The Washington Nationals, who are currently in the process of replacing Matt Williams, have reportedly been interviewing several candidates in recent weeks. Two prominent names that have surfaced are third base coaches Tim Wallach and Andy Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks, respectively.
About a couple of weeks ago, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo told reporters that the team will cast a wide net as they searched for Williams' successor on the bench. "We're gonna bring in a group of people with diverse backgrounds, diverse experiences, and diverse skill sets," he explained.
The team dismissed Williams on October 5, one day following an unsatisfactory regular season that saw the Nationals, who were an early preseason World Series favorite, win only 83 games, finishing just seven games out of a playoff spot.
Rumors of Wallach's interview surfaced when Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports posted a tweet on Thursday claiming that it had taken place. The 58-year-old has been on Los Angeles' major league coaching staff for five years already, all of them under coach Don Mattingly, who has also been recently fired by the organization.
Wallach spent much of his playing career with the Montreal Expos. Before becoming a bench coach, he coached for the Dodgers in other capacities and also served as their Triple-A manager in 2009 and 2010. During his first season in Los Angeles, he was named the Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year.
The Dodgers are also in the midst of searching for someone to fill in Mattingly's vacated spot. Now that the Nationals are showing interest in Wallach, the Dodgers might have to move quickly if they want to keep him in their front office.
Furthermore, this is not the first time that Wallach has become a prospect by other teams. After the 2013 season, he has also been interviewed for managerial positions by the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers, but lost to Lloyd McClendon and Brad Ausmus, respectively.
As the Nationals continue their search for the teams' sixteenth manager in franchise history, they have also reportedly interviewed Arizona's third base coach Andy Green. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports shared the news on Tuesday and tweeted, "Source: #Nationals today concluded the interview with #DBacks 3B coach Andy Green for managerial position."
Green has held Williams' previous job with the Diamondbacks as third base coach after the latter moved to Washington last year. The 38-year-old was 24th-round pick back in the 2000 NFL Draft and debuted with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2004. He played three seasons there from 2004 to 2006 and participated in four games with the New York Mets in 2009.
