The Nationals have agreed to a contract extension with general manager Mike Rizzo, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. He had been working under the final year of his existing contract. Rizzo’s new deal will be for three years, per Rosenthal, keeping him at the helm of the Nats through at least 2023.
Rizzo, 59, took over as the Washington GM in 2009, first in the interim before earning the permanent title. During his 11-plus years as the lead decision-maker, Rizzo’s Nats teams have made five postseason appearances, including last year’s famous run to the World Series. Of course, last year’s success largely erased the Nationals’ reputation as playoff disappointments, which they garnered after four NLDS exits (three of which required a decisive fifth game) in a six-year stretch from 2012-2017. The Nationals have an overall 951-867 (0.523) W-L record during Rizzo’s tenure.
Under his leadership, the Nats have drafted stars like Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, and others. They’ve had success in the international amateur market, signing the likes of Juan Soto, Victor Robles, and the emerging Luis Garcia as teenagers.
Furthermore, Washington hasn’t been shy about handing out significant contracts in free agency. The Nats’ starting pitching corps, especially, was built through free agency, with Max Scherzer, Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin earning a combined $595MM in guaranteed contracts from the Nationals on the open market.
Rizzo has been instrumental in guiding the Nationals through tumultuous losing seasons (which allowed the club to acquire talent early in the draft) and elevating the team to contending status, with eight consecutive winning seasons under their belt (though that streak is likely to end this year).
With Rizzo locked up for the foreseeable future, the Nationals will likely turn their attention to another top employee, manager Dave Martinez. Washington holds a $1.2MM club option over Martinez for the 2021 season, which would be Martinez’s fourth as the Nats’ skipper. In fact, the franchise hasn’t had a manager last more than three seasons since Frank Robinson’s five years leading the Expos and Nats.
Davey next??? Or knowing the Lerner’s they’ll try to fire him after this year. Smh.
Perfect. Now sign Davey
Obvious good move, glad to see them not overreacting to this season.
ChangedName, Right on. The challenge for teams this winter will be to not overreact to 2020 results for teams and players, regardless of whether those results are positive or negative.
Smart move from a rival, always have enjoyed the moves he makes both talent-wise and for depth. Scheurholz-esque
Not terribly surprising – Rizzo has done a superb job with the Nats.
Turner wasn’t drafted by the Nationals.
Yep. He was drafted by the Pads in case anyone was wondering.
And acquired as the Player to be named later in the Joe Ross trade although EVERYONE KNEW Turner was the real object of that trade…
Dang league rules!
What’s the benefit of having PTBNL when you can still do it?
The second team to draft him was the Padres.
not to say he’s a bad GM, but where does the blame fall for this year? the fall up is huge.
The blame falls on a depleted farm from years of trying to compete. Add Dunning, Cease, Luzardo, A non shunned Felipe Rivero, etc to their current club and it probably looks a ton better
When was Dylan Cease ever a Nat?
That does not make sense. They won a WS 10 months ago without Dunning, Cease and the rest of those people.
They lost Rendon and it’s a short season. Very small sample size.
There is no blame. The Nats started last season 19-31 and went 74-38 the rest of the way. The 74-38 was the same record as the 106-win Dodgers over that same period. The point is that no team should overreact to the results of a 60-game season. The Marlins, Orioles, and Tigers have had decent runs in 2020, but over the course of 162 wins would all be up around 100 losses.
This season the Nats are better off than they were last season at this time if i am not mistaken… So technically it is an improvement…. technically
But this would be about the time for that under the radar signing, from all those players sitting around doing nothing, that sparks the team till Soto gets back and Eaton remembers he is a baseball player
If you really wanted to place blame, the Nats are 2-12 in games started by Anibal Sanchez (6.48 ERA, 6.20 FIP) and Austin Voth (8.26 ERA, 7.58 FIP). Although Sanchez’s BABIP is .357 and Voth’s is .330 (plus a crazy 19 HR in only 61 combined innings).
But, small sample size and all, plus COVID. I wouldn’t draw too much from this season from any team.
What year did the Nationals draft Trea Turner?
They didn’t.
They bamboozled the Rays and Padres giving up scrublord Wil Myers.
Nats gave up Steven Souza Jr, Rays gave up Wil Myers, Padres gave up Trea Turner
The GM and Manager used to be one position. They created the GM position because if you fire the Manager all the time, it forces the Manager to make short term decisions that hurt you in the long long run. And the GM would serve a longer term than the Manager. You can’t fire team, you fire the Manager.
About damn time
Smart move. If the Nats hadn’t re-uped him, Rizzo would have been out of work for, oh, about a half an hour. Lots of on-the-edge GMs will rest easier tonight.
Nats lost 2 super stars in two years, and still have a competitive core; Trae Turner’s so under-rated it’s criminal. . 2020 is what it is, but they’re still competitive for next year.
Eh he isn’t that special. Go all in on pitching, sign vets past their prime to fill out offense and trade for bullpen help on the fly = Mike Rizzo.
Oh looky, Comedy Hour has arrived.
True… except he’s able to draft talent and sign talent. 8 consecutive seasons of winning is really good!
A true baseball guy gets rewarded.
No GM is perfect. None. Rizzo has made questionable moves as well as moves he didn’t make.
But the overall job he has done has been arguably fantastic. And there have been GM decisions that have been heavily weighed in on by the Lerners as well.
All things being said, Rizzo has been the Nationals and the Nationals are Mike Rizzo.
2019 World Series very likely would not have happened without Mike Rizzo and that’s not to diminish any individual’s contribution.
The Nationals have very much been a reflection of injuries.
19-31 last year was very much tied to no Trea Turner the first couple months. Bringing in players like Parra and Cabrera.
This year has not been terribly different. Rendon was a luxury they could not afford. I think they waited too long on him. I was hoping they’d lock him up when he was looking at Altuve money. Strasburg was an overspend I think. He’s not Max Scherzer in durability or demeanor. I fear the deal may not pay off for the team.
But Castro going down. Strasburg out for the season now. Ross opting out. Injuries take their toll.
But 2020 in a 60 game season can go anywhere. For a time it was conceivable that there may have been a Marlins-Orioles World Series lol.
As it is, the Nats are on the path to getting a top 3 drafting position. We’ve seen what drafting that high has produced before.
Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon. Who knows what 2021 could bring?
Alternatively, the Nats are a small winning streak away from being in a playoff position again as well. Although I don’t see the same magic happening in 2020. This team misses Parra and the baby shark. Although, without fans, not sure how much that matters.
I have faith in Mike Rizzo, Davey Martinez and the Nats. 2021 will be a good year.
Over the years I have been critical of Rizzo. I still think he is the largest rear end in MLB right now, aside from Joe West, which was ironic yesterday. However, Rizzo deserves the extension. He has made some God-awful moves and not made some moves he needed to, so I believe his career has been somewhat based on luck, but that is baseball. If a play works, it is genius and if a play does not work, it was stupid. That is baseball. That is Rizzo. I still will be critical, but he deserves this one and so does Davey.
Rizzo has been GM for 11 years, and he took over when this club was in the midst of a 103-loss season. He had to build a woefully inadequate minor league system, for one.
“Luck”, whatever that is, tends to even out over time, because your talent (or lack thereof) becomes exposed. Anyone can put any GM in *any* sport under a microscope and find bad deals over 11 years. His track record of making great deals is as good as anyone’s since 2009. The fact remains: no Rizzo, no championship. Great GM’s are the single most important cog in the franchise, and Rizzo is that guy for The Nats.