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The Washington Nationals have been among the most downtrodden franchises in Major League Baseball in the 2020s. They may have won the World Series in 2019, but every season since has been a disappointment. The Nationals have not lost fewer than 91 games in a full 162-game season over that span. In July of 2025, principal owner Mark Lerner had seen enough. Mike Rizzo, who had run baseball operations for the Nats since the 2011 season, was fired – along with the team’s manager since 2018, Dave Martinez. The organization appointed interim replacements in those roles for the remainder of the 2025 season, but neither was retained in his role at season’s end. Lerner’s first order of business this offseason was hiring Paul Toboni as president of baseball operations. Toboni, 35, is now the youngest leading executive in a major league front office. In 2025, he worked as assistant general manager and senior vice president of the resurgent Boston Red Sox. Once Toboni was appointed, it was his job to decide who the new manager of the team would be. Toboni was looking for a manager who would be responsive to his ideas, while also not being combative with him as a young executive. When the dust had settled, Blake Butera was named as the new skipper in D.C. Butera, 33, will be the youngest major league manager in over 50 years. Most recently, he had been the senior director of player development for the Tampa Bay Rays. Butera made history at 25 years old in 2018, when he was named the youngest manager of a minor league team in history. It’s clear that Toboni and Butera are bright, innovative baseball minds that hope to reset the Nationals’ franchise. Ownership was willing to make a big change and lean into scouting and analytics heavily in their leadership positions. But just because Toboni is a young executive, he didn’t have to hire an even younger manager. Butera Is a Unique Managerial Hire The youngest full-time managerial hire of this century was now-Detroit Tigers’ manager A.J. Hinch, who at 35 led the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010. The D-backs had a 31-48 record under Hinch, before he was fired mid-season. It’s safe to say that Butera will get a longer leash in his first stint as manager, given the low expectations for the Nats’ 2026 campaign. Butera will need to rely on his fellow coaches and front office executives heavily in year one. If Washington is able to hire a bench coach with meaningful major league experience, that should help Butera assimilate into the clubhouse more easily. The Nationals are a young team, but they will still roster players that could be of a similar age to Butera. Trevor Williams is the only player on the current roster that has reached 33 years of age, but the team could sign a couple of veterans in free agency. A paramount task for Toboni and Butera in spring training will be to find common ground with the club’s veteran players. If an understanding of expectations between all parties can be reached early on, that should help to facilitate a successful operation. Fortunately for Butera, success doesn’t have to be winning in year one. If he is fostering strong relationships with the young Nationals players and helping them improve, he will have succeeded in his role. Improving the Current Nationals Rizzo had a lot of success while running the Nationals organization. Washington finished with a winning record in every season from 2012-19. He nailed some franchise-changing moves, like signing Juan Soto and Max Scherzer. Unfortunately, there aren’t as many positive takeaways from his operations in the 2020s. Since 2013, the team’s only first-round draft picks to make the majors are Erick Fedde, Carter Kieboom, Jackson Rutledge, Cade Cavalli, Brady House, and Dylan Crews. By bringing in Toboni, who helped orchestrate an excellent turnaround to Boston’s farm system, and pairing him with a Butera, a leader in player development, the team hopes to get much more production out of the draft. Over the past five seasons, seasons where the Nationals have scuffled, the Red Sox and Rays have been premier organizations for developing homegrown talent. Butera is likely going to get an extended leash to help the remaining young players from Rizzo’s era develop alongside those that Toboni acquires. If everything goes according to plan, the Nationals organization will receive contributions from many players that did not sign lucrative deals in free agency. Perhaps Crews and House will be greater contributors as a result of Butera’s tutelage in year one. Ultimately, the hope is that highly-ranked prospects like number-one overall pick Eli Willits will develop into impactful big leaguers. If the Nationals can accumulate many valuable, controllable pieces, they are likely to sustain winning. The Verdict The Rays, Butera’s former employer, are a model organization for baseball operations. Tampa Bay is relevant on a yearly basis, while consistently maintaining a low payroll. Butera held a key role within that organization at a young age, which means that he was likely to be a key part of a dugout or front office eventually. The fact that Butera stood out amongst a group of prospective managers, including those with experience, should tell us how much Toboni believes in his vision. The Nationals could have hired an experienced manager. However, I respect the fact that they went against the grain and tried something unusual. If this experiment leads to success, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see other teams follow suit in poaching player development coaches as major league managers. For a first-time manager, success often relies strongly on the investment of ownership and cunning moves between the margins by the front office. Butera can only manage the team that he’s given, and that team isn’t supposed to be relevant in 2026. Clearly, Butera is a special leader and communicator to have been named manager of any professional team at 33. Since the Nationals have performed so dreadfully, a drastic change in voice could be what this group needs to improve.
