Matt Williams

One year after Matt Williams was named National League Manager of the Year, the Washington Nationals announced Monday they've fired Williams after a disappointing 2015 season that saw the team miss the postseason with an 83-79 record:

Max Scherzer's expression tells the story of the Washington Nationals' 2015 season.

Just when it seemed like things couldn't get any worse for the Nats—the biggest disappointment in baseball—they did. A lot worse.

Jonathan Papelbon made sure of that on Sunday, when the volatile closer incited a dugout brawl with Bryce Harper by trying to choke out the best player in the bigs.

It is done. At last.

The inevitable seemed to drag out longer than anyone truly wanted it to, delaying what everyone knew was coming, which was jubilation on one side and a hint of finality about to set in on the other.

The New York Mets clinched the National League East title Saturday, hammering the Cincinnati Reds early at Great American Ball Park to ensure about an hour into the game that the celebration would be commencing soon.

With the Washington Nationals' disappointing season winding down, the future of manager Matt Williams will be one of the hot topics for the franchise.

Continue for updates.

Nationals GM Vague on Williams' Future

Wednesday, Sept. 23

Speaking to 106.7 The Fan in Washington, D.C., Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo did not give Williams a vote of confidence:

The most heralded, touted and celebrated team before the season started has used the first four-plus months of it to become easily the most disappointing.

On the surface, Matt Williams and Buck Showalter have a lot in common: They're both former corner infielders (though Showalter never cracked a big league roster), they're both managers of Beltway-based clubs and, now, they're both 2014 Manager of the Year winners.

The Baseball Writer's Association of America announced the 2014 Manager of the Year awards Tuesday evening, as Matt Williams of the Washington Nationals won in the National League and Buck Showalter of the Baltimore Orioles won in the American League.    

Here are the National League voting results:

And here are the American League results:

First-year manager Matt Williams guided the Washington Nationals to a 17-game triumph in the National League East in 2014. It was a major turnaround for the talent-laden squad and was enough to earn the longtime third baseman National League Manager of the Year honors.

Major League Baseball passed along word of Williams' honor:

Scott Miller of Bleacher Report passed along the final voting:

As the baseball industry awaits the first big transaction of the offseason—sorry, Adam Lind for Marco Estrada doesn't exactly get the juices flowing—the focus shifts temporarily to another matter, the individual awards.

Until there's a major move either in the free-agent market or on the trade front, the chases and races for MVP, Cy Young, Manager of the Year and Rookie of the Year hold our attention.

The relationship between former Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson and outfielder Bryce Harper was highly scrutinized by the media this past season.