MillersTime reader JC emailed me today, asking what I thought the Nats’ should do concerning Steven Strasburg.
Here is my answer:
If I were Rizzo, I would proceed as follows:
1. I would meet with just Steve and his family and lay out, in as detailed a fashion as possible, what the various medical folks say about what is known concerning the year following Tommy John surgery and what they recommend, including conflicting recommendations.
2. Then I would tell Steve and his family to take a week to consider what they want to do and come back and let me know their decision.
3. And I would honor that decision.
Proceeding in this fashion is not to absolve Rizzo or the Nats’ of responsibility, but it is to give the Strasburgs the right to decide for themselves how to proceed.
Nor is it because it is likely they would choose to continue the season into the playoffs.
In fact, I would offer to keep this process confidential, and if the Strasburgs chose to shut it down now, or at any time before the end of 2012, I would offer to let their decision be presented as my choice, if they wished.
Joe Higdon said:
Then, of course, that is why you wouldn’t be GM of the Nats. It is Rizzo’s decision and he is responsible for the future health of the team. He lives with his decision and so do the rest of us.
meg gage said:
I like your approach, Richard. These decisions have huge impacts on lives and families should have input. Whether MLB would go for players and families having complete decision making, not so sure.
Cory said:
I couldn’t agree more with you UR. What a quality approach. it shows commitment to Strasburg as a player AND a person and in turn, Strasburg becomes even further committed to the NATS for the long term because he would realize they care about him as both player and person. LOVE IT.
James Cooke said:
Please forward this in a letter to Boswell, Feinstein, and any sports editor at the Washington Post who will listen and comment. You have hit it out of the park with this approach. In fact, if Rizzo were to use this approach, he might go a long way to establishing the franchise as the leader it aspires to be in a league that prides itself as “America’s pastime.”
My response to Joe Higdon’s flip remark is that Rizzo was forced to bring Harper up to the club earlier than he wanted to because circumstances had changed. Injuries made the decision for him. So in essence, Rizzo makes the decisions, yes, but it is not necessarily his first choice when he makes it.
His consideration for the health of the franchise now must also account for the impact of Strasburg’s pitching in the postseason. When he announced that Stras would be shut down at the beginning of the season, there was no tangible playoff appearance in sight in 2012. As Feinstein argued convincingly, and as Nationals fans know intimately, circumstances have changed dramatically.
If Mike Rizzo wants to make a difference in Major League Baseball, he would be well advised to heed the counsel of Richard Miller, and he wouldn’t even have to let anyone know he did it!