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To say that Mike Rizzo, Vice President and GM of the Washington Nationals, has one of baseball's most brilliant minds is an understatement. Just take a moment to look at what this Chicago, Illinois native has done to remake this ballclub.
You knew it was just a matter of time until Mike would be the Nats full-time GM after Jim Bowden departed last season. His track record was simply too impressive to overlook.
During his time with the Arizona Diamondbacks, going back to 2001 when he was the D-backs' director of scouting, Rizzo had 20-20 vision when it came to evaluating talent. Among those he signed were Dan Uggla, Mark Reynolds, Justin Upton, and Stephen Drew. With Arizona, Rizzo's scouting system was ranked number one in in all of Baseball.
Here in DC, it was Mike Rizzo who signed Ryan Zimmerman to a long-term contract. He elevated Jim Riggleman to full-time manager status, and we all know what a great move that has turned out to be.
He signed Stephen Strasburg and Drew Storen. He brought in Roy Clark as vice president of player personnel, and added former White Sox GM Ron Schueler as a senior advisor. Davy Johnson is now with the club as another senior advisor to Rizzo.
Among the other major additions to the Nats ballclub are Nyjer Morgan, Sean Burnett, Adam Kennedy, Pudge Rodriguez.
And it won't be long until we see Strasburg in DC with the big club.
Hats off to Mike Rizzo for a job well done; and you know something, the best is yet to come.
