an inexperienced Williams the last time the Nats searched for a skipper. After all, no one seemed to think there was much wrong with Williams when the Nationals were chugging champagne in Atlanta after clinching the NL East in 2014, or when he snagged NL Manager of the Year acclaim just weeks later.

But then came Williams' decision to pull Jordan Zimmermann in what became an 18-inning loss in Game 2 of last year's National League Division Series. And injury after injury this season where Williams' next-man-up response eventually sounded less like a workable plan of attack. And his obliviousness to the dugout altercation between Harper and Jonathan Papelbon that somehow repeatedly escaped his view - when it happened, when Harper exited the dugout in disgust, and between the time he returned to the clubhouse and walked down a service hall to his postgame media briefing. Williams never appeared more out of control than when he couldn't respond to pointed questions about his closer trying to choke his best player.

If Rizzo is unsure of what he needs in a new manager, all he needs to do is look carefully at the missteps and failings of the last guy he hired. No matter how prepared Williams was, no matter how fierce a competitor he was during a stellar career, no matter how much his steely Marine demeanor willed his injury-riddled club to succeed, it just plain didn't work.

Assuming the Nationals aren't embarking on a teardown and rebuild - and there's no indication that they are given the current roster construction, even despite holes created by the departure of several key free agents - Rizzo needs someone who can command respect, manage a pitching staff and a bullpen, effectively communicate with both veterans and youngsters, and whose tactical knowledge will be a plus instead of a source of potential embarrassment. He needs someone who will own mistakes rather than spout cliches ("He's our closer") and appear inflexible. And he needs a manager capable of drawing on the past, playing in the present and keeping an eye on the future - whether that means the next day, the next week, the next month or the next season.

Make no mistake, Rizzo is one of the brightest baseball executives out there. But he needs a manager he can trust to do the behind-the-scenes work that keeps a club humming at peak efficiency. No GM or manager works in a vacuum, both are necessarily dependent on one another to succeed. And they have to work together - not necessarily in concert because their job descriptions are vastly different, but certainly toward the same goals.

Though willing to accept advanced metrics to shape his vision, Rizzo has been resolute on the notion that he can't dismiss what's clearly visible at the expense of any newfangled analytics. If he's that enamored of the eye test, he needs to apply it carefully in the current managerial search, and choose someone with passion, people skills and, most importantly, experience. Because there are none so blind as those who cannot see.