On Friday, the Washington Nationals announced manager Dusty Baker would not return. Baker's dismissal came as a shock, given the club had delivered good results over his two seasons.

Now, the Nationals intend to do something else that will qualify as unexpected: asking the Houston Astros to interview bench coach Alex Cora, per Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.

However, it doesn't seem like Cora is all that likely to consider the Nationals opening, per Ken Rosenthal:

That the Nationals want to talk with Cora makes sense. He's a hot managerial prospect, despite having served just a single season on a big-league bench. It's not surprising that Cora wouldn't have interest in the Washington opening though. After all, he's been so tied to the Boston Red Sox gig that his coronation as their new manager has been framed as a matter of "when" and not "if."

You can forgive Cora if he has other things on his mind. The Astros will play the New York Yankees on Saturday night. The winner of that game will advance to the 2017 World Series.