The Washington Nationals are changing managers … again.
The team announced Friday that Dusty Baker will not return as manager in 2018. Baker spent the past two seasons as Washington’s skipper, guiding the club to back-to-back National League East titles.
The Nationals won 95 and 97 games in 2016 and 2017, respectively, but they were eliminated from the Major League Baseball postseason in the NL Division Series both years. The Nats lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games last season and to the Chicago Cubs in five games this season.
Baker has managed four organizations — the Nationals, Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants — since retiring as a player. He’s never won a World Series as a manager but is a three-time NL Manager of the Year.
Baker’s dismissal is somewhat surprising since Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said earlier this month that he expected the veteran manager to return in 2018.
Now, the Nationals must search for a new manager, continuing an all-too-common trend since the franchise (previously the Montreal Expos) moved to Washington in 2005.
Baker’s contract expired at the end of this season.
Thumbnail photo via Patrick McDermott/USA TODAY Sports Images
