Plenty of blame falls on Mike Rizzo as well

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo made a difficult decision yesterday. Sure, on the surface, it appeared an easy call to dismiss Matt Williams after the Nationals' second-half collapse and the recent dugout fiasco. But recognize that it's never easy for anyone, especially in a high-profile position, to admit their mistake and fire an employee they hired.

"A tough day for me personally," Rizzo said in his opening statements during yesterday's media conference call.

Rizzo knows the focus falls back on him now for handpicking Williams, who had little managing experience and none at the big league level, to lead a highly skilled and veteran team to the promised land. The risky call turned out to be the wrong one.

"It wasn't Matt's best year," Rizzo said.

But did Rizzo give Williams and the Nationals the proper pieces to fulfill the grand expectations that surrounded them coming into spring training? Were the right decisions made regarding the construction of the bullpen? And how much did the acquisition of Jonathan Papelbon but no other players at the trade deadline affect the final two months?

"It wasn't my best year," Rizzo continued.

Injuries interfered with the Nationals' season beginning in spring training. Why the Nationals allowed Denard Span to rush back to the field in April after two offseason abdominal surgeries is still a mystery to me. As was the handling of Stephen Strasburg's sprained left ankle in late March. Strasburg started the season on time and while the discomfort lingered, his ERA ballooned to 6.55 over his first 10 starts before he finally headed to the disabled list. And Jayson Werth barely kept his batting average at .200 during the first month and a half after hurrying back following right shoulder surgery in January.

In his comments yesterday, Rizzo indicated that every aspect, including the medical strength and conditioning staff, will be thoroughly evaluated. It appears that the next manager also needs the respect and authority to command his roster and sit a player at any time he chooses, through injury or performance.

The Nationals entered the season with one of the most feared starting rotations in recent memory after Rizzo inked decorated right-hander Max Scherzer to a blockbuster deal in free agency. But the Nationals bullpen took a major hit when Rizzo shipped right-handed set-up man Tyler Clippard to Oakland for infielder Yunel Escobar.

Escobar's .314 batting average was sixth-best in the National League and he played a valuable part in filling a gap while Anthony Rendon spent large chunks of the season on the disabled list. But Clippard was sorely missed as the Nats never answered the question of the eighth inning all season long.

Rizzo felt right-hander Casey Janssen could fill the role even though the former Blue Jays closer was coming off the worst stretch of his career. Janssen missed most of the first two months with right shoulder inflammation and then proceeded to run up a 4.95 ERA over 48 appearances.

Then on July 28, with Washington holding a two-game division lead, Rizzo flipped the whole bullpen upside down by acquiring the controversial Papelbon and bumping right-hander Drew Storen out of the closer role and back to the eighth inning. Storen, who had saved 29 of 31 games with a 1.73 ERA at that point, watched his ERA skyrocket to 6.75 over his final 20 appearances before ending his season prematurely by breaking his right thumb in frustration.

And beyond the mess of Papelbon, that was the only move Rizzo chose to make at the trade deadline, instead opting to bet on Rendon, Ryan Zimmerman, Span and Werth coming off the DL and shooting right back into midseason form.

"We thought the roster that we had and the players that we had coming off the disabled list was enough to get us through," Rizzo admitted Sunday. "Obviously, we were wrong in that assessment, just because the guys we did have come back weren't in playoff type of mode, they were more in spring training type of mode. So we will look back on it and rethink and see if we can improve on that."

No doubt some of the Nationals' problems were solved when Williams was shown the door yesterday, but Rizzo shoulders plenty of the blame for not having playoff baseball in D.C. this October.

"I think we have to take a step back and look at the grand picture," Rizzo said. "There's nobody more disappointed about the 2015 season than I am. We thought that we put together a roster that should compete for not only a division title, but to move along throughout the playoffs. It didn't happen for a litany of reasons.

"When you look back at the organization, since 2012, we've won the third-most games in all of baseball, behind only the Cardinals and the Dodgers. Our winning percentage is third-best among all teams. We got ourselves a good young core of players at the major league level. We've got ourselves a fertile farm system that we can reach for major league talent on a daily bases. So we feel proud about the franchise that we've put together. We take pride in the organization we have and the process that we use to make the decisions here in Washington."

Rizzo's fleecing of the Padres last December in acquiring right-hander Joe Ross and infielder Trea Turner might turn out to be one of the great sports trades in D.C. history. The 22-year-old Ross impressed in 13 starts after making the jump from Double-A, while Turner, also 22, showed flashes in limited time late in the season.

Ross figures to find a spot in the rotation in 2016 with veteran right-hander Jordan Zimmeramann and Doug Fister likely lost to free agency. And Turner could take over at shortstop for free agent Ian Desmond.

"It's an exciting offseason," Rizzo said. "We've got a lot of moving parts. We've got a lot of free agents we need to decide upon. We need to decide upon how to get back into the championship conversation. Right now, we go into the offseason as being the team that is the chaser instead of being the chasee. We're no longer the king of the National League East. We're gonna chase down the Mets. The decisions we make this season are going to shape not only the 2016 season, but beyond, like we always think. We have a one-year, three-year and five-year plan down the road. It's gonna be an exciting, busy, important offseason."

First order of business for Rizzo is finding a veteran manager who commands respect and then trust him to lead his team.