The 2011 season promises to be another one of internal development and losing for the Washington Nationals. However, the man in charge will remain the same. The team announced that Jim Riggleman will officially return as the manager of the Nationals next season.
Via the team's official Twitter account:
It's official: Jim Riggleman to return as field manager in 2011.
Others have reported Riggleman's return to the bench before, but now, this makes it official. The team could have easily made a change, as Riggleman's contract had a buyout clause that could have been exercised before next season. It looked like the team might consider exercising that after they took a tumble in the standings down the stretch. At times, ti appeared Riggleman had lost the attention of his players. But in the end, Riggleman did improve the team, and that was evidently enough to keep him around.