The Washington Nationals are set to name former San Diego Padres manager Bud Black as the club's new manager, reported by James Wagner of the Washington Post.
It is said that Black will become the team's sixth manager in club history once the hiring is made official.
As Major League Baseball is not big on major announcements during the World Series, the club is holding off on an official announcement which may not come until the following week after the conclusion of postseason play.
The news comes after a few weeks of speculation as many names were built up as potential candidates for the job. With Blacks's name being one of many thrown in that mix, he is one that the Nationals were highly considering given his successful past, having welcomed him back for a second interview earlier in the week.
As far as commenting goes, Nationals GM Mike Rizzo was not available to speak out with regards to the expected addition.
Black previously spent eight and a half seasons in San Diego prior to being let go midway through the 2015 season. The Padres went with Pat Murphy, the manager of the club's Triple-A affiliate, to take over for the remainder of the 2015 season.
The Padres had gotten off to a disappointing start, with a 32-33 record, forcing Black out the clubhouse doors as he was no longer able to hold a team together and help provide wins.
Over that span of time Black spent in San Diego, he held a 649-713 record but never ended up reaching the playoffs with the team.
One thing that Bud Black was good at, however, was composing a starting rotation. As noted by James Wagner of the Washington Post, he held a strong reputation around the league for handling a pitching staff alongside his abilities to communicate with the players with his easy-going personality, which the club must have seen fade over time.
In 2010, Black was named the National League's Manager of the Year ahead of another potential candidate for the Nationals managerial position, former Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker.
Prior to landing a job in San Diego, Black was the Los Angeles Angels pitching coach under the management of Mike Scioscia for seven years, which included a World Series championship back in 2002.
Matt Williams was fired back on October 4th after a disappointing end to the 2015 season, which had to do partially with the fact that he had no prior managing experience. General manager Mike Rizzo was forced to conduct a deeper search for someone with more experience who he believed could lead this particular club, which is when he came across Black who Wagner notes was instantly seen across baseball as a top candidate because of his personality and skills.
Washington interviewed a total of seven potential candidates for the managerial position after having set their focus more on veteran coaches, all of which has past experience in the minor league's other than former Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire who was among the short list as the club had him back for a second interview.