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.

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With their 96th win on Wednesday night, the Atlanta Braves clinched their sixth consecutive National League East title. Atlanta needed every game they could get last season to beat out the Mets down the stretch, but with their 4-1 over the Phillies last night they put the division to bed with 16 games left. The 2023 Braves have become the second quickest to do so as they clinched this year’s division in just 146 games, only being beat out by the 1969 Braves, according to Justin Toscano of Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The Mets won the third game of a four-game set against the Arizona Diamondbacks by a score of 7-1 on Wednesday. Joey Lucchesi dazzled in his first major league start in nearly a month, as he went seven strong innings while only giving up one unearned run on five hits. The Mets’ offense piled on early as they were able to get to Cy Young contender Zac Gallen; Pete Alonso‘s three early RBIs gave the Mets an early lead and Mark Vientos put the cherry on top with a sixth-inning home run.

The Mets will look the win the series Thursday as Kodai Senga (10-7, 3.07 ERA) takes on the Diamondbacks’ Merrill Kelly (11-6, 3.16 ERA).

Latest Mets News

Prior to last night’s game, the Mets announced that they were recalling Lucchesi from Triple-A Syracuse and optioning Sam Coonrod back to Syracuse. 

Brett Baty left last night’s game against the Diamondbacks before the top of the seventh inning with left groin soreness. According to Tim Healey of Newsday, Baty will go for medical imaging tomorrow.

The Mets announced that Citi Field will host the first ever Dominican Winter League (LIDOM) series, which will between rivals Los Tigres del Licey and Las Águilas Cibaeñas. The matchup is between two of the most winningest team in the league, with the Tigres winning their 23rd championship last season and the Águilas winning their 22nd championship in 2021. The series will take place in Queens on the weekend of November 10-12. 

Latest MLB News

Texas Rangers general manager Chris Young announced that Max Scherzer will be missing the rest of the regular season with a teres major strain. Young also mentioned that it is “unlikely” that Scherzer returns for the playoffs, as they put the former Cy Young award winner on the 15-day IL. This news follows the former Met having to leave previous starts with forearm tightness and other “arm fatigue” issues, which adds to the mounting injury issues he has dealt with the last couple of seasons. The 39-year-old still has one more year left on his deal with the Rangers as he agreed to exercise his player option for the 2024 season when he was dealt from New York to Texas at the trade deadline.

Wednesday morning, the Washington Nationals announced that they have agreed to a multi-year extension with their president of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo. Rizzo has been with the Nationals organization since 2006 and is in his 15th year as president of baseball of baseball operations, after taking over in 2009. This comes less than a month after the Nationals extended manger Dave Martinez‘s contract for two more seasons with a club option for 2026, keeping the leadership that brought them to a World Series championship in 2019 in tact despite some recent down seasons.

Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker told reporters that Sandy Alcántara’s MRI revealed that he has a UCL sprain, per Jordan McPherson of Herald Sports. This announcement comes just a week after it was announced that Alcántara was place on the 15-day IL with a right forearm flexor strain. Schumaker wouldn’t commit to a return for the former Cy Young award winner but did say, “watching him throw is a good thing. It’s a progression. We’re going to watch it every day and go from there.”

The Cardinals announced that veteran starting pitcher Adam Wainwright will be performing a live concert at Busch Stadium during his final home weekend, per Derrick Goold of the St Louis Post-Dispatch. The stalwart of the Cardinals staff for the better part of 15 years will be retiring at the end of the season; despite a disappointing season for both him and the Cardinals, he will be part of the Cardinals Hall of Fame in short order. The postgame performance will take place on September 30, after the Cardinals’ matchup against the Reds. Wainwright will perform some of his new songs along with a firework performance. 

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Gino DeCaro helped remember Metsmerized Online founder Joe DeCaro on his birthday.

Metsmerized Online‘s twitter is giving away a DJ Stewart signed rookie card.

Chris Bello looked at José Butto‘s latest push to make the 2024 rotation.

On This Date in Mets History

2020: Steve Cohen comes to an agreement with the Wilpon and Katz families to purchase the Mets. The reported value of the deal was $2.42 Billion, and the completion of the deal would make Steve Cohen the richest owner in MLB. 

1996: Mets’ catcher Todd Hundley broke the record for most home runs hit in a single season by a catcher as he logged his 41st homer of the year, passing Roy Campanella. Along with that, the home run gave Hundley the Mets franchise record for most home runs in a season, which would then be tied by Carlos Beltrán in 2006 and broken by Pete Alonso in 2019 with 53 home runs.

Birthdays: Chad Bradford (49), Mike Draper (57)

The post Morning Briefing: Braves Clinch Sixth Consecutive NL East Title appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

After weeks of speculation, star outfielder Juan Soto has rejected a contract extension from the Nationals. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the offer was for 15 years and worth $440 million, and reportedly is Washington’s third offer in recent months. The average annual value of $29.33 million over the life of the contract would have been the 20th-highest in the league’s history.

Even with the Nationals owning the worst record in MLB at 30-62, the news of Soto possibly getting traded comes as a surprise to many. Nationals GM Mike Rizzo said last month that the team had no interest in trading Soto and that he was seen centerpiece that the team would rebuild around. Soto is set to hit free agency after the 2025 season, and the Nationals will likely have a sky-high asking price for the young star. He will still only be 26 years old when he becomes eligible for free agency.

The 23-year-old superstar came up as a 19-year-old in 2018 and has raked ever since he stepped foot on an MLB field. For his career, Soto is hitting .292/.427/.560 (160 OPS+) with 117 homers, 108 doubles and 21.0 rWAR while drawing 452 walks against 406 strikeouts. Soto finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 and has finished in the top 10 in MVP voting three straight seasons, including a second-place finish in 2021. He won a World Series in 2019, the batting title in 2020, and is a two-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger.

Even in a bit of a down year in 2022, Soto paces MLB with 79 walks in 385 plate appearances (20.5% walk rate) against just 54 strikeouts, and he’s hit 19 homers and 17 doubles while racking up 3.4 rWAR in 87 games. He’s also off to a red-hot start in July, hitting .417/.596/.889 with five homers and 21 walks against just four strikeouts in 52 plate appearances.

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