Nats Add Grissom, Listach as Coaches

Given the chance to redesign their coaching staff, the Washington Nationals built a group, finalized yesterday, that is tailored to the team already in place.

The Nationals are rich with speedy, inexperienced outfielders and middle infielders, so they picked two recent major leaguers, ex-outfielder Marquis Grissom and ex-infielder Pat Listach, who are familiar with the exact skills those players must hone. The Nationals needed a stable guide alongside 39-year-old manager Manny Acta, so they tapped Jim Riggleman, a former big league skipper, as bench coach. The Nationals have a roster of recent minor leaguers, so they promoted Rick Eckstein and Randy Knorr, whose previous minor league jobs in the organization fostered relationships with many of those players.

Grissom and Listach will coach first and third base, respectively. Riggleman will aid Acta on the bench -- provided the Seattle Mariners don't select him as their manager, a job for which Riggleman is still a candidate. Eckstein, who spent September with the Nationals, will replace Lenny Harris as hitting coach. And Knorr, who managed Class A Potomac to a league championship in 2008, will serve as bullpen coach.

Washington's new staff -- pitching coach Randy St. Claire is the lone holdover -- is by design younger than the group it replaces. "They have high energy," General Manager Jim Bowden said. "They can engage with the players. It's a very diverse staff."

The Nationals will rely on Grissom, a former all-star who twice stole more than 70 bases, to teach base running and outfield play. They will use Listach, 1992 rookie of the year as a shortstop with Milwaukee, to instruct the team's infielders. The major league coaching inexperience of Grissom and Listach -- this is Grissom's first big league job; Listach spent the last three years managing in the Chicago Cubs' minor league system -- is countered by Riggleman, who has managed San Diego (1992-94), the Cubs (1995-2000) and Seattle (2008, interim).

Washington was adamant about finding a bench coach with major league managing experience, and had looked into the possibility of hiring former Mets manager Willie Randolph. But the team eventually decided that hiring the high-profile Randolph would drum up unfair questions about Acta's authority and job security.

"Jim and I put together the whole staff," Acta said. "There isn't one coach there where I'm not on board and Jim isn't on board. We did it as a team, the best way possible."

Though the Nationals cut ties with the bulk of Acta's 2008 staff -- a decision announced on the last day of the regular season -- the promotions of Eckstein and Knorr reward the work both have done at the organization's lower levels. Knorr, a former big league catcher, has already managed "most of the guys in the bullpen," he said yesterday.

He's also spent time in spring training working with Jesús Flores, the catcher whom Knorr will instruct on fundamentals and game-calling.

Eckstein, meanwhile, impressed during his one-month stint as a hitting coach. Before that September promotion, he held a similar position with Class AAA Columbus.

"He's obviously very smart and knowledgeable about the game," third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. "He just notices a lot of little things that nobody that I've ever worked with before has ever noticed before.

"And with hitting coaches, that's the biggest thing."

Washington also is expected to soon announce that Pat Corrales, the bench coach in 2007 and 2008, will remain in the organization as a consultant.