The Washington Nationals were almost certainly going to hire an experienced manager after striking out with first-time skipper Matt Williams for the past two seasons. That appears to be exactly the direction general manager Mike Rizzo is taking.
According to the Washington Post‘s James Wagner, the Nationals are expected to hire Bud Black as their next manager. Since MLB prefers teams not to make big announcements during the World Series, this might not become official until next week. Even with the Post reporting this news and the series taking Thursday off for travel between Game 2 and 3, it appears that the Nationals will hold off on introducing Black until next week at the earliest.
Nats not expected to make Black hiring official until after the World Series, as is MLB’s preference.
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) October 29, 2015
Black managed the Padres for eight-plus seasons, getting fired this past June after a disappointing 32-33 start that placed the team fourth in the NL West. Expectations were high after an offseason flurry of trades that added Matt Kemp, Wil Myers, Justin Upton, Derek Norris and Craig Kimbrel to the roster, while James Shields was signed as a free agent. Yet the Padres could never really get into the playoff race and general manager A.J. Preller decided a managerial change was necessary.
During his nine years in San Diego, Black compiled a 649-713 record. The highest he ever finished in the NL West was second place and only two of his clubs had a record over .500. Obviously, Black will be expected to do much better in Washington, but he figures to have a more talented roster with pieces that fit together better than any he ever had in with the Padres.
Mentioned before, but Bud Black & Matt Williams were teammates, on 1991-94 Giants. They played under Dusty Baker ‘93-94.
— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) October 29, 2015
Handling a pitching staff is considered Black’s specialty, with 15 major league seasons as a pitcher himself and six years with the Angels as a pitching coach. He’ll have an excellent starting rotation to work with in D.C., led by Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez. With Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister expected to depart as free agents, the Nats could have two openings in that rotation and Black could aid the development of Tanner Roark and A.J. Cole in filling those spots.
Wagner’s report says that the Nationals’ search came down to Black and Dusty Baker, emphasizing the point that Rizzo wanted an experienced manager who wouldn’t have to learn on the job and thus squander what’s been viewed as a championship-caliber team for the past four seasons. Black’s younger age and willingness to incorporate advanced statistics into game strategy may have given him the nod. Additionally, he’s viewed as a good communicator, something that Williams reportedly struggled with during his two seasons in Washington.
