Bryce Harper Signs With Nats, Front Office Celebrates

The Washington Nationals reached a deal with 2010 Number 1 overall draft pick Bryce Harper.

Clubs faced a deadline of midnight EDT Monday to come to terms with players picked in June's amateur draft. In an e-mail to ESPN's Buster Olney, Nats GM Mike Rizzo thinks it was "26 seconds to midnight" when the deal was reached at 5-years and $9.9-million.

Last year, the Nationals signed a $15.1-million, four-year contract with top pick Stephen Strasburg a little more than a minute before the deadline. So, apparently, the deal with Strasburg was a little easier to get done...

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Harper is only 17, remember. The JUCO, College of Southern Nevada catcher is going to be converted to an outfielder and will be placed on the 40-man roster with his contract. He's the first JUCO player taken with the first overall pick.

ESPN's Robert Flores catches up with analyst Keith Law


And the Nats celebrate only as teams do with emotional victories...
Watch Stan Kasten come in from the left...
((HT: CSNWashington))

Acta Fired, "Grim Reaper" In

((HT: MyFoxDC))

So much for the plan to have Manny Acta's patient optimism lead the Washington Nationals out of the doldrums. The abysmal won-loss record became too much to stomach, costing him his job at the All-Star break and adding another layer of instability to the worst team in baseball.

Acta was fired Sunday night after the team reached the unofficial halfway mark of the season with a 26-61 record, on pace to clear the 100-loss mark for the second consecutive year. Acting general manager Mike Rizzo -- himself an interim placeholder -- confirmed Acta's dismissal Monday morning in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

"I thank the Nationals for giving me this opportunity and I'm sorry that things didn't work out as expected," Acta told ESPNdeportes.com. "It's normal for the manager to pay the price when the team is not doing well."

The Nationals were expected to announce Acta's replacement later Monday. Bench coach Jim Riggleman, who has managed the Padres, Cubs and Mariners, was considered the likely choice.

Acta joins Colorado's Clint Hurdle and Arizona's Bob Melvin as major league managers who have been fired this season.

Acta was 158-252 over 2 1/2 seasons in his first managerial job, and the team's winning percentage dropped progressively from Year 1 until now, although his record had much to do with the talent -- or lack thereof -- assembled for him by the front office. The Nationals opened this season without anything close to a reliable bullpen and fielded a lineup with numerous defensive liabilities. For a while, the starting pitching rotation consisted of four rookies and one second-year player.

Not surprisingly, the Nationals' 5.21 ERA is by far the worst in the National League, and their 82 errors are the most in baseball. The team's only All-Star, third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, already has 12 errors, and the strain of endless losing began to show among many in the players in the form of fundamental mistakes in the field and at the plate.

Acta, however, remained upbeat, always preaching patience and emphasizing the importance of keeping an even keel -- so much so that some wondered whether he needed to show more fire and perhaps be more critical publicly when his players made mistakes.

Acta's firing is only the latest example of the constant upheaval surrounding the Nationals since president Stan Kasten and local developer Ted Lerner took over the club during the 2006 season -- a sale that was supposed to finally bring a semblance of normalcy to the franchise.

Acta's staff had undergone a complete overhaul already, with every coach except pitching coach Randy St. Claire fired at the end of last season. St. Claire was dismissed at the beginning of June.

Now there is uncertainty on the bench to go along with Rizzo, who took over day-to-day duties shortly after Jim Bowden resigned during spring training.

In 2007, Acta's first season as Frank Robinson's replacement, Washington finished 73-89, fourth in the NL East but a two-win improvement over 2006 and better than was expected. Acta even received votes for NL Manager of the Year.

But the team took a step backward in 2008, going 59-102 for a .366 winning percentage, the worst in the major leagues. And there was even more regression this season -- the Nationals' .299 winning percentage is far lower than any other team.

From the outset of spring training in February, Acta called the current team the most talented he's had, the Nationals started 0-7 and never came close to approaching .500. When the team was hitting well, the pitching was a mess. Once the pitching became serviceable, the hitters suddenly became less productive.

A 5-0 loss at Houston on Sunday was Washington's seventh in 10 games.

When Acta was hired in November 2006, he was 37, and no manager in the majors was younger. He was coming off two seasons as the New York Mets' third-base coach, and before that, Acta held the same job under Robinson from 2002-04, when the Nationals were still the Montreal Expos.

Acta had managed eight seasons in the minors and five in the Dominican Winter League, and he led the Dominican Republic to the semifinals at the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

When the Nationals introduced Acta as their new manager, Kasten gushed, "I knew within 30 minutes that this could be the next manager, that he had the right stuff," and then-general manager Bowden brought up Jim Leyland's name, saying Acta was "going to be very special."

Now, less than three full seasons later, Acta is gone.

Here's morning coverage from Fox 5 DC, Dave Ross is at Nationals Park...

The press conference with Mike Rizzo and Stan Kasten is here...

Bowden Resigns...No, Not That One...

The baseball one, not the football one...

Chico Harlan of the Washington Post let us know the obvious, or the inevitable...

Jim Bowden ((pictured, thanks usatoday.com)) resigned his GM post from the Nationals...

"It is an emotional decision that saddens me, but one that I feel is in the best interests of the two things I love most -- baseball and the Washington Nationals," Bowden said at a hastily called news conference at Space Coast Stadium, the Nationals' spring training site.

"I've become a distraction, and unless you're [unsigned free agent] Manny Ramirez there's no place for distractions in baseball," he said. "I want to be able to turn the page, and I want this franchise to be able to have everybody from the media and the fans focus on what the game is about. It's about players. It's about what happens on the field."

"I am disappointed by the media reports regarding investigations into any of my professional activities," Bowden said in a statement released by the team. "There have been no charges made, and there has been no indication that parties have found any wrongdoing on my part."

Yet, Jim... the word you failed to add to the quote is "yet."

Stan Kasten, who those of us at OSG HQ will take over the GM spot and add to his team president duties, released the stereotypic statement:

"We all believe it is imperative that we honor the integrity of the game and that fans be able to concentrate their attention and affections on the game and players on the field. Jim has maintained his innocence, but recognized that he had become a distraction, and with great grace determined to do what was best for the team and his players."

Assistant GM Mike Rizzo and another front office guy, Bob Boone, are the names mentioned publicly as the guys supposed to take over for Bowden's empty space.

Breaking News: Rijo To Be Fired

((HT: Washington Post))

Chico Harlan and Barry Svrluga reveal the following:

The Washington Nationals have made the decision to fire Jose Rijo, the member of their front office most closely linked to the Smiley Gonzalez fraud, a source with knowledge of the situation said tonight. Rijo owns and operates a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, which the Nationals have used as their scouting base in Latin America.

Rijo, who has worked for the team since 2005 as a special assistant to the general manager, had taken a forced leave of absence from his job this weekend and returned to the Dominican Republic. Now, that leave has become permanent.

By cutting ties with Rijo, the Nationals have also cut ties with Rijo's academy -- the place where the organization and their now-infamous prospect intersected. According to one source, one member of Washington's front office, Mike Rizzo, is currently in the Dominican Republic seeking information about a new facility.

Rijo, reached tonight, was not yet aware of the firing.
Asked if he'd heard anything, Rijo responded, "No, nothing."

A Washington spokesperson said the team would not have any announcement forthcoming tonight. President Stan Kasten has not responded to an e-mail seeking comment.

Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated adds GM Jim Bowden may not be long for the unemployment line himself. No known replacement was named in the article...