In a scheduled weekly radio interview on Wednesday, Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo was noncommittal on whether Matt Williams would be back next year.
When asked on the “Grant & Danny” show on 106.7 The Fan whether Williams would be back, he parried the question and noted that the Nationals’ season has been a disappointment, relative to expectations. They trail the New York Mets by 6.5 games with just 12 to play.
“Well, we’re going to certainly evaluate everything that went right and went wrong this season, after the season,” he told hosts Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier, with whom he does a weekly segment during the 1 p.m. hour on Wednesdays. “We still have a lot of games to go here in the 2015 season.”
“After the season, we’re going to take a look at all aspects of our operation, from general manager’s office all the way down to the 40-man roster, and we’ll make decisions based on what our findings are, and how to proceed to make this organization continue to be playing meaningful games in September and October,” Rizzo said.
Williams is under contract for the 2016 season and Rizzo has frequently defended Williams and his sometimes criticized managerial choices and strategies.
After that ambivalent answer on Wednesday’s show, Paulsen asked, “Is it fair to say, then, that you’re still in evaluation mode? In other words, that your decision on whether or not someone’s coming back has not been made yet because there’s still games, you’re going to evaluate what happens in those games before you decide that?”
“I think that’s accurate,” Rizzo replied. “I think it would be shortsighted of me to make any decisions when I don’t have all the facts in front of me.”
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.