Which fanbase would you prefer to belong to: the team expected to be bad who swapped some veterans for a nice haul of prospects, or an expected World Series contender who missed the playoffs? The Washington Nationals fit the description of the latter and heads are already beginning to roll. 2014 National League manager of the Year Matt Williams leads the firings.
James Wagner of the Washington Post reported the firing of Williams this morning.
The Nats dismissed Manager Matt Williams this morning, per a person familiar with the situation. Ends two years as manager of Nats.
— James Wagner (@JamesWagnerWP) October 5, 2015
Just before 1:00 p.m., the Nationals announced that Williams was let go, as well as the entire coaching staff:
Less than a full day after they played their last game of the 2015 season, the Nationals dismissed manager Matt Williams and his entire coaching staff on Monday, Ben Ladson of MLB.com reports:
Bench coach Randy Knorr, pitching coach Steve McCatty, hitting coach Rick Schu, third-base coach Bobby Henley, first-base coach Tony Tarasco, bullpen coach Matt LeCroy and defensive coordinator/advance coach Mark Weidemaier were informed that their contracts will not be renewed.
In just 10 years of their existence, the Nationals have had five managers.
Ladson suggests Chicago Cubs coach Dave Martinez and minor league manager Wally Backman as potential managerial candidates. The Nationals brass must feel that they had the players capable of winning the division, but fell short because of the coaching staff. General manager Mike Rizzo will remain as general manager.
