Nationals 3B coach Bo Porter hired as Astros manager

The Houston Astros will officially name Nationals third base coach Bo Porter as their next manager Thursday morning, per Ken Rosenthal at FOX Sports.

Because the Nationals are playoff-bound, Porter will remain with Washington until the end of the team's playoff run, whenever that may be. When Porter does take over, will be charged with the difficult task of turning around baseball's worst team in their inaugural AL season following consecutive 100-loss campaigns.

Porter has no professional managerial experience, but is in his sixth year as coach of a major-league club. He is currently in his second year coaching third base for the Nats, following a year in the same position with the Diamondbacks and three years with the Marlins. Previously, Porter was a finalist for the Pirates' managerial job in 2010 and was twice in the running to manage in Miami.

The Astros interviewed several candidates over the last two weeks to fill their open managerial position, and had reportedly narrowed it down to four front-runners earlier this week: Porter, Red Sox bench coach Tim Bogar, Rays bench coach Dave Martinez and interim Astros manager Tony DeFrancesco.

DeFrancesco has managed Houston since the team fired first-year manager Brad Mills on Aug. 19. It is unknown at this time whether DeFrancesco will retain a position with the organization following this season.

This story was originally published on BaseballNation.com.