In one of the oddest recent happenings in sports, Washington Nationals manager Jim Riggleman resigned Monday.

People quitting or getting fired happens all the time, but this case was particularly strange in that the Nationals had won 11 of 12 games at the time Riggleman stepped down.

The manager was reportedly upset the team had refused to pick up his option for next season, though other things had to be in play too.

The amount of the extension was a relatively paltry $600,000 … the same figure I get paid to do this blog (NOT!).

Joking, of course, as I am not worth that (though perhaps $500K would be nice?) and the Nationals must have felt the same about their manager.

Credit MLB Network for being all over the story from the start and having several angles covered, including an ex-GM and two players discuss the situation.

It was the first time I heard the amount, substandard for  a skipper, and it made me think there had to be dynamics involved in the relationship between GM Mike Rizzo and his now ex-manager.

In other words, perhaps they didn’t like each other and most bosses don’t like to be given ultimatums as Riggleman apparently offered.

Nice work MLB Network, between all the games and other programming the channel is a must for all cable and satellite TV outlets to carry.

follow matt aug http://twitter.com/#!/mattauge and/or friend me on facebook.com