Rizzo and Davey Canned

[PowerBoater69]

navigated the ownership group.

Forgot to add, "those SOBs. Even the Stras resigning was behind my back."

Yeah, that's an interesting one. I've never bought into the claims that the Lerners re-signed Strasburg over Rizzo's objections, but the answer to that question sure paints Rizzo's legacy one way or the other.

[tomterp]

Why now?

Instead of sooner?   There was no point in waiting until later, the team's a train wreck.

[IanRubbish]

This literally made my day.

As a 49ers fan, I cheered against them in 2016 because they were a dysfunctional train wreck like this team and change had to come.  I celebrated the day they fired Trent Baalke and Chip Kelly.  Everyone thought they'd have issues as long as Jed York was the owner, but three years later they were in the Super Bowl. 

I get that the owner is still an issue, but Rizzo and Davey were so awful, and the culture so toxic, that some improvement is possible even within this regime.  The disrespect to fans of constant defensiveness "we've done this before", "the Pirates might have fired their manager, but they haven't won a WS since We Are Family", "It's never on the coaches".  These two fools were so long past their due date.   Yay!!!!!!!!

[imref]

Grant Paulson says davey’s option for next year would have to have been picked up next week. Thinks the rizzo firing was either not wanting him to handle the draft or dysfunctional ownership given the trade deadline and draft. Says it wasn’t a situation where Rizzo didn’t want to fire Davey and so they fired Rizzo too. Ownership made the decision to fire both.

[Mattionals]

Also hey guys! Long time no see. I don’t really watch baseball anymore I must admit. Riding high on my OKC Thunder winning the title though.

Nice to hear from you! It's been hard for me to get back to watching games ever since the pandemic. I feel like I'm tuning in more lately though.

[imref]

I assume they wanted Rizzo to fire Davey and he declined, that's the only thing that really makes sense for the timing.

paulson said he’s been told that’s not the case. Ownership decided to fire both.

[Smithian]

Learners screw this up
Davey should have been fired last year. Rizzo did amazing things with what the team gave him

Rizzo left the Farm System in disrepair by end of 2010’s and it can’t all be blamed on contending trades.

Rizzo did a good job from 2022 trade deadline restocking farm system, beyond only Soto trade, but this past offseason major league additions were an abject disaster. And he no longer had the goodwill to ride it out.

June required punishment.

[IanRubbish]

There's a possibility of having a real catcher sometime soon now that the pressure to play Keibert's contract is gone.  Maybe develop a bullpen for next year that's at least top 25 (my Nats fan low expectations kicking in there), maybe actually put the best players out there everyday instead of GM or manager favorites.

Hickey and Darnell still need to go, but they're Davey's friends and hard to see a competent permanent manager keeping them.

[Mattionals]

There's a possibility of having a real catcher sometime soon now that the pressure to play Keibert's contract is gone.  Maybe develop a bullpen for next year that's at least top 25 (my Nats fan low expectations kicking in there), maybe actually put the best players out there everyday instead of GM or manager favorites.

Hickey and Darnell still need to go, but they're Davey's friends and hard to see a competent permanent manager keeping them.

I doubt we see a full manager hire mid season. That's going to be weird for the rest of the year. Same goes with GM. I'm holding out hope it's a final way to get the FO and Coaching money off the books for a sale.

[tomterp]

So who's going to manage Tuesday, Matt Lecroy? 

He already made Frank cry, isn't that enough?

[IanRubbish]

Rizzo told Svrluga "“That’s the job. I had a great run. Navigated that ownership group for almost 20 years.”

Definitely felt like he did manipulate them for a long time, and earned points for being their mouthpiece after the '21 salary dump.  He was great at playing the Lerners, but awful with actual baseball decisions.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/07/06/dave-martinez-mike-rizzo-fired-nationals/

[CoryTheFormerExposFan]

I read that contract language stated Davey and likely Rizzo’s 2026 options had a deadline in July to be picked up.  There’s your explanation for the timing.

This was it…really is obvious.

[imref]

So who's going to manage Tuesday, Matt Lecroy? 

He already made Frank cry, isn't that enough?

Yellow Tux Jesse.

[IanRubbish]

So who's going to manage Tuesday, Matt Lecroy? 

He already made Frank cry, isn't that enough?

The guy in the Teddy Roosevelt costume or the Bat Boy would be upgrades over Davey.

[PowerBoater69]

So who's going to manage Tuesday, Matt Lecroy? 

He already made Frank cry, isn't that enough?

I was there for that one. Sat in Red Hot & Blue for the first couple innings while scoping out empty seats, then moved down behind third. Chances are I drank a Red Hook.

[IanRubbish]

Franny also needs to go.

I missed much of today's game, but can't take him anymore.  Listened to the NESN feed for the last two innings and Lou Merloni sounded like Vin Scully compared to Franny.  The Lerners love their propaganda pushers, but if they want to show just an iota of goodwill to fans, Franny has to go when the new broadcast channel is setup after the MASN deal ends.

[IanRubbish]

Yellow Tux Jesse.

His philosophy of "fans first" won't work with the Lerners.

[IanRubbish]

I doubt we see a full manager hire mid season. That's going to be weird for the rest of the year. Same goes with GM. I'm holding out hope it's a final way to get the FO and Coaching money off the books for a sale.

Yeah, we might be stuck with Hickey and Darnell for the rest of the year. 

Sale won't happen until someone makes an offer close to $3 billion, which could be awhile.  Rays might set a better comp though than the Orioles did a few years ago.

[Mattionals]

Yeah, we might be stuck with Hickey and Darnell for the rest of the year. 

Sale won't happen until someone makes an offer close to $3 billion, which could be awhile.  Rays might set a better comp though than the Orioles did a few years ago.

I'm being optimistic. Very optimistic.

[varoadking]

Best comment I've seen about this:

Somebody’s mom complained about playing time or position!

 

[para]

Ding Dong the Gm and Manager are gone. Now the buck stops with Mark Lerner, not his dad or the late manager and gm

[IanRubbish]

Look at Rizzo's 1st round picks since 2016 if you want a real reason Rizzo is gone. I still think Crews will work out... but otherwise it's embarrassing.

Rizzo's a dinosaur who drafted on man crushes for speed and big arms.  Baseball talent or creative strategy never were part of his thinking.  He was an inward focused organizational guy who survived by manipulating foolish owners, not by getting results.

His career is over.  He might be an assistant to the deputy director of bs'ing the media somewhere, but he's done with any role that requires real responsibility.  Same with Davey.

[para]

Davey will catch on with another team as coach or manager based on his WS Ring and if he wants to. As far as Rizzo, he will be on some MLB podcast as an "Expert".

[PowerBoater69]

Davey will catch on with another team as coach or manager based on his WS Ring and if he wants to. As far as Rizzo, he will be on some MLB podcast as an "Expert".

Yeah, there are jobs out there for them. But not necessarily with the same salaries or control that they had here.

[IanRubbish]

Ding Dong the Gm and Manager are gone. Now the buck stops with Mark Lerner, not his dad or the late manager and gm

He needs his next mouthpiece to have no baseball responsibility, kind of like Stan Kasten.  The family tradition of putting pennies first, bs'ing the press second, and fan experience falling somewhere after the expense report approval process won't change.  But this is a win nonetheless.