With one move the Nationals could undo the damage created by releasing Dusty Baker with no obvious replacement in mind. (David Dermer/AP)

Sports columnist

Here is your lifeline, Washington Nationals. We have gone from theory to reality in 24 hours. Joe Girardi no longer manages the New York Yankees. There is one potential managerial candidate who represents an obvious upgrade from Dusty Baker, both in the near term and long range. He is Joseph Elliott Girardi.

Go get him.

The Yankees' decision Thursday to let go of their manager for the past 10 seasons — and one World Series title, six playoff appearances and an upset of the Cleveland Indians in this year's postseason — now rivals the Nats' decision to part with Baker as the most staggering of this offseason. The Nats could — rather, they need — to take advantage.

Let's start the discussion where it needs to start: money.

If the Nationals — and by "the Nationals" here, we are speaking of the Lerner family, which owns the team — even are going to consider Girardi, they have to go in with two things wide open: their eyes and their wallet.

Baker, whom they didn't invite back, felt he was woefully underpaid at $2 million annually, and the main reason he is no longer here anymore is because his contract was only for two years. Those two years expired, the Lerners had no further financial commitment, there was some ham-handedness in both public relations and game management in the division series against the Cubs, and so he's gone.

[Girardi made sense for the Nats even before the Yankees let him go]

Girardi isn't coming here for any two years and $4 million. His last contract with the Yankees, the one that expired following this year, was for twice that — four years and $16 million. There's your starting point. If you want him, Mr. Lerner, be prepared to value the position of manager more than you have at any point in the past. Take a number you're comfortable with — and triple it.

Joe Maddon hadn't won a World Series when he agreed to a five-year deal worth a reported $25 million. Could Girardi ask for such a sum? Sure.

We don't yet know that Girardi will require that or that the Nationals will even inquire about Girardi's needs. But logic tells you General Manager Mike Rizzo, who did not return a message Thursday, has to reach out. Follow that logic further, and Rizzo has the toughest sell job of his career to his own bosses.

If Rizzo calls Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman and gets a favorable report on Girardi — and given their long run together, why wouldn't he? — and the rest of Rizzo's reporting reveals no red flags, then he must present a case to ownership that what they have before them is an opportunity. Forget the money it will cost. Consider it found money.

With Rizzo's counsel in the offseason following the 2015 season, the Nationals agreed to a three-year, $15 million deal with reliever Shawn Kelley. So frame it that way. Kelley has authored one good, solid season (2.64 ERA in 2016) and one horrendous, injury-plagued season (7.27 ERA in 2017) — with one year to go. Pitch it to ownership like this: Isn't a manager of Girardi's caliber worth as much, in dollars, as a middling reliever on whom you can't rely? The Nats would be buying consistency and offsetting the volatile air around the club now.

Girardi's side is important in this, too. On Thursday, in the hours after the Yankees announced they would not bring him back, a person close to the (now former) manager said the situation was too "fresh," and we couldn't yet analyze whether Girardi would want to move on to the Nationals — or anywhere else — immediately.

But we do know a bit more about Girardi's state of mind than we did at the end of the American League Championship Series, when he said he would have to consult with his family — his wife and three children live in South Florida — before deciding whether he could be all-in as a manager again.

On Thursday, Girardi issued a statement that thanked just about everybody in the Yankee organization. But it opened with this: "With a heavy heart, I come to you because the Yankees have decided not to bring me back."

Sounds like someone who was ready to reload for another run. He just needed to be asked.

Now someone else will have to ask. There are three remaining managerial openings: Washington, Philadelphia and the Yankees. Don't sleep on the Phillies as an attractive spot to land, because they have some young talent and — more importantly — they have money to spend in years to come.

But wouldn't any unemployed manager relish fiddling with this lineup over the winter: Turner SS, Eaton LF, Harper RF, Zimmerman 1B, Murphy 2B, Rendon 3B, Taylor CF, catcher TBD? Throw Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg at the front of the rotation and Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle at the back of the bullpen, and — voilà — a ready-made contender.

[The many challenges facing the next Nats manager]

One reasonable question Girardi would have — and one that, once a manager is in place, could hang over the entire 2018 season — is: Who would I be working for? Not next year but down the line. Rizzo's contract runs only through 2018. He and his front office built the team that won four division titles in six years and is poised to contend again. If he convinces Girardi to come here and convinces the Lerners to pay for him, wouldn't another extension be in line for the general manager?

A final piece: At 53, Girardi is too young to really be into evaluating his "legacy." But here is a list of managers who have won World Series titles with two franchises: Sparky Anderson, who did it in Cincinnati and Detroit, and Tony La Russa, who did it in Oakland and St. Louis. Short list. Everyone on it is in the Hall of Fame.

If Girardi wins another World Series, he joins that group. Could he do it in Washington? The Nationals have stated that's the only goal that matters. A manager who has done it is now available.

What an opportunity for an organization. With one move, Nats ownership could show that it didn't just flippantly extinguish Baker. The Nats could show that they have evolved in their thinking, that they hold the position of manager in high regard and that they are willing to pay to show that.

Read more:

Nats to interview Martinez, Long for managerial opening

Murphy may not be ready for Opening Day

What is Bryce Harper really worth?

Maddux reportedly will leave Nats for the Cardinals

Rendon, Taylor named Gold Glove finalists