According to Chico Harlan of the Washington Post, Nationals president Stan Kasten knows that Mike Rizzo isn't perfect, but he says he's the best candidate to lead the club forward. Not only does Rizzo have a background in scouting and a solid record as interim GM, he showed Kasten that he wants to become "much more adept sabermetrically."
Kasten started with 75 candidates for the job- including some unconventional ones- before narrowing the group down. Kasten says a number of his finalists were never named in media reports, which tended to focus on Jerry DiPoto, Jed Hoyer and Rizzo, the eventual winner. Kasten suggests that at least one of those men wasn't a serious contender for the job.
"Truthfully, we've seen names of guys who weren't really candidates," he said.
Kasten said he expects many of his finalists to become GMs in the Major Leagues before long.
