Report says Nationals will fire Matt Williams after season

By Josh Land

Nationals

October 02, 2015, 11:27am

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The odds of Matt Williams returning as Nationals manager in 2016 have continually dropped over the past two months as Washington lost hold of the division lead before eventually realizing playoff elimination with eight games still remaining in the season.

According to a report from CBSSports.com, the Nationals' brass has already determined Williams' fate. Jon Heyman writes that Williams "will indeed be given his pink slip following the year."

In fact, Heyman adds that Williams' "firing was a surety even before he missed, then mishandled a dugout choking incident" between Nationals star Bryce Harper and veteran closer Jonathan Papelbon.

The Nationals announced at the start of spring training that they had picked up the 2016 option on Williams' contract. That was coming off a 2014 season where Williams guided the Nats to a National League East crown and the best record in the league in his first year as a manager in the majors.

But this year, the Nats faltered down the stretch, going just 38-44 over the last three months and dropping as far as 9 1/2 games out of first place.