Report Says Nationals Plan To Hire Matt Williams As Manager

Washington Post writer Adam Kilgore confirmed last week that Arizona Diamondbacks' third base coach Matt Williams, who has history with Washington GM Mike Rizzo, did, in fact, interview for the managerial opening in the nation's capital. Williams, according to multiple reports, has been considered the leading candidate for the job of replacing Davey Johnson on the bench if the Nationals went outside the organization to find Johnson's successor.

ESPN.com's Buster Olney wrote on Twitter at the time that an evaluator he spoke to said they believed Williams was the front-runner to become the sixth skipper to guide the Nats since they relocated to the D.C. in 2005:

Just one opinion: An evaluator with knowledge of the Nationals' managerial search says he'd be shocked if Matt Williams doesn't get the job.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) October 18, 2013

MLB.com's Nationals beat reporter Bill Ladson too wrote that he was hearing Williams was on top of the Nationals' list of prospective candidates:

"A baseball source who is familiar with Rizzo's thinking believes Williams is on top of the Nats' managerial list, followed by Randy Knorr and Rays bench coach Dave Martinez, who has not interviewed for the position. Nationals third-base coach Trent Jewett is also a candidate."

This morning, FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal is reporting that sources tell him the Nationals intend on signing Williams, and hope to keep Randy Knorr as bench coach after he served in the role under Johnson for the past two seasons:

Sources: #Nationals plan to hire Matt Williams as manager with goal of keeping Randy Knorr as bench coach. Timing of announcement not known.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) October 25, 2013

Both the WaPost's Mr. Kilgore and MLB.com's Mr. Ladson wrote recently that they thought a decision from the Nationals could come as soon as next week.

The Washington Post's Adam Kilgore has since written that he spoke to someone on Williams' end about Mr. Rosenthal's report :

I haven't confirmed Rosenthal's report from the Nats' end. A person close to Matt Williams says he is expected to get the job.

— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) October 25, 2013

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