Dusty Baker Named Manager of Washington Nationals

Dusty Baker hasn't been an MLB manager since 2013, but he will once again be on the bench after being named the manager of the Washington Nationals  

The Nationals confirmed the decision on Tuesday, and it was a shocker, considering Bud Black appeared to have the position wrapped up.

On Monday, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported the Nationals changed their minds and reached out to Baker to offer him the job. Heyman added:

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Nats people were said to be leaning toward Baker by late Sunday, though by that point multiple reports suggested the job was already Black's. Black was given an offer several days ago, but word is, it was a very lowball bid, and the sides had been going back and forth since Thursday. ...

Baker is seen as someone who can handle superstars, so he'd fit with the Nats, who have arguably baseball's best player in Bryce Harper. Baker previously managed Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa with much success.

The team had keen interest in Baker from the start, so it was surprising they went to Black at one point.

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Prior to taking the Nationals job, Baker was linked to the Miami Marlins manager position, with Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reporting on Sept. 22 the Marlins were tabbing Baker to be the successor to Mike Redmond, who they fired in May. 

Baker, 66, joined Turner Sports as a studio analyst for TBS' MLB playoff coverage on Sept. 15.

In a recent interview with Awful Announcing's Andrew Bucholtz, Baker spoke about the state of the game and how someone with his throwback philosophy still has relevance:

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[Baseball]'s changed a lot, with the overall philosophy of how the game should be run, with the sabermetrics, the changing of the guard so to speak, and those that are in charge. There's less baseball people in charge and more businessmen in charge. But there's still a spot for guys that played the game. If you didn't play the game, you may know the game, but you don't see things in advance like we see things. The whole thing about being prepared is you can be prepared, but you also have to have forethought and anticipation and feelings on what you feel may happen. 

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It almost sounds as though Baker was trying to justify himself as a managerial candidate to a degree.

Baker is an old-school personality known for getting along with players, but he hasn't made it out of the first round of the playoffs since 2003. 

Based on the influence analytics and sabermetrics have had on pro baseball, a known commodity like Baker with little recent success may not be the best candidate to pitch to fans.

Note: Managerial records courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.