Aug 09.....Marquis Grissom (1st Base Coach) at the season ticket holder "Picnic in the Park" event

Nov 15, 2009...Former Major League outfielder Marquis Grissom will not be back as the Nationals' first-base coach, MLB.com learned on Saturday.

No reason was given for Grissom's departure, and Grissom, general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Jim Riggleman were not available for comment. A baseball source said that Grissom has been offered a job in the organization.

Hired by the team before the start of the 2009 season, Grissom was also the team's outfield coach. He said back in October that he enjoyed his first season as a coach and was looking forward to a second year with the team.

"Over the grand scheme of the things, I think I did pretty good," Grissom said in October. "I feel like I did a good job. I feel like I helped somebody and put them in the right direction. For me, that was the whole thing."

Grissom said right fielder Elijah Dukes was one person he tried to help the most throughout the season. Grissom saw a lot of potential in Dukes, and Grissom acknowledged that Dukes is still learning to play the game the right way.

"He has a whole bunch of talent -- great skills, great athlete -- and then you see the potential of what he can do," Grissom said of Dukes. "When you don't quite meet those standards, it becomes a challenge with the player and coach. You want to be there to explain to him that when something does happen, [you want to tell him what he has to do] because you don't want to make the same mistakes twice. If he learns to correct himself, the better he will be."

It's not known who will replace Grissom as the first-base coach, but the Nationals are expected to name Riggleman's coaching staff by early next week. Tim Foli, Jim Lett , John McLaren and Dan Radison are candidates to join the staff.