Davey Johnson is a proven winner

June, 25, 2011

6/25/11

1:58

PM ET

By Jim Bowden | ESPN.com

The Washington Nationals will soon make it official that Davey Johnson, 68, has agreed to terms on a contract through the 2012 season with a club option for the 2013 season. However, Johnson is not expected to take over the helm of the club until Monday in Los Angeles when the Nationals visit the Angels.

Johnson won 90 games six different times in his career, with first-place finishes in 1986, 1988, 1994, 1995 and 1997 -- including a world championship with the Mets in '86. Johnson last managed in the big leagues in 2000, when he was fired after finishing in second place with the Dodgers.

This past week has been surreal for me, as two of my favorite managers that I ever had the opportunity to work with in Jack McKeon and now Davey Johnson have been hired again to manage in the big leagues, which means in all probability that Lou Piniella and Bob Boone can’t be far behind. The senior citizen movement is back in Major League Baseball, and the game is better for it.

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

Jim Bowden

Bowden, who served as the senior vice president and GM for the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals, is an analyst for ESPN.com. In 1992, Bowden became the youngest GM in MLB history when the Reds hired him at age 31. The Reds finished in first place twice during his 10 years as GM, and he was named MLB Executive of the Year by Baseball America in 1999. After working for ESPN in 2004, Bowden became the first GM of the Washington Nationals when the franchise relocated from Montreal to Washington, D.C., in 2005, working in that role until the 2009 season. Bowden co-hosts the "Inside Pitch" radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio. Follow on Twitter: @JimBowdenESPNxm.