Williams on his first year at the helm, what's ahead for 2015

Since he was named Nationals manager on Oct. 31, 2013, the recently completed Winter Meetings marked a milestone in Matt Williams' tenure at the helm: He's been through a full annual cycle of life as a major league skipper.

It's not as easy as writing down names on a lineup card every day during the season or fulfilling the role of engaging tour guide, as Williams did Friday afternoon at Nationals Park for some lucky MASN "Word of the Day" winners. Those are the kind of activities the fans see, but they hardly comprise all of a manager's duties.

For example, Williams said last week at the Winter Meetings in San Diego that he's already planned out every minute of the Nats' spring training drills - even though the club doesn't report to Viera for camp until mid-February. He did the same thing every year, so it's obvious that planning is important to the field boss. And now he's got a template to work off of.

Williams' first year was a whirlwind, from running his first spring training as a major league manager to benching star outfielder Bryce Harper in April for not running out an infield grounder to winning 96 games and a National League East crown. Williams had to change closers when rock-solid Rafael Soriano started treating the ninth inning like batting practice. He also weathered relentless criticism for pulling starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann with a 1-0 lead in the ninth inning of National League Division Series Game 2, only to watch Drew Storen blow the save and see the Giants win in 18 innings.

Oh, and don't forget that he won an NL Manager of the Year Award, no small achievement for a guy who had never managed at the big league level.

He's faced a lot in his first year. Then again, most managers' rookie seasons are no walk in the park on a Sunday afternoon.

At the Winter Meetings, Williams was asked about how different things are now that he has a full campaign under his belt.

"Well, I think ... this year is a whole lot of speculation and rumor coming in, even more than last year," he said. "There's a lot of that. But it's better because I know everybody, all the scouts that we're dealing with, I know them for a year now and it's easier to communicate with them, talk to them about their feelings on players or guys they saw this year or whatever it is. It's more comfortable."

It's impossible for a major league skipper to live in a bubble. Even if he pays it no mind, he can't escape the constant swirl of rumors and speculation that encompasses every team. There are trade targets, free agents, minor league phenoms, contract negotiations. It's a daily grind that can swallow up even the most hardy of baseball souls.

That's where Williams' 17-year career plays - and plays in his favor. Anything his players have dealt with, he's probably dealt with, too. He was a rookie once - all the way back in 1987 - and had to establish himself as a major league player. He's already weathered losing streaks and enjoyed winning streaks (though the 10-game binge in August that cinched his pledge to reprise his spot-on impression of Babe Ruth's home-run trot if the Nats ran off 10 in a row remains unfulfilled but not unforgotten). He's dealt with intense scrutiny and appeared in every round of the playoffs, including three World Series.

"It's a fun process, though," he said. "It's an interesting process to be a part of. And you get a chance to understand the inner workings of all of it. And at the same time trying to do what you can to be competitive with your own team next year. It's fun."

Most of all, Williams is - just as he was as a player - comfortable in his own skin. This isn't always as easy as it seems. Lots of guys with extensive experience as a player and/or coach wilt under the spotlight when they get in the manager's role. Some are unprepared. Some change their whole being, often trying to be something they aren't.

Instead, Williams appears to have gotten the Nationals organization to adapt around him - no small challenge. He's become the Nationals' face and, more importantly, their voice.

"Oh, I have as much say as anybody else in the room would have," he said. "Ultimately, if anything is ever done, it has to make sense for your team. Not only near-term, but long‑term. So from a manager's perspective, I just want to be able to go out there with the guys and compete every day. And we as an organization do whatever we can to ensure that that's the case on an every day basis, whether it's opening day 2015, '16, '17 and beyond."

Ultimately, he wants the same thing he wanted as a a player: to win. Maybe he can't win 'em all, but he'll try to win as many as he can. That's the single motivation that drives Williams every day and frames every action he takes.

"That's our objective," Williams said. "And I think that's a group objective, a team objective. I'm not worried about how ‑ what kind of team we're going to have because I know everybody is on the same page. As it stands right now, we've got a wonderful team and can be competitive on an everyday basis and that's all we care about."

And he doesn't see the Nationals' window closing, despite some hard decisions facing general manager Mike Rizzo on guys like starting pitchers Doug Fister and Zimmermann, shortstop Ian Desmond and reliever Tyler Clippard, all of whom will be free agents after the 2015 season.

"I don't know about whether the window is closing," he said. "I think that we have opportunity. That's how I look at it. I look at the opportunity to be competitive again. We certainly want to get back to where we were last year with an opportunity to play meaningful games in September, October and go further and have a chance to win it. So that's what we hope for. I know that the team that we have - certainly minus Adam (LaRoche), who was a big part of it - has the ability to do that on an everyday basis. Our team can compete. We have to do things right, of course, to get to where we want to go.

"I don't look at it as something closing, I look at it as potentially something opening."