Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson agreed to a one-year deal to manage the team in 2013, but it will likely be his last season.
Johnson, who will turn 70 in January, has been a godsend for the Washington franchise since becoming the team's manager last June after Jim Riggleman resigned from the team. In 2012, the Nationals were the surprise of the baseball world, winning a league-best 98 games and the franchise's first NL East title.
In his year and a half with the Nationals, Johnson has 138 wins, fourth-most since the team moved to Washington from Montreal, behind Manny Acta (158), Frank Robinson (152), and Riggleman (140). Of course, those are the only other three full-time managers since the team moved prior to the 2005 season, but the fact that Johnson has been so successful in his brief tenure speaks volumes about the direction the franchise is heading in. Johnson has a .563 winning percentage at the club's helm, far and away the best of any of the team's full-time managers (Robinson is second with a .469 winning percentage).
Johnson's career has been an interesting one. He's never finished below .500 during his tenure at any of the four clubs he's managed for, but has just won one pennant: in 1986 with the Mets, when they also beat the Red Sox to win the World Series. He's also won just one Manager of the Year award (1997 with the Orioles), but will likely add another to his mantle next week. For his career, Johnson has a .564 winning percentage, behind only Joe Girardi among all active managers. Girardi and Earl Weaver are the only men to have managed in the last 40 years to have a higher winning percentage than Johnson.
However, a potential Hall of Fame case for Johnson is likely hampered by an eleven year break in managing stints from 2000 to 2011 when Johnson primarily managed in international competitions like the World Baseball Classic and the Olympics, along with working in Washington's front office for five years.
