Mike Rizzo was given the Washington Nationals general manager job earlier this season after the team dumped Jim Bowden, but he got it with the interim tag. Well, after Rizzo negotiated to just about the last minute to sign Stephen Strasburg he got one heck of a thank you. Word broke last night from Yahoo!'s Gordon Edes that the Nationals were about to replace Rizzo with Arizona Diamondbacks vice president Jerry DiPoto.Now, according to CBS' Danny Knobler, DiPoto has been telling his friends that he plans on leaving the Diamondbacks and accepting the Nationals general manager job.
DiPoto has told friends in Arizona that he plans to accept the job, which opened when Jim Bowden resigned under pressure this spring. Mike Rizzo has been serving as acting general manager, and Rizzo was one of three final candidates for the job, along with DiPoto and Red Sox assistant Jed Hoyer, according to sources.DiPoto has spent the last four season in the Diamondbacks organization and pitched in the majors for eight seasons. He was also one of the finalists for the Mariners GM job last winter, but apparently lost out when he said he wanted to bring in Pat Gillick as a consultant.
"[DiPoto] will be a heck of a pick, but what hasn't [Rizzo] done to earn the opportunity to stay?" said one National League executive who knows both men.
As for what Rizzo did to deserve being replaced, I'm not entirely sure, but a part of me does wonder if this wasn't Washington's plan all along given the timing. It's possible they just didn't want to make the move before the trade deadline and while still negotiating with Strasburg.
Whatever the case is, I'm sure the Nats are just hoping they'll sell 12 million tickets to help pay for Strasburg's contract.
