Nationals fire manager Dave Martinez, GM Mike Rizzo amid another losing season

The Guardian

3 days ago

Manager Dave Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo were fired by the Washington Nationals on Sunday, more than halfway through their sixth consecutive losing season since winning the 2019 World Series.
The move came after the Nationals were swept by the Boston Red Sox. They are 37-53, and the only other National League club with a worse record is the Colorado Rockies.
'Our family is eternally grateful for their years of dedication to the organization, including their roles in bringing a World Series trophy to Washington,' owner Mark Lerner said in a statement. 'While we are appreciative of their past successes, the on-field performance has not been where we or our fans expect it to be. This is a pivotal time for our club, and we believe a fresh approach and new energy is the best course of action for our team moving forward.'
Rizzo's time running the Nationals is over after more than a decade and a half. One of the Lerners' first hires when they assumed control of the organization, Rizzo had been GM since 2009 and had president of baseball operations added to his title in 2013.
'He played an instrumental role in leading the transformation of our farm system and building a roster that reached an unprecedented level of organizational success,' Lerner said. 'Mike helped make us who we are as an organization, and we're so thankful to him for his hard work and dedication.'
Senior VP and assistant GM Mike DeBartolo is taking over for Rizzo on an interim basis. Washington has the No 1 pick in the upcoming draft.
'Mike DeBartolo is a smart and thoughtful executive, and we're fortunate to have him as part of our organization,' Lerner said. 'We are confident in his ability to lead the baseball operations staff through these next, important months.'
Martinez became the fourth manager fired since the start of the season after Pittsburgh's Derek Shelton, Colorado's Bud Black and Baltimore's Brandon Hyde.
It was not immediately clear who would succeed Martinez, who last month bristled at a question about how to spread the blame among players and coaches.
'It's never on coaching,' Martinez said in June. 'Never on coaching. Coaches work their (butts) off every single day. We're not going to finger point here and say it's coaches. It's never on the coaches. They work hard. The message is clear. All the work is done prior. So, sometimes, they have to go out there and play the game. It's always been about the players. Always.'
Martinez had never been a manager at any level when Rizzo hired him to replace Dusty Baker before the 2018 season. The Nationals went 82-80 in Martinez's first season and got off to a 19-31 start the following year, leading to some calls for him to be replaced.
But Rizzo stuck with Martinez, and that decision paid off in a big way: Led by starting pitchers Stephen Strasburg, who earned World Series MVP honors, and Max Scherzer, rookie outfielder Juan Soto, young shortstop Trea Turner and a string of veterans — including Howie Kendrick, Ryan Zimmerman and Anthony Rendon — the Nationals won the franchise's first title.
They took a step back in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and then Rizzo began tearing apart the roster, making a series of trades that sent Scherzer, Soto, Turner and others elsewhere.
The reconstruction has continued, without much in the way of concrete progress in the standings to show for it, although the team does have some building blocks that show promise, including starter MacKenzie Gore, shortstop CJ Abrams and outfielders James Wood and Dylan Crews. Gore and Wood are NL All-Stars.
'Nationals fans have a lot to be optimistic about, and we see these changes as a difficult, but necessary move in a positive direction,' Lerner said. 'As has been the case since my late father took control of the team almost 20 years ago, our family remains committed to winning.'
Washington finished fourth or fifth in the NL East every year from 2020 through 2024, never putting together a higher winning percentage than the .438 (71-91) each of the last two seasons. The team is again in last place.
Martinez's full record with the Nationals was 500-622.
'I've always appreciated and admired Davey's passion for the game of baseball and the love he has for his players,' Lerner said. 'Davey's ability to connect with our staff, our players, our fans and our community set him apart. While this chapter has come to an end, we know that it doesn't close the book on what should continue to be a long and successful career in baseball.'