Last week, it looked like the Washington Nationals were nearing an agreement with Bud Black to be their new manager. Well, those initial reports were a bit preliminary, and it’s now being reported that the Nationals *won’t* be hiring Black. Their focus is now shifting towards…Dusty Baker.
Negotiations with the #Nats and Bud Black are over. They never came close to an agreement. #Nats now are in talks with Dusty Baker.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) November 3, 2015
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports also reported that Baker would be getting an offer from the Nationals to be their next manager.
In a stunning twist, the Nationals manager job wasn’t as completely settled as was reported, and word is, the club has reached out to Dusty Baker and will offer him the job.
While it has been widely reported that Bud Black was the guy, Baker is now very likely to be the one to succeed Matt Williams as Nats manager.
Even as early as this evening, it looked like Black would still be the team’s next manager, and an announcement was waiting only on details being finalized.
For those wondering why Bud Black hasn't been announced yet: Nats still ironing out contract terms with him.
— James Wagner (@ByJamesWagner) November 3, 2015
Baker managed 20 seasons in the majors and has a 1671-1504 career record. However, his playoff record is an unappealing 19-26, with ten of those 19 wins coming in his lone pennant winning season – the Giants’ 2002 that ended with a seven game World Series loss to the Angels. The 66-year old hasn’t managed since 2013 with the Reds, who won 90 games and were eliminated from the playoffs in the NL Wild Card game by the Pirates. Hell, his last playoff series win came in 2003 with the Cubs, and we all know how that year ended up.
And it’s not as if his teams weren’t loaded – he had a prime Barry Bonds in San Francisco! Bonds won three MVPs when Baker was the Giants manager, and Jeff Kent even won one with him at the helm. Even in Cincinnati, Baker had Joey Votto during his MVP winning season of 2010 in his lineup, and that Reds team was swept out of the playoffs by the Phillies.
There’s also the whole “Dusty Baker destroys young pitchers’ careers” following the way he overused Mark Prior with the Cubs in 2003. But aside from Prior and *maybe* Kerry Wood (who was always made of glass), did Baker really destroy any other pitcher’s career? No matter – the characterization of Baker still exists and won’t be going away any time soon, and that’s something the Nationals will need to deal with if they hire Baker and he is at all careless with any of their talented arms.
Just when you think it can’t get any more interesting, it does.
