 Trent Williams, in November. (Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press) Today's local sports story is one of communication, leadership and franchise direction. It's headlined by Trent Williams, whose grievances against the Redskins are explained in the greatest detail yet by Jerry Brewer. (Read the column) As Jerry explains, the misdiagnosed growth on the left tackle's scalp wasn't the beginning of his issues; it was the end. Since then, he's requested a trade, based on months of poor communication, miscommunication and distrust. This is, at its core, an issue of franchise leadership, and while you really have to read the piece, here's the sobering conclusion: Barring a kind of miracle the Redskins never pull off, Williams is gone. It feels like it happened quickly, but it was gradual. And what's worse, there's a chance it could have been avoided with just a little preemptive adult conversation. When a lack of adult conversation from the bosses leads to a showdown with one of your best players, well, it's not good. (New tackle Donald Penn, who described himself as a close friend of Williams, said he came to Washington for the chance to start, which will not help put to rest those fears. Read more.) The Williams piece, of course, is a near-perfect complement to yesterday's story (first reported by 106.7 The Fan) of a massive exodus from the team's business operation. (Read the story.) Having read the piece and talked myself to some of the nearly 40 staffers who have left in less than a year, it feels not dissimilar to the Williams situation: Both involve employees who are giving a ton of themselves to an organization, and not always feeling like their concerns are recognized or resolved, that the organization cares about them, that they are anything more than cogs. Readers can discount those issues, and some have, certainly in the Williams situation. But remember that just a year ago, NFL agents named Bruce Allen the league's least trustworthy executive. It starts to feel like a pattern, with workplace dissatisfaction leading to real consequences. Meantime, the Nationals are having some drama of their own, having acquired three relievers at the trade deadline, including former adversary Hunter Strickland (!), even as their NL rivals may have done more. (Read the story.) The moves came on the same day as a brutal loss (read!), highlighted by a bad send from Bob Henley, a wasted bases-loaded-no-outs chance in the ninth inning, and a Sean Doolittle loss. But the most interesting question is what to make of the acquisitions. As Boz notes, even if the trio is only okay, that could represent a huge improvement for a beleaguered pen. (Read Boz) But Svrluga goes in a different direction, exploring the limitations placed on Mike Rizzo by ownership. (Read Svrluga) This isn't new, but as with the Redskins, it's a question of leadership, and priorities, and the message from above: When deals are being made, members of the ownership group drift in and out of the baseball operations department's workspace, people with knowledge of the Nats' dynamics said. That's fine. It's their team. And because it's their team, they could dictate that this season, the Nationals would not exceed MLB's competitive balance threshold — which, for 2019, is a payroll of $206 million. I've always argued that a club saying it can't add players because of the competitive balance tax is folly, because teams are taxed only on the overage, and the first time you go over it's at a rate of 20 percent. Blow by it by $10 million, and it costs you $2 million more? Why is that a big deal for teams that are spending $200 million on players? The tax, though, played a role in this trade deadline for Rizzo and the Nats — in part because they didn't get under it during last year's disappointing season. You need to read the piece, but it's hard to come away with the sunniest disposition about a club that likely has only so many years to finally make a postseason run. And hey, we've gone this far, so how about one more ownership story, this one about the Ted Leonsis vision to follow the Clippers model, and what that might yet require for his organization. (Read it) So that's a lot of stories about ownership and leadership on one day, and maybe you can piece them all into some universal understanding of D.C. sports. I'm not sure that any of them left me feeling particularly optimistic, but that's kind of a character flaw. Feel free to click on my head and offer your own interpretation, and maybe you can at least feel a little bit better about your own leadership skills for a few minutes. - Wednesday's Redskins camp takeaways. (Read more)
- Wayne Rooney, midfielder? With MLS all-stars, he was orchestrating the attack in a loss to Atletico Madrid. (Read more)
- United defensive midfielder Russell Canouse will miss 3-6 weeks with a collapsed lung. (Read more)
- Maryland announced its nonconference men's basketball schedule. (Read more)
- At the Citi Open, D.C. native Hailey Baptiste fell in the second round, but she gave it a great shot. (Read more)
- And rising Canadian star Felix Auger-Aliassime moved on to the third round. (Read more)
Today on TV: The Orioles host the Blue Jays at 7 on MASN. The Citi Open continues on the Tennis Channel. The Hall of Game Game starts the NFL preseason at 8 on NBC. |
Email
Komentar
Posting Komentar