Matt Williams to become new Nationals manager

Washington, DC (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Williams will reportedly be the new manager of the Washington Nationals.

Fox Sports and the Washington Post have reported that Williams is the choice to replace Davey Johnson, who retired following the 2013 season.

Williams, who played 17 seasons as a third baseman with San Francisco, Cleveland and Arizona, has spent the past four years as a coach with the Diamondbacks.

His lone managing experience came with Salt River in the Arizona Fall League last year.

However, Williams does have a working relationship with current Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo. Rizzo was Arizona's scouting director when Williams was playing for the club.

Williams won a World Series title with the Diamondbacks in 2001, then wrapped up his career two years later. He was a career .268 hitter with 378 homers and 1,218 runs batted in over 1,866 games.

A five-time All-Star and a four-time Gold Glove winner, he led the NL in home runs with 43 during the strike-shortened 1994 season and four times drove in more than 100 runs.

Williams was a member of San Francisco's 1989 NL championship team and also played for Cleveland's 1997 AL title squad in his lone season with the Indians.

The 47-year-old Nevada native was also named in the Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. He told the San Francisco Chronicle that he tried human growth hormone in an attempt to recover from an ankle injury.