On Monday when news broke that Mark Melancon had chosen the Giants over the Nationals, we wrote that it was kind of a big deal. Washington’s path to making the postseason is less challenging than San Francisco’s and the Nats’ roster has more young potential than any team in the National League.
However, Washington’s manager, Dusty Baker, was not as surprised as us with the decision. In fact, Baker had no problem calling out his organization for being a level below the Giants.
“We all wanted Melancon, but we don’t have the budget or the packed stadium for 800 straight games like the Giants do,” the 67-year-old manager told MASN’s Mark Zuckerman. “They have more resources than we do. We’ve got a lower budget, and everyones got a budget. If we had spent that on Melancon, we wouldn’t have been able to spend anything on anybody else. But you’ve got to do what you can do inside the budget.
“If I really had input, I would have probably spent another $200 million. That’s like my son who plays his video games and they won’t accept his roster because it’s like, $400 million.”
Strong words from Dusty, and he’s got a point. Washington’s owner, Ted Lerner, is the wealthiest owner in baseball, with an estimated net worth of $5.5 billion. So if the Nationals struggle in the ninth inning in 2017, Baker can point right at his owner.
Also, having personally lived in both D.C. and San Francisco, he’s right when he suggests Washington still has a lot to prove in terms of their loyalty. The Bay Area is a baseball town, and was before Bruce Bochy started winning titles. Fans pour money into AT&T Park 81 times a year.
The Nats? They still haven’t won a playoff series since moving to the nation’s capital in 2005. Fans love players like Bryce Harper and they’ll show up for weekend games. But the stadium in Southeast D.C. will see a lot of lonely weeknights during the regular season. The Redskins remain kings of the town.
Kudos to Dusty for always keeping it real.