Ben Goessling of MASN was in the Washington Nationals clubhouse right after players found out about Jim Riggleman’s resignation, and he described the scene as ...
Jim Riggleman Resigns: Reactions From Around The League
... the most surreal I’ve seen in four years on the beat - and, I’m guessing, one of the more surreal things reporters with many more years of experience than me have seen in a clubhouse.
Goessling then quotes Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth, Jason Marquis, and Drew Storen, who all give a similar reaction of surprised-yet-non-committal ambiguity.
I see both sides of it. I understand. He needs to take care of himself. In the end, it’s his decision, and I respect him for it. I don’t think anything’s going to change.
Buster Olney passes along the feeling that the overwhelming sentiment in baseball -- at least the knee-jerk, instant variety -- seems to be against Riggleman:
The way MANY rival execs looking at this is that Riggleman walking away under contract no different than unhappy player quitting midseasonSI’s Jon Heyman took the opposite view:
makes no sense for #nationals not to pick up riggleman option. clear sign of what his bosses thought of him. i applaud him.That’s missing the “#hinthintyouSIpennypinchers” hash tag, but that probably would have put it over 140 characters. Heyman also offered up this nugget:
riggleman considered quitting a few times earlier. what sent him over edge this time was rizzo even declining to meet w/ himScott Miller gets some quotes from Riggleman himself:
“I’m 58,” he told reporters in Washington after the resignation. “I’m too old to be disrespected.”
... while GM Mike Rizzo took a clear-yet-professional swipe at Riggleman:
I was always taught that one of the cardinal rules of baseball was that no individual can put his interests before those of the team.And, of course, Riggleman found some comforting words from former Astros and Pirates outfielder, Derek Bell:
It’s about time. You don’t have to take that. You’ll find another job. They’ll be beating down your door. Just shut it down.
Alright, maybe that last quote is made up, but it’s worth noting that Derek Bell never got another job again. I’m thinking Riggleman is probably not going to have a lot of suitors any time soon, but I’d also guess that Riggleman was completely aware that might be the case, and made his decision regardless.
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