Report: Nationals Fire Matt Williams

The news everyone on the planet was expecting has broken: the Washington Nationals have reportedly fired manager Matt Williams.

Not many managers get fired just a season removed from winning Manager of the Year, but not many managers have seasons as bad as the one Williams just had. The Nationals were supposed to be one of the best teams in the league and a lock for the playoffs, but the team finished 83-79 despite getting an historically great season from Bryce Harper. A lot of the Nats’ problems were the result of injuries, but Williams seemed hell bent on doing everything he could to make things worse.

Williams may have survived if not for the Papelbon-Harper choking incident, which started an avalanche of bad coverage that ended in a Washington Post story detailing how Williams had completely lost the respect of his players. As usual, everything can be blamed on Jonathan Papelbon.

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