Sunday afternoon, the Washington Nationals fired their longtime general manager and president of baseball operations, Mike Rizzo, and manager, Dave Martinez. The release from the team confirmed that senior vice president and assistant general manager Mike DeBartolo will serve as interim general manager. They also confirmed that an interim manager will be named Monday.
Rizzo has been with the Nationals since 2007. He transitioned from an assistant general manager to general manager in 2009. Rizzo notably signed starting pitcher Max Scherzer, traded for shortstop Trea Turner, and traded outfielder Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres in a massive deal which should set the Nationals up terrifically for the future. Of course, he constructed the team that won the organization’s first World Series in 2019.
Under his guidance, he brought the Nationals to the playoffs for only the second time in franchise history and the first time since 1981 in 2012. During his tenure, the Nationals made the playoffs five times, but they haven’t made the postseason since they won the World Series in 2019.
Meanwhile, Martinez took over as manager in 2018 after serving as the Chicago Cubs’ bench coach during their World Series-winning season. Over his eight-season tenure with the team, they went 500-621. The Nationals made the playoffs once with Martinez at the helm, however, in that season, as mentioned, Washington won the first World Series in organization history, defeating the Houston Astros. Martinez is eighth on the organization’s all-time win list.
The move to fire Rizzo comes just a week prior to the 2025 MLB June Amateur Draft. The Nationals currently own a 37-53 record this season, which is last in the National League East and is the fourth-worst in all of baseball.
