The Matt Williams era will be coming to a close sooner rather than later, according a report from Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Heyman is also reporting that Mike Rizzo won’t be fired for his role in constructing this Nationals team that failed to live up to expectations, and that the main reasons for Williams’ firing are the buildup of losses this season and the fact that he’s completely and utterly lost the team’s clubhouse.
Embattled Nationals manager Matt Williams’ firing was a surety even before he missed, then mishandled a dugout choking incident that became national news. He’s a nice man and he tried hard, but he probably was miscast as a first-time manager with a team toting huge expectations.
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Williams, who will indeed be given his pink slip following the year, bizarrely left his closer Papelbon in a game after Papelbon attempted to strangle the team’s franchise player Bryce Harper between innings, as we all saw — well, all except Williams himself. While it’s possible Williams may actually have missed the unprecedented, embarrassing dugout choke job, as he claimed, it’s almost as damning that he was in the dark.
What a mess, though Williams’ impending firing won’t come as a surprise to anyone. After last weekend’s choking incident involving Bryce Harper and Jonathan Papelbon, Williams’ days looked numbered – and temperature of his seat grew to an unbearable level when Williams admitted he didn’t actually see what happened between the two.
Washington is now going to need to start over with another manager, who will be their seventh (including 2011 interim John McLaren) since moving from Montreal before the 2005 season. But expectations are different now from the Frank Robinson/Manny Acta/Jim Riggleman days, and a season hovering around .500 just won’t cut it anymore.
