Jim Riggleman: Washington Manager Resigns from Scorching Hot Nationals

The Washington Nationals have won 11 out of their last 12 games and are above .500 for the first time since the very beginning of the season.

Manager Jim Riggleman wanted Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo to pick up his option for the 2012 season. Not an unreasonable request seeing the Nationals are playing better baseball than they have in years.

Mike Rizzo denied Riggleman's request, so Jim walked out on his team. His mindset going into the request: If you don't want to help me, I will not help you. I can't understand why Rizzo would deny this request if he wasn't planning on replacing Riggleman at the end of the 2011 season.

If the Nationals were not going to make a commitment to him, then he decided he no longer wanted to make a commitment to this organization. His decision may seem brash to some, but all this man wanted was a one-year additional commitment, not a 10-year contract. Jim believed that since he has coached in the major leagues for over 10 seasons that he deserved to have a contract that is more secure than a year to year contract. 

Who can blame him?

Do the Nationals honestly believe they can bring in a better coach than Riggelman at this point? Rizzo must have someone in mind or he wouldn't have let Jim walk away so easily.

Could Bobby Valentine be on his way in? His name was thrown around when the Florida Marlins were searching for a coach. It seems anything can happen at this point.

It is a shame that Rizzo could not move forward with keeping Riggleman around. Jim has coached a terrible team and turned them into competitors. The Nationals are currently in third place in the NL East.