Now that you've had a day to chew on it, how do you feel about the beginning of the Matt Williams era?
In his introductory press conference Friday, Williams sure sounded the part of a 21st-century major league manager, as forward-thinking and embracing of the advanced metrics now frequently used to dissect baseball as he was respectful of the game he loves and true to his deep, traditional roots.
He seemed to say all the right things, but that's by design. After all, introductory pressers...
New Nationals manager Matt Williams' coaching staff will remain largely intact.
Only bullpen coach Jim Lett, who began his Nationals tenure under Jim Riggleman and remained on Davey Johnson's staff after Riggleman resigned, will not return. Lett will be replaced by Matt LeCroy, the former major league catcher who has managed at several levels of the Washington organization, most recently at Double-A Harrisburg.
The return of bench coach Randy Knorr, who had been a candidate for the job that...
New field manager Matt Williams made a point during his opening introductory news conference to say how thankful he was that current Nationals players Ian Desmond, Tanner Roark and Jayson Werth were in attendance.
Williams said he was struck by a conversation he had with Desmond before the introduction to the media. Desmond told Williams he wanted to work a little bit harder. Williams said he was all for it.
That symbolized what kind of player Williams was - the marine, the Carson Crusher,...
Matt Williams has been around professional baseball for 27 years. He played 17 years in the big leagues, spent a few years getting a different perspective on the game when he worked as a Diamondbacks broadcaster and has been a part of Arizona's coaching staff for the last four seasons.
Williams has seen pretty much everything there is to see in pro baseball. His knowledge of the game is vast. But there is one aspect of Williams' resume that is lacking as he takes the newest leap in his...
General manager Mike Rizzo will introduce Matt Williams to the Washington media and Nationals fans tomorrow at 2 p.m. live on MASN HD. But this afternoon, Rizzo hopped on a conference call with reporters to discuss his hire of Williams as the Nats' next manager.
Rizzo said that the Nationals had "a number of highly qualified candidates" inquire about their managerial opening in the last few weeks. But in the end, the organization went with the 47-year-old Williams, a five-time All-Star...
Matt Williams, former third base coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks, was introduced Friday as the fifth manager in Nationals history, taking over for the retired Davey Johnson.
Williams played 17 seasons as a third baseman with the Giants, Indians and Diamondbacks, playing in a World Series with each team. His only ring came in 2001 with the Diamondbacks. He is the only player in history to hit at least one home run in the World Series for three different teams.
Other nuggets about Williams'...
Former Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman and coach Matt Williams was named manager of the Washington Nationals on Thursday.
Bob Baum, an Associated Press writer based in Phoenix who covers the Diamondbacks, remembers Williams as a player for Arizona.
"I covered him since he was a player in his first year," Baum said. "He is a classic old-school baseball type guy. He is very straightforward. I like that he was always straightforward with us, no baloney.
"He is exceedingly honest and to...
Randy Knorr might not have gotten the Nationals' managerial job, but he will return as the team's bench coach next season. And Knorr says he's thrilled to be back in that role.
Knorr, who had been one of a handful of candidates to interview for the Nats' managerial vacancy, finalized his deal to return as bench coach today, he said. General manager Mike Rizzo and new Nationals manager Matt Williams both reached out to Knorr last week and let him know they hoped he would take the bench...
The Boston Red Sox are 2013 World Series champions, and with another season wrapping up Wednesday, the Nationals officially announced that Matt Williams is their new manager.
The official statement came from the Nationals on Thursday morning. With the announcement came the news that Randy Knorr would be continuing his role as bench coach.
In case you missed the news, we'll have you covered here on MASNsports.com each Friday with top news from the Nationals.
Here are some other headlines...
The World Series is in the books. The Boston Red Sox are your 2013 champions, bringing an end to quite an entertaining Fall Classic that left us with no shortage of dramatic plays and close calls to discuss around the water cooler.
The Red Sox were the most complete team in the postseason, and they earned the title. It marks quite a turnaround from a disastrous 2012 season and is yet another reminder that you never know what's going to happen in this game.
In case you missed it, we also got...
Now that the World Series is over, the Nationals can make it official: Matt Williams has been hired as their new manager.
Williams, 47, becomes the fifth full-time manager in Nationals history. The team made the announcement late this morning, and Williams will meet with the media tomorrow afternoon during a 2 p.m. press conference that will be televised live on MASN HD.
"I feel privileged and honored to be a part of this team," Williams said in a statement. "It's a wonderful group of...
The Washington Nationals today announced the hiring of 47-year-old Matt Williams as their field manager. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.
This is the first big league managerial position of Williams' coaching career. Williams joins the Nationals organization after spending the previous four seasons on Kirk Gibson's coaching staff in Arizona, the last three as Diamondbacks' third base coach.
"Matt has a wealth of knowledge...
The Nationals will not have a Gold Glove winner this season.
Center fielder Denard Span and shortstop Ian Desmond, both named as finalists for Rawlings Gold Glove Awards at their respective positions, came up short in the voting.
It was announced tonight on ESPN2 that Milwaukee's Carlos Gomez won the Gold Glove for best defensive National League center fielder, while Atlanta's Andrelton Simmons took home the award among NL shortstops.
It's the first Gold Glove award for both...
Fans didn't have a say in how the Rawlings Gold Glove Award voting turned out, but if you'd like, you can place your vote for what's called the
Even with the way the Nationals underachieved this season, following up a 98-win campaign and a National League East title in 2012 by winning just 86 games and missing out on the postseason this year, there is a sense held by most around the game that the Nats are still a team on the rise.
A good portion of the roster from the 2012 season is still in place. The starting rotation is headlined by three pitchers 28 years old or under (Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez and Jordan Zimmermann), all of...
It's too bad the World Series hasn't been more entertaining through its first four games.
All we've seen so far is a game end on an obstruction call (which had never happened before in the postseason), a game end on a pickoff (which had never happened before in the postseason), Jonny Gomes hit a game-winning homer after learning 90 minutes before first pitch he'd been inserted into the starting lineup, David Ortiz posting a Fall Classic OPS of 2.114 (even with him being robbed of a grand...
The first, and most significant, task the Nationals had to complete this offseason is all but done.
Matt Williams is in line to become the Nationals' next manager, something that should become official shortly after the World Series comes to an end.
Not surprisingly, the hire has created quite a discussion among many fans, some of whom like the decision made by the Lerner family and general manager Mike Rizzo, and some of whom wanted to see the Nats go in another direction.
In reality,...
They got the call right.
I hate the fact that a World Series game ended with a controversial call by the umpires, but the important thing is that the correct call was made.
The issue last night, and this morning, and going forward, should be that Jarrod Saltalamacchia made a poor decision to throw down to third after the initial out at the plate, and also made a poor throw.
If he holds the ball in that situation, we get a Koji Uehara-Pete Kozma matchup with two outs and runners at the...
The Nationals announced this morning that three players - Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper and Adam LaRoche - underwent "successful" surgery this week. All three guys are expected to be ready for the start of spring training.
Strasburg underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow on Friday. The procedure was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles.
Strasburg is scheduled to resume his throwing program in four to six weeks and is expected to be ready for...
The Nationals likely won't make an announcement on who has been hired as their next manager until after the World Series has come to an end, but they've already made their selection.
The Nats plan to hire Diamondbacks third base coach Matt Williams to replace Davey Johnson as their new skipper, a source familiar with the situation confirms.
FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal was first to report the expected hire.
In addition to hiring Williams, the Nats will try to keep Randy Knorr on as...