Cool. He picks up pieces here and there, but can't develop players internally so immediately crash from World Series to rebuilding
In Game 7 of the World Series, Zimmerman, Rendon, Soto, Robles, and Turner all made major league debuts with the Nationals after coming up through the system. Yan Gomes, Asdrubal Cabrera, Howie Kendrick, Daniel Hudson, and Adam Eaton were all acquired through prospect trades. Only Corbin, Dozier, and Scherzer were pure FAs. In Game 6, Strasburg was a Nats draft pick and Doolittle was acquired via trade.
Rizzo owns the last couple years and everything going to hell. You can't blame the Farm System in 2022 on trades in the late 2010's. It was a valid excuse in 2020 and somewhat 2021, but not now. The talent dried up and prospects still around didn't develop. Something went wrong over the last couple years and whatever changes were made last offseason were too late. I have dozens/hundreds of posts venting about talent acquisition and development went to crap past couple years, but from 2009 until 2019, Rizzo oversaw a system that graduated homegrown starters and talent acquired from moving prospects.
As much as he gets blame for the last couple years, he also gets credit for taking over a team on its way to back-to-back 100 loss seasons and turning it into an annual playoff contender and World Series champion.
