Dusty Baker: "Can't wait to get started!"

The journey to find the next Nationals manager seemed like a smooth ride, but eventually ended with heavy turbulence and a bumpy landing. Did the process expose further problems that interfere with success inside the Nationals organization? Certainly, there are concerns. But did the Nats eventually come away with the exact man to change the culture and lead a return to the postseason? Without a doubt.

"Blessed and thankful to be back in the dugout for (the) Nationals and work for this first class organization," Baker tweeted Tuesday night. "Can't wait to get started!"

Baker will have more than 140 characters to expound on his thoughts on taking over a Nationals roster boasting the likes of Bryce Harper when the new skipper meets the media on Thursday at a press conference that will be carried live on MASN at 11 a.m.

"Good ol Dusty," Harper tweeted yesterday. "Welcome to D.C., skip. Let's make some history. #DCorNothing"

Harper, who led the National League All-Star vote and is likely to win his first NL Most Valuable Player award in two weeks, gains a skipper in Baker who has managed superstars like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr. and Joey Votto.

With the Mariners firing Lloyd McClendon after the season, baseball was left without an African American manager in the majors. Baker was outspoken on the issue last Friday when he thought he had lost out to Bud Black on the chance to manage the Nationals.

"How many teams are willing to accept what we have to offer? We've got something to offer," Baker told the San Francisco Chronicle. "How much respect do they have for my knowledge and expertise and wisdom over the years? There's a certain thing called a life experience degree. There used to be.

"I get tired of talking about it. We should be talking about another issue at this point in time. We're talking about the same thing we were talking about 40 years ago."

When Baker managed the Giants in 2002, he was one of eight African American managers. Now he becomes the lone black skipper in the big leagues. The Dodgers still haven't filled their managerial vacancy.

"If that's not backwards, I don't know how much more backwards we can go," Baker said to the Chronicle.

Baker is the third minority to serve as Nationals manager joining Hall of Famer Frank Robinson and Manny Acta.

"I am certain that the Nationals, like all of our clubs, hired the best person for the job," Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred told The Associated Press. "It is encouraging that in this case the best person turned out to be African American. This is a positive step and I am intent on making continued progress on diversity in the managerial ranks going forward."

Meanwhile, back to the debacle of hiring a manager. Former Nationals GM Jim Bowden, appearing on SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio yesterday, said he wasn't surprised a deal fell apart with Bud Black over money. He recalled the managerial search following the 2006 season.

"The Lerner families have a history of this," Bowden said on SiriusXM. "When I was the GM there, Joe Girardi was the selection of the baseball people there, a recommendation by me. The ownership was not willing to pay Joe Girardi what was fair, so Manny Acta was the manager, and that was the guy who ended up running the team."

As Bowden points out, the issue with not paying Black becomes more perplexing when you consider the Nationals had the sixth-highest payroll in the majors last season.

"Now it's hard for me to fathom, when you pay Max Scherzer $210 million and you don't have enough to pay the manager," Bowden said. "They didn't pay Matt Williams, OK? They didn't pay Davey Johnson, Jim Riggleman. They don't want to pay the manager for whatever reason. I don't quite understand it, but it is what it is. Now it was interesting to see that Ted Lerner was actually quoted on this one. This is not normal here. He came out and, if you read the release from the club, he said Baker was the 'best fit.' And then you read Mike Rizzo's quote, which is, we all look forward to working with Dusty Baker. Right? The GM didn't come out and say the 'best fit.' Bud Black was a great fit because of the pitching.

"Bud Black is great with pitchers. He did an unbelievable job in San Diego. Look what happened to the Padres after he left, and there is a better team there now than when Bud managed it. Bud won the one-run games. Bud knew how to run a bullpen, and a rotation and how to develop pitching, which is what the Nationals need. That's what Bud does! This was a no-brainer decision. Pay him, get on with it!"