Washington Nationals Fire Dave Martinez and Mike Rizzo
The Washington Nationals’ management announced this Sunday the dismissal of their manager, Dave Martinez, and general manager, Mike Rizzo. This decision marks the end of a significant stage for the franchise, which included the historic World Series championship in 2019. The move comes after a particularly difficult June for the team, with a 7-19 record. This led to an overall record of 37-53, placing the Nationals in last place in the National League East Division. Mike DeBartolo, senior vice president, has been appointed as interim general manager. The club plans to announce the interim manager this Monday. Dave Martínez, who took over in October 2017, is leaving his position as the manager with the most wins in Nationals history, with a total of 500-622. Alongside Rizzo, Martínez led the team to the 2019 championship, after a remarkable comeback that began with a 19-31 start to the season. In the last four years, Washington has undertaken a deep reconstruction, following the departure of key figures like Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, and Juan Soto. Since the 2019 championship, the team has not managed to return to the postseason. The records of the last seasons reflect this situation: 65-97 (2021), 55-107 (2022), 71-91 (2023).Despite having a promising young player base like CJ Abrams, Dylan Crews, MacKenzie Gore, and James Wood, the team has failed to meet the expectations set at the beginning of the season. Although there was a brief rebound at the end of May with a positive tour of Seattle and Arizona, the team once again showed underperformance in June.We are deeply grateful to Mike and Davey for their contributions, especially for the 2019 championship. But we feel it’s time to take a new direction and seek renewed energy that can take us back to competing at the highest level.
Mark D. Lerner
