Rizzo: Decisions coming sooner rather than later

NEW YORK -- Before the last game of the season against the Mets, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo talked to the local media, but he declined to provide any indication as to the future of manager Matt Williams or his coaching staff.

Rizzo said the process will begin once the team flies out of New York on Sunday evening. The meetings will start as early as Monday.

"We'll make decisions sooner rather than later about personnel on the field, off the field and in the front office," Rizzo said. "We are not going to let people twist in the wind. We want to make our decisions and move on."

Entering Spring Training, the Nationals were expected to be World Series contenders, especially after they signed right-hander Max Scherzer to a seven-year, $210 million contract. But the Nationals finished in second place behind the Mets and did not reach the postseason. It didn't help that the team was hurt by injuries and didn't have a productive bullpen.

"We are going to investigate all those things after the season when we do our postseason analytics on what went wrong," Rizzo said. "Suffice to say, no one is more disappointed than I am about the way the season transpired.

"But I see a lot of positives that came out of the season. We're playing extremely hard at the end of the season, even with very little on the line. I credit that to a bunch of professional players and a coaching staff that really cares. We've seen a lot of good things happen with our young players, who have emerged. We are going to bring some positives out of it. We are not happy about what happened [this season] and we are disappointed in it."

Two players who most likely will not be back with the Nationals are right-hander Jordan Zimmermann and shortstop Ian Desmond. Both are free agents after the season. Rizzo called them two of his favorite players.

"They mean the world to me," Rizzo said. "Personally, I was one of the instrumental guys when we drafted Jordan Zimmermann. We signed him, developed him. We had the controversial shutdown to extend his career and he pitched admirably and unbelievably for us. He is close to my heart.

"Ian Desmond is the rock of the organization. When I became the GM, he became the everyday shortstop and blossomed into one of the best players in all of baseball. They are in the last year of their decision-making years. It will be difficult both personally and professionally. But that's baseball. On both sides, we have made attempts to put these guys under contract for an extended period of time. It hasn't worked out to this point. I never shut any doors about any players. If this is the last game both of them play for us, I will remember them fondly as two of my most favorite players I've ever been around."