Nats' Henley, Bogar draw managerial interest

October 17th, 2019

WASHINGTON -- Members of the Nationals’ coaching staff have begun to draw interest from teams looking to fill the seven managerial vacancies across MLB.

Third-base coach Bobby Henley recently interviewed with the Padres, a source told MLB.com on Thursday morning. First-base coach Tim Bogar, meanwhile, has received attention from the Mets, although it is unclear if he has interviewed or has an interview scheduled. MLB Network insider Jon Heyman was the first to report the interest in the Nats’ staff.

The Angels hired Joe Maddon on Wednesday, but with seven more clubs still in need of someone to run their dugout, it’s no surprise they have targeted the staff of a team headed to the World Series. Aside from dismissing pitching coach Derek Lilliquist earlier this season and replacing him with Paul Menhart, there hasn’t been any more turnover in manager Dave Martinez’s staff -- though bench coach Chip Hale did interview for the vacant Orioles’ job last winter -- providing stability in the dugout that the Nats have rarely experienced from year-to-year.

Henley is one of the longest-tenured members of the organization, one of the few holdovers from when the franchise moved to Washington from Montreal. He managed in the Minors from 2003-2009 before becoming a field coordinator and eventually the Nationals’ third-base coach in 2014, a job he has held under three different managers.

Henley also works with the club’s outfielders, especially their young left fielder Juan Soto and center fielder Victor Robles. Soto has rapidly improved his defense and Robles is already one of the best defensive outfielders in baseball at age 22.

Bogar has some experience as a big league manager -- 22 games as the interim Rangers manager in 2014 following Ron Washington’s resignation -- and as a bench coach, but he has spent the most time as a manager in the Minor Leagues, where he was named manager of the year three times (2004, ’05 and ’06). He has been a part of the Rays -- where he formed a bond with Martinez -- Red Sox and Mariners organizations, before joining the Nationals in 2018.

In addition to his duties as first-base coach, Bogar works with the Nats’ infielders and is in charge of defensive positioning, an area the Nationals do not use aggressively. They shifted on just 14.3 percent of plays this season, 27th in baseball, even though their defense ranked 18th in defensive runs saved (-2) in MLB.