The Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals are talent-laden teams with seemingly unending budgets, each looking to get over the hump and contend for a World Series, and both showed an interest in Bud Black as a potential manager.
In the end, Bud Black chose to become a National. Per James Wagner of the Washington Post on Wednesday, Washington and the veteran manager “intend” to agree to a contract, as Black will reportedly take over for the fired Matt Williams.
A formal announcement is not expected until after the World Series, as CSN Mid-Atlantic’s Mark Zuckerman noted:
The Nationals made their final decision on Black within the last 48 hours, according to the source, but intend to adhere to Major League Baseball’s longstanding request that clubs not make significant news during the World Series. Thus, a formal announcement and press conference isn’t likely to take place until sometime next week.
The Nationals were one of baseball’s biggest disappointments in 2015, finishing 83-79 and missing the playoffs despite being considered a World Series contender in spring training. The down season ruined an MVP-level breakout from outfielder Bryce Harper and a successful first year in D.C. for Max Scherzer, Washington’s big offseason signing.
Most of the blame fell on Williams, who butted heads with his players and lost the clubhouse a year after winning the NL Manager of the Year. The ugliest on-field incident happened when reliever Jonathan Papelbon attempted to choke Harper during a dugout argument, but behind-the-scenes reports painted an even more dysfunctional situation.
“He’s like the guy in his house who hears a sound, like someone breaking in,” a player told the Washington Post’s Barry Svrluga of Williams. “And his reaction isn’t to take care of the problem or investigate. It’s to put his head under the pillow and hope it goes away.”
Black, 58, spent most of the last nine seasons as the San Diego Padres‘ manager. They fired him in June after the team started 32-33 despite a number of high-profile winter acquisitions. San Diego never made the playoffs under Black, but he did win Manager of the Year honors after a 90-72 campaign in 2010.
“Very attractive position,” Black said of the Washington job earlier this offseason on SiriusXM MLB Network Radio (h/t Chris Johnson of MASN). “Very good team. A great city. That’s a good one.”
Joe Sheehan of Sports Illustrated said Black should thank the Padres for his ouster:
The Nationals also seriously considered former Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker for the position, per CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman. With a roster filled with veteran talent, it was clear from the outset that the team would hire someone with an extensive resume.
“We feel that where we’re at in our timetable of winning a championship, we certainly would lean toward someone that has some type of managerial experience, especially at the major league level,” general manager Mike Rizzo said, per Howard Fendrich of the Associated Press.
It’s worth noting that Williams did not have managerial experience before arriving in Washington. The Nationals were likely looking to steer away from a similar situation following 2015’s troubles.
Whether Black’s the right man for the job is up for interpretation. It’s a bit strange to hire someone without a single playoff game’s worth of experience to lead your World Series push. Then again, given the massive budgetary difference between San Diego and Washington, this move might finally unleash Black’s true potential as a manager.
Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com