Washington Nationals: Who Will Land The Managerial Opening?
The Washington Nationals are on a search for a new manager. The list is rather short with four or five candidates making the list. The Nationals have one of the youngest teams in all of baseball at an average age of 27 years old. They might be young but they are also one of the most talented in the big leagues. Coming off a great 2012, a lot of people had the Nationals winning the World Series in 2013. Well it didn’t work out that way and Davey Johnson went out on a bad note. Here are some of the potential candidates for the Washington Nationals managerial opening.
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Randy Knorr is the current Bench Coach of the Washington Nationals. He has no managerial experience at the major league level but has managed the Syracuse Chiefs in the International League. Knorr played in the majors for 11 seasons never playing more than 45 games in a season. He was a catcher and we all know that a catcher turns into a great manager in the big leagues. Just ask the other 10 that are current managers of a major league team. Knorr could be the top candidate since he was part of the staff with Davey Johnson. First year guys could be really good or really bad. Mike Matheny has done just fine as the Cardinals manager, as he has managed the talent in place very well. Knorr could do the same thing in Washington with their talented team.
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Trent Jewett is also on this list. He is the current third base coach of the Washington Nationals. He moved over from first when Bo Porter got the managerial position with the Houston Astros. Again Jewett has no major league managerial experience but has managed multiple minor league clubs in his career. Jewett played four seasons in the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league system only playing 113. Jewett is also a former catcher. He along with Knorr are at the top of the list. Nothing is set in stone yet, but those two guys could fight it out for the job.
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Matt Williams from the Arizona Diamondbacks has also been tossed around in the discussion. He comes into play because of Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo. Rizzo was the scouting director in Arizona while Williams was a player. Williams has been connected to the Arizona Diamondbacks ever since he became a player there in 1998. He has coached the bases for four seasons and also managed an Arizona Fall League team for a season. He has no major league managerial experience but does have some connections in the Nationals front office.
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Dusty Baker is the only non-catcher on the list, but he is also the only one with major league managerial experience. He was just let go by the Reds after not being able to win a playoff series in his tenure. Baker has been a manger since 1993 and has only won one pennant and no World Series. He does a great job of winning games in the regular season but can never get it done when it matters. He is the least likely to land the job with the Nationals in my opinion even coming off a 90 win season with the Reds.
Other Candidates Include: Brad Ausmus and Cal Ripken Jr.