Baker and Rizzo on Maddux, Lopes and Bonds

New Nationals manager Dusty Baker was thrilled to be able to add former Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux his staff. Baker said he was able to talk to Maddux when the Rangers played a game at Oakland two years ago and Baker's son wanted to watch right fielder Shin-Soo Choo play for the Rangers.

"I've been knowing Mike a long time and his brother Greg played for me in Chicago," Baker said. "I had a conversation with Mike at that time. He said, 'Hey I would like to be on your staff at some point in time.' That put a little bug in my ear and I didn't even know if I was going to ever even have a staff where he's going to be available. But he's done an outstanding job."

"Mike comes with impeccable credentials," said Nationals president of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo. "He's a communicator. He's a mechanical guy, but also gets into the minds of the pitchers. We think he'll bring the most out of a talented staff that we've had, and a guy we'll lean on heavy, Dusty'll lean on heavy, and a guy who comes with a great track record."

Rizzo said that Maddux had a window in his contract to allow him to discuss positions with other teams.

"After I talked to Dusty about it, he was the first guy that we went after," Rizzo confirmed. "We went after him extremely hard and aggressive and we got him. In one day, (Maddux) made his decision."

"He fit a lot of the prerequisites that we look (for) in a pitching coach. Dusty had a relationship with him. He really respected the way that he did his business. He's not only a mechanical expert with arm angles and tweaking of deliveries and that type of thing, he's a mental skills expert.

He really knows the ins and outs of pitching. He comes from a great pedigree. He's had great success. He's a guy that knows the whole gamut of the art of pitching and he comes from a respect factor from the players that's hard to beat."

Baker said that he was also excited to add Davey Lopes as first base, infield and outfield coach, calling him a "longtime friend and my daughter's godfather."

"Davey, he's been a favorite of mine for years," Rizzo said. "He's as good a baserunning coach as there is that I've ever been around. Several of our players have a real tie to him. He was a player favorite when we announced that. When we told the players about that, they were extremely happy."

Baker quickly chimed in that he expects his team to be aggressive on the base paths and Lopes will help in that realm.

"We're going to run the bases," Baker said. "I think that's something that's probably last on the list on a lot of teams. Baserunning is probably the most overlooked part of baseball."

But there wasn't any more news on who will fill the remaining spots on Baker's staff. The Nationals need a third base coach, a hitting coach, a bench coach and a bullpen coach.

"We are in the process of forming our staff," Baker said. "These guys do most of the work. I designate for guys to do certain things or allow them the freedom to do their job. But these guys do the work."

There has been rumors that all-time home run leader Barry Bonds might be a possibility as hitting coach. Rizzo denied those reports.

"We have not discussed Barry Bonds as a candidate," Rizzo said. "We have several people in mind that are in play. It's fairly new after we've got the manager in place. There are several positions that we're still looking to fill. We're looking at the best and brightest coaching staff to surround Dusty with."