Mike

Rizzo

The Nationals currently sit in the cellar of the National League East with an uninspiring 37-53 record. Since winning the World Series in 2019, Martinez’s Nationals hadn’t done better than 71-91 in a full season. Martinez finishes his Nationals stint 500-622. Assistant general manager Mike DeBartolo is expected to take over as the acting general manager on an interim basis. No word yet on who will replace Martinez in the dugout. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that the Nationals partially made this move because they did not want to pick up an option year on Martinez’s contract for 2026 and were concerned about having a lame duck manager. Stay tuned.

The ping pong balls came through for the Nationals as they secure the top selection in next year’s MLB Draft after having just 10 percent odds of landing the first overall pick. Washington hasn’t picked first overall since taking Stephen Strasburg (2009) and Bryce Harper (2010) in consecutive seasons. Oklahoma prep shortstop Ethan Holliday — son of former Rockies star Matt Holliday and brother of Orioles top prospect Jackson Holliday — and Texas A&M outfielder Jace LaViolette are among the top candidates for the first-overall selection next year. The biggest movers were the Mariners, who went from the second-lowest odds at less than one percent, jumping all the way to the third pick. The Marlins, who came into the lottery tied with the Rockies for the best odds to secure the first pick, fell all the way to seventh. Here are the complete lottery results: (1) Nationals, (2) Angels, (3) Mariners, (4) Rockies, (5) Cardinals, (6) Pirates, (7) Marlins, (8) Blue Jays, (9) Reds, (10) White Sox, (11) Athletics, (12) Rangers, (13) Giants, (14) Rays, (15) Red Sox, (16) Twins, (17) Cubs, (18) Diamondbacks.

“We have determined, our family has determined, that we are not going to sell the team,” Lerner told The Washington Post. The reversal comes roughly two years after the family announced they would begin an exploratory process to sell the team.

Haas most recently worked in the Diamondbacks scouting department, but he also made stops with the Orioles and the Red Sox. He’ll join a scouting department which is undergoing major changes, including the departure of international scouting director Johnny DiPuglia. Amid all the changes, the Nationals recently general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez to extensions.

It took quite a bit longer than expected, but a deal got done. What leverage Rizzo seemed to have when things opened up with the White Sox disappeared when they chose to stay in house. Rizzo, the Nationals’ GM since 2009, brought a world championship to D.C. in 2019. The team has struggled since, but if he was the right man to preside over the rebuild that saw Juan Soto, Max Scherzer and Trea Turner get shipped out, then he deserves the chance to see it out.

The timing of DiPuglia’s departure raises some eyebrows since the Nationals have yet to finalize a long-term contract extension with general manager Mike Rizzo. DiPuglia has served as assistant general manager since 2019 and has been with Washington since the 2009 offseason after working with the Red Sox for nearly a decade.

Rizzo has been at the head of Washington’s baseball operations department for the last 14 seasons and helped craft the 2019 World Series championship squad. He’s now officially back for a 15th season next year.

The family of Nationals owner Ted Lerner, who purchased the team 16 year ago, have reportedly “begun the process of exploring potential changes in the club’s ownership structure, including the possibility of selling the team.” This would certainly be a massive shift in the NL East landscape, but it doesn’t sound like there is a specific timetable for the process to play out in Washington.

Rizzo added that it will “certainly” impact the Opening Day roster, as five close contacts are now in quarantine following the team’s chartered flight from West Palm Beach to Washington. One of the close contacts is a staff member and the other four are players. All four (or five?) of the players will be unavailable for Thursday night’s game against the visiting Mets, though Rizzo said there’s no talk of postponement.