Some interesting quotes from Nationals GM Mike Rizzo this morning, when it came to his own contract extension that has been rumored to be coming but not yet official.
Rizzo is from Chicago, and when the Junkies asked him if he grew up hating the Yankees like they did in the Baltimore area, he said, “in Chicago, you love the Cubs and hate the White Sox or love the White Sox and hate the Cubs, depending on where you live, so we kind of kept them more regional.”
Interesting because late Tuesday, the White Sox fired both executive vice president Kenny Williams and GM Rick Hahn, and in a statement, owner Jerry Reinsdorf said that the organization ‘plans to hire a single decision maker’ and looks to have that done by the end of the season.
Even more interesting when Barry Svrluga of WaPo stirred the pot on Twitter/X Wednesday morning, noting that vacancy and city connection, and that Reinsdorf was a long-time friend and fan of Mike’s dad, long-time scout Phil Rizzo.
And triple interesting when, during his weekly Wednesday visit to the Junkies, Rizzo had this to say when asked about manager Dave Martinez’s extension being official but his status still pending:
“Well, I'll put it this way: I'm Davey's boss, my job is to take care of Davey and to take care of the players in the clubhouse, and I've done my job. It was important for me to have ownership sign off on this multi-year contract. To me, it was important to have Davey solidified in that clubhouse as the guy that is gonna be around and see this rebuild go through. Dave’s been terrific; he’s earned it and deserves it. There can't be another guy to see this thing through. He went from World Series champ to rebuilder, and hopefully, he comes out at the other end of it as World Series champ again.”
Rizzo also joked “job well done, Mike” in the middle of that statement, something that may be innocuous but could also indicate that his job is done here for now and it’s time to try again elsewhere?
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GMs can’t have an agent that is a player agent, because that would be a conflict of interest, but Rizzo noted that he negotiates for himself, being a guy who has negotiated a lot of deals obviously.
News further broke early Wednesday afternoon that it appears Reinsdorf has a plan in mind, Bob Nightengale reporting that current White Sox assistant general manager Chris Getz is the “overwhelming favorite” to be the next GM, and former Royals GM and current Rangers advisor Dayton Moore is also a favorite to be hired to an unclear role in the front office.
All just reports, and possibly just Rizzo being coy not wanting to discuss his own situation prematurely, but until he gets extended or the White Sox make a hire…
Grant & Danny are going to be ALL over this topic this afternoon, so listen to BMitch & Finlay until 2 and then G&D from 2 until Nats baseball coverage at 6:35 for more!
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