Matt Williams has officially been hired to replace Davey Johnson as Nationals manager, with a press conference scheduled tomorrow.
In announcing the move general manager Mike Rizzo said: “He’s been someone on my radar as a potential manager for years.”
Williams has been serving as Arizona’s third base coach under manager Kirk Gibson, but was the Diamondbacks’ third baseman way back when Rizzo was their scouting director.
No word yet on if Johnson’s bench coach, Randy Knorr, will stick around in the same job with Williams after interviewing for the manager gig himself. Williams, who played 17 seasons in the majors and made six All-Star teams before going into coaching, is 47 years old.
UPDATE: Knorr is returning, so the Nationals get their top outside candidate and keep their favorite in-house guy too.