The Nationals fired manager Matt Williams and his entire coaching staff earlier this week on the heels of a disappointing season, adding them to the list of teams seeking a new skipper. Here’s the latest…
- Baker and Black are expected to receive second interviews with the Nationals, James Wagner and Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post report. (The TalkNats.com blog wrote earlier today that the two were considered finalists, citing a source within the organization.) While that seems to indicate that the club is moving into another phase of the process, new options could still be brought in for initial looks, per the report.
- The Nationals won’t interview Don Mattingly for their managerial position, Jim Bowden of ESPN.com reports on Twitter. Mattingly, who formally broke ties with the Dodgers yesterday after a five-year run, had seemed at least a hypothetically plausible candidate given his experience running a veteran, contending ballclub.
- Former Nats bench coach Randy Knorr is not under consideration for the job, MLB.com’s Bill Ladson reports on Twitter. GM Mike Rizzo stated a few weeks back that he would not rule out Knorr, who was let go along with the rest of the coaching staff at the end of the season, but it appears that he’s no longer a candidate. Knorr was considered a finalist in the club’s last managerial hiring process.
Earlier Updates
- The sudden availability of ex-Dodgers skipper Don Mattingly could impact the Nats’ search, writes Mark Zuckerman of CSN Mid Atlantic. He’s at least a theoretical candidate in D.C., for one thing, and the availability of the Dodgers’ job could draw interest from some Nationals candidates. Washington is nearing finalization of its initial round of interviews, per the report, with Cubs bench coach Dave Martinez and perhaps Mattingly possibly joining the group already under consideration (all of whom are listed elsewhere in this post). One possibility that appears unlikely to be considered, according to Zuckerman, is Cal Ripken, who has yet to be contacted by the Nationals.
- The Nationals have interviewed Dodgers bench coach Tim Wallach, according to Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Wallach, 58, spent much of his playing career in the Expos organization. Before taking the job as bench coach, Wallach coached for the Dodgers in other capacities and served as the organization’s Triple-A manager.
- Diamondbacks third base coach Andy Green interviewed with the Nationals today (October 20) as well, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets.Green is also said to have drawn interest from the Padres. The 38-year-old spent much of his playing and coaching career in the minors, but does have experience in both areas at the major league level.
- Gardenhire arrived in D.C. yesterday and will interview for the position today (October 20), reports MLB.com’s Bill Ladson.
- Wotus will have his interview on Monday, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News reports on Twitter. The 54-year-old has been the San Francisco bench coach since 1999.
- Dusty Baker and Ron Gardenhire will indeed interview for the Nats’ opening, multiple sources tell MLB.com’s Bill Ladson. Baker could interview as early as tomorrow, while Gardenhire’s interview might not come until next week.
- The Nationals will interview Black, Nevin, and Alex Cora, according to multiple reports. That trio has, perhaps, drawn the widest interest among teams looking to fill vacancies. Cora, notably, wrapped up his big league career with a stint in D.C. back in 2011. As also covered in that link, Washington continues to have interest in Giants bench coach Ron Wotus as well.
- Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. has often been mentioned as a hypothetical managerial candidate in D.C., and he said this morning in an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show that he’d listen with interest if contacted by the club. (You can read an article on the appearance from Josh Land of the Baltimore Sun.) Ripken made clear that he hasn’t heard from D.C., but added that “everybody wants a phone call like that.” Ripken expressed confidence in his abilities to adapt to running a dugout, despite his lack of direct experience in that role. He certainly wasn’t openly campaigning for the position, but did seem amenable to considering the possibility. It remains unclear, of course, whether the Nats have continued interest in Ripken after rookie skipper Matt Williams failed to deliver.
- Diamondbacks Triple-A manager Phil Nevin is receiving interest from the Nationals, reports the Arizona Republic’s Zach Buchanan (via Twitter). While Rizzo said Monday that the team would lean toward someone with Major League managerial experience, which Nevin lacks, Nevin is an accomplished minor league skipper that’s thought to be a future big league manager. Rizzo, formerly Arizona’s scouting director, was already with the Nats by the time Nevin joined the D-Backs organization in 2014. However, he still has connections in Arizona that could give him plenty of insight into what Nevin would bring to the table.
- Both Bud Black and Rick Renteria could eventually emerge as candidates, writes the Washington Post’s James Wagner. As Wagner points out, Black spoke very briefly about the position in a recent MLB Network Radio appearance on SiriusXM (audio link), calling it a “very attractive” opening. Black was, of course, put on the spot, and his answer could simply be considered diplomatic in nature, but Wagner points out that a core of Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer, Anthony Rendon and others plus a sizable payroll and market will be appealing for a number of candidates. He continues by adding that Renteria wants to get back into the managerial game and has turned away coaching opportunities in hopes of landing the role of manager with an organization.
- The Nationals have offered many of the coaches that were relieved of their duties new roles in the organization, writes the Post’s Chelsea Janes. Any new manager hired will have the opportunity to hire any of those reassigned coaches to his staff, but he’ll also have the opportunity to bring in a completely fresh staff, which is the likelier outcome.
Bring back Bo Portor.
Bring back Willie Randolph
How about Bud Black with Rick Renteria as his Bench Coach, Dave Roberts as his 1B coach, Darren Balsley as his pitching coach and Phil Nevin/other as his 3B coach? Now you have two guys with MLB coaching experience, 4 with MLB playing experience.
Renteria doesn’t want a coaching job, he wants back in the manager’s office.
Darren Balsley isn’t going to the Nationals. He’s staying in SD. Forever.
How about Ozzie Guillen? He hasn’t coached in a little while but he had proven success with the White Sox for many years. Yes he is very vocal but it’s for all the right reasons
I don’t quite know how he Sox won in 2005 but it sure wasn’t Guillen’s brilliance.
They won in 2005 because of insane, outlier seasons from relievers like Dustin Hermanson, Neal Cotts, and Cliff Politte. Also, quite a bit of luck.
Not sure winning 99 games is pure luck.
I didn’t say ‘pure luck’, so we’re in agreement, I guess.
99 wins is 99 wins, but scraping together smoke-and-mirrors wins counts the same as annihilating your opponent.
Those anomalous bullpen performances could have pretty much been the difference between having to endure the media slobbering over Ozzie for a couple years till his aura wore off, and watching the 2005 Indians in the playoffs. Pythagorean had the Indians at 96 wins and Sox at 91. Sox were 35-19 in one-run games.
You know the baseball gods are smiling upon you when you play .642 ball on the road.
because the last thing the Nats need is another immature hothead around when things inevitably get rough during a season?
and he’s a terrible manager….
DC needs to hire Ripken for the simple fact of keeping out of the broadcast booth
Ripken might be a decent choice if the Nats brass can be patient with him and let him learn on the job because he WILL make many mistakes his first year or two. Couple that with support from the top when he doesn’t take crap from several of the multi-millionaires and “boy wonders” in the locker room. Although I have a feeling that Mike Rizzo is a bit lost at the moment. I don’t think he has much time to right this ship.
Then he’s not a decent choice at all. The Nats are in their contention window, they don’t have time to let a new manager learn on the job.
FWIW, Dusty Baker has already interviewed with the Nationals. Local reports were that he met with the team for five hours, and included meeting the Lerners. Bud Black as well.
How many teams need to recycle these same old coaches like Dusty Baker before people realize that previous coaching experience does not mean he’s good at it? I’d love to see the Nats hire someone who has been a successful minor league or even college manager for a decade. Forget the ex-players who have never managed, the hitting coaches who have never managed, and the former managers who have been fired three times. Go get someone who manages right now and is good at his job and understands the game of 2015, not the game as it was played in 1970.
That’s quite a pitch for Gardenhire, though he’s not currently employed. I’d think there’s more risk for a transition from college to MLB, especially if they don’t have any MiLB coaching experience. There’s a reason there’s such a high failure rate for college coaches in the pros in the NFL and NBA. It’s a different game and culture altogether. Maybe it could work for some, but that’s a massive risk you’d be taking when you have successful former managers, like Bo Porter and Ron Gardenhire, who were the casualty of the transition of a franchise (HOU, MIN respectively).
Dusty Baker is a different story altogether.
If Dusty Bake weren’t so resistant to scybermetrics he’d be great. What a motivator!
As a Braves fan, I’m hoping Gardenhire steers clear so he can be available when ATL finally comes to its senses with Fredi. I still think we have Bo Porter to provide the same transition — and he’s familiar with the clubhouse already.
Will Ron Washington be interviewed?
Why don’t team ever mention Ozzie Gullian he will get respect , a crowd pleaser who won a WS . Hustling the team lacked won’t be a issue anymore.
I also like those guy, despite being a communist…
Personally, I favored Randy Knorr until the entire coaching staff was fired. (An old broom knows the corners, but a new broom sweeps clean.) After looking at the rumors and the prospective managers, I favored Ron Wotus by a large margin over the others. However, a few days ago Theo Epstein gave an interview in which he suggested that whatever team wins in the post-season, it will become the blueprint for success that other GMs will try to duplicate – whether it was based on the rotation, big bats or thriving farm systems. Now, I fear that the postseason success in the NL will be attached to white-haired men like Collins and Maddon. No, no, please, not the white-haired Gardenhire. Let it be Ron Wotus and may he grow into his own with many successful years as the Nats’ manager.
Please, not Baker, Mattingly, or *gasp* Guillen.
Never happen, of course, but I would love to see the Nats coax Jim Leyland out of the rocking chair for one season, anyways.