In an offseason of MLB surprises in regards to hiring new managers, teams are certainly moving in unconventional directions. And the Washington Nationals followed suit in naming a manager with no prior MLB managerial experience. In fact, the Nats new manager had no prior MLB experience. The Nats went for a successful minor league manager, just 33 years of age, as their new full-time manager, the eighth in Nats’ history. Blake Butera‘s name will be etched in Nationals history alongside with Frank Robinson, Davey Johnson, Dusty Baker, and Dave Martinez. None of them inherited a Nats’ team close to the 66-win team that Butera now has the control of.
Some could argue that Robinson took over a 68-win Expos team and in his first year added 15-wins which is accurate. That was the Expos. We are talking about Nationals’ history. Johnson took over mid-season in 2011 of a 40-38 Nats’ team. Baker got an 83-79 team and a great offseason of signings to manage one of the most talented teams in Nats’ history in his first season in 2016. And Martinez took over after Baker left in 2017. In 2018, Martinez received a mostly intact 97-65 team, and was the only aforementioned manager to move backwards in his first season. But to give credit, Martinez was the only Nats’ manager to win a World Series — so there’s that!
Unfortunately for Butera, he isn’t getting a finished product like Johnson, Baker, and Martinez inherited. But nobody expected Johnson’s 2012 team to win the NL East crown or a record-setting 98 games. Some feel the only way for Butera is up. There are expectations to win more than 66 games — but no expectations of turning this into a winning team in 2026.
Give time to Butera and President of Baseball Operations, Paul Toboni, for them to get this right. Many feel the Nats have to take a step back to rebuild this season. But can’t you rebuild and move forward at the same time? Yes, you can. The Nats will once again qualify for the MLB Draft Lottery after the 2026 season. Whether baseball is in a lockout with an expiring CBA is a story for another day.
The future holds so many unknowns. We don’t know much about Toboni or Butera past their résumés, and their scripted words they have told us. Today, we get many more words.
It was on October 30 when news broke that Butera was picked as the next manager of the Washington Nationals. He was also at the hospital with his wife, Caroline Margolis, as their first child was being born that very day. Now 19 days later, Butera spoke at his press conference, and spoke about team culture, analytics, and even his age that came up in a few questions. Many of the same parts of Toboni’s talks with the media could be heard in what Butera said about the culture, analytics, family, data, coaching, accountability, fundamentals, relationships, people — and of course, finding that extra gear for the players.
So no, you shouldn’t be surprised that a former minor league manager with extensive player development experience in Tampa’s system, Butera, was picked to be the Washington Nationals new MLB manager. Is this a risk for Toboni? Yes. It is a risk — but a calculated risk.
“This place is on its way to building something special, and I knew that from day one. … I believe that true leadership is built on real relationships. … All of that begins with accountability.”
— Butera said today
“We’re going to be fundamentally strong. … Make sure there are [coaches] here that will help players reach their ultimate potential.”
Butera, 33, will be the youngest manager in MLB in 53 years since Frank Quilici managed the Twins, the former Washington Senators. Butera is just two months older than Bryce Harper. In Butera’s four seasons as a minor league manager in the Rays organization, his teams had an impressive 258-144 record, and that included two Single-A championships in the two years he managed that team in the Carolina League. Add Butera’s experience at the top of Tampa’s player development system and you have a unique combination to become a first-time MLB manager.
For some, age is but a number. A person’s chronological age should not define their abilities, potential, or worth. What they have accomplished should matter more.
“I think more than anything, we have some young, exciting players. I’ve been in touch with a number of them to date, and they’re fun to watch. And I’ve told many of them, while I haven’t had the chance to reach out to everyone, I’ve told many of them, and I really believe it, I think there’s another gear to tap into with many of them.”
— Toboni said after he was hired talking about that extra “gear”
“So many of these [young Nats players] have such great skill sets. Now, it’s up to me to hopefully place the support around them where we can tap into another gear for them. But at the same time, it’s up to them to hold themselves accountable — and hold each other accountable — to reach each of their own potentials.”
The extra gear is how you get more with the same personnel. When you consider you are taking some of the same players and trying to get more positive output, that is what makes teams better when you progress and not regress. It is this need to progress to the original potential.
This roster was begging for a manager who could get more out of the young players with the strong top prospect backgrounds. You know, players like James Wood, Dylan Crews, Brady House, Daylen Lile, Robert Hassell III, etc. They were all Top-100 prospects with the exception of Lile. And of course at different times, Wood and Crews were the №1 prospects in all of baseball.
“To Paul’s vision, right, and believing in his process as we build this thing out and start with the foundation. There’s already a really impressive group of young talent in the building right now.”
— Butera said during his press conference today
“As I mentioned, I think they’re really good right now, but I think there is another gear they can get to. And part of our job as we build out our staff is to make sure that we surround them with [coaches] that are going to help them to hit that second gear. And I think it’s a really good group already, and I’m pretty excited about what’s already in this clubhouse.”
And Butera comes from a Tampa system that was always known for drafting to their strengths and enhancing that through great player development and coaching up those players.
The Tampa Bay Rays have always been in the bottom half of payroll for their Major League talent and sometimes last. They have been to the World Series in this “spend” era of baseball with one of the lowest payrolls and accomplished that with Butera inside their system.
In Toboni’s world, age isn’t a factor if you have the résumé and fit his culture as Toboni said that he wants to have, “the right people in the building that can not only drive the process that we want but then also create the culture that we want.” He went on to say, “Not necessarily just a culture around winning, but a culture where people value the right things and they’re dependable — and they’re humble and they work their butts off. I think it took a bit of time to develop it in Boston, but we were patient and pretty disciplined with how we built out our staff, and I think it started to pay off in the long run.”
In 2015, Butera, at 5’9 and 170 pounds, was drafted in the 35th round of the MLB Draft as an infielder out of Boston College by Tampa. He was a four-year starter at BC and graduated with a degree in communications. While at Boston College, Butera set the school record with the most walks in their history with 112 walks. He was also voted the team captain as a senior in 2015. Pete Frates of the Ice Bucket Challenge was on the Boston College staff when Butera played there. Butera played with former Nats’ Donovan Casey, and Jake Alu took Butera’s place on the roster the season after Butera graduated in 2015.
“Blake’s drive and vision have always stood out. He’s not only immersed himself in the details of player development, but he’s learned how to motivate and connect with young talent. Blake has always taken full advantage of any opportunity he has been given, both as a player and a coach. This incredible opportunity will be no different.”
— said Greg Sullivan, Boston College assistant Baseball Coach, in an exclusive interview
“He has always had an incredible emphasis on fundamentals, accountability, and growth. I expect him to make the Nationals and the entire organization better every single day. He’s not just inheriting a roster; he’s inheriting an opportunity. The talent is there. With Blake in charge, the process now has purpose.”
Butera’s minor league career only spanned two years then he stayed with the Rays and went into coaching with great success. The Rays promoted him to minor league assistant field coordinator in 2023, and most recently to senior director of player development in 2024.
Butera also has coaching experience at the international level, serving as bench coach for Team Italy under Mike Piazza in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and he was the quality control coach for Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Winter League as well as a coach for the Perth Heat of the Australian Baseball League. One story that surfaced in the Blake Butera presser was from Toboni who said that Piazza called him to recommend Butera for the job. Toboni referred to that as an “aha” moment in his pursuit of trying to find a manager.
It was in 2018, Butera, then 25, was named the manager of the Hudson Valley Renegades and led that short-season Single-A club to the first of two consecutive first-place finishes in the New York-Penn League. He was promoted to manager of the Single-A Charleston River Dogs in 2021 and led that team to back-to-back Carolina League titles, with an 88-44 record in 2022.
How impressive is Butera’s curriculum vitae (CV)? Find someone else who accomplished that much at this young of an age. Oh, sure, Paul Toboni. Seriously though, the people that Toboni is hiring have extensive backgrounds with big accomplishments at young ages. The fact that Butera lived the life in the minor leagues and transitioned to coaching and then to a field coordinator position and finally to a senior director of player development says so much.
These seem to be steps in the right direction. You have to start somewhere, and why not go this route with such a young team to have their manager come from a background of developmental success. Toboni has a lot riding on this decision to hire Butera. This is not a move you see often, but the Los Angeles Rams hired a 30 year old head coach, Sean McVay, and five years later he was the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl.
Again, Butera needed a bench coach who will complement him — not compliment him, and he chose Michael Johns for that position. They worked together in the Tampa system. And while age shouldn’t matter, Johns is nearly two decades older than Butera. You hope there isn’t too much groupthink here because you want to make the best decisions in critical situations with games on the line during real baseball games.
In Tampa’s system after Butera was drafted, he was teammates with Nathaniel Lowe. Butera and pending free agent, Michael King, were teammates for 2 seasons at Boston College. In his youth, Butera grew up in Madisonville, Louisiana, a New Orleans suburb, and might have some Cajun flair that will endear him to Crews and Cole Henry as LSU guys.
Blake’s father, Barry, played baseball at Tulane and went on to play three seasons for the Pawtucket Red Sox. Blake’s older brother, Barry Jr., also played baseball. At his presser today, Blake spoke about his father coaching him and his brother when they were young.
There will be parallels we start to see as we learn more going forward. This is the honeymoon period. Soon, he will have an MLB record — and that is ultimately how Butera will be judged.
To make the Butera hire successful, you have to surround him with great coaches. With Johns hired as his bench coach, and Simon Mathews as his pitching coach, we await the final pieces there, then everything will shift focus to the 26-man Opening Day roster as we are only 129 days to that point in time when the games count for real.
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