Fire Blake Butera!

[imref]

Meet our new Manager: 33 year old Blake Butera, managed in the Rays farm system. 258-144 record. Took over as the Rays senior director of player development in 2023.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Blake_Butera

Youngest MLB manager in 50 years. Was 25 when he started as a minor league manager. 2 years of minor league experience as a player. 2022 Carolina League manager of the year in 2021 and 2022.

[Lintyfresh85]

Sounds like a home run hire - smart to poach from the Rays whenever possible

[Smithian]

Meet our new Manager: 33 year old Blake Butera, managed in the Rays farm system. 258-144 record. Took over as the Rays senior director of player development in 2023.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Blake_Butera

Youngest MLB manager in 50 years. Was 25 when he started as a minor league manager. 2 years of minor league experience as a player. 2022 Carolina League manager of the year in 2021 and 2022.

I personally was hoping Nationals would go for an older hand, but this young guy certainly has a solid resume. I like he has managed minor league teams.

Hoping to see fresh faces in the pitching and hitting coach slots.

[imref]

We'll see what happens but he seems to be a good fit for a young team though he doesn't have the cred / reputation that a more established manager would bring to the table. FWIW, John Schneider also worked his way up through the minors.

[Natsinpwc]

I like a young guy and someone from the Rays organization. Don’t need a retread just for sake of experience. And any good seasoned manager would want no part of the organization at this time.

[Kevrock]

Sounds like he’s young and smart. Hard to judge minor league managers because their are all about development and so much of a game plan is scripted (innings limits, etc) ahead of time. But much more intrigued by him than I would have been with an MILB manager from our own organization, lol.

I like the idea that we’re getting really bright minds from very good developmental organizations that can bring established analytical and developmental practices to the Nats.

[blue911]

Sounds like he’s young and smart. Hard to judge minor league managers because their are all about development and so much of a game plan is scripted (innings limits, etc) ahead of time. But much more intrigued by him than I would have been with an MILB manager from our own organization, lol.

I like the idea that we’re getting really bright minds from very good developmental organizations that can bring established analytical and developmental practices to the Nats.

Well the easiest way to get ownership to invest in technology is to show you know how to use it.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Sounds like he’s young and smart. Hard to judge minor league managers because their are all about development and so much of a game plan is scripted (innings limits, etc) ahead of time. But much more intrigued by him than I would have been with an MILB manager from our own organization, lol.

I like the idea that we’re getting really bright minds from very good developmental organizations that can bring established analytical and developmental practices to the Nats.

Well the easiest way to get ownership to invest in technology is to show you know how to use it.

Given the youth of the Nats, I think a guy with development background from a solid organization who seems adept at translating the numbers to on-field players is a good way to go. I also like that he's outside the Red Sox organization so there's some cross-fertilization.

Big test will be how Crews and, to a lesser extent, House and Wood, improve. Getting House to MLB average bat, Wood back to his 1st half, and of course making Crews look like a high draft choice comparable to the rest of the top 5 his year will determine how our top-end is down the line (I'll add CJ as long as he's here, but I don't think you can coach his fielding).

[Count Walewski]

Poaching from the Rays is a great strategy. Those guys know how to build a good team on a budget.

[varoadking]

Poaching from the Rays is a great strategy. Those guys know how to build a good team on a budget.

Budget would seem to be the key to this hire as well, so it fits...

[imref]

The new Orioles manager approves of the hire:

My guy!!! Elite human, friend, husband, and teacher. I hope the rest of the league is ready for this impact. I’m proud of you brother.

[imref]

Full ESPN story:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/46770026/sources-nationals-finalizing-deal-name-blake-butera-manager

Butera's experience extends beyond the Rays, who drafted him in the 35th round in 2015 out of Boston College, where he played four years and served as team captain. He played two seasons in Tampa Bay's minor league system before transitioning to coaching and spent a year as quality-control coach for Leones del Escogido in the Dominican Winter League as well as bench coach for Team Italy in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

With fluency in advanced metrics and the detail-oriented approach that has made Rays employees coveted by other teams, Butera was regarded in the industry as a future manager. His combination of managerial and player-development experience appealed to the Nationals, whose hiring of Toboni, 35, gave them the youngest head of baseball operations as well.

[Kevrock]

But will his press conferences satisfy WNFF?

[imref]

https://www.federalbaseball.com/washington-nationals-news/87118/making-of-manager-blake-butera-became-washington-nationals-manager-33-years-old

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Davey Johnson knew how to hammer out horseshoes

Well the easiest way to get ownership to invest in technology is to show you know how to use it.

[Slateman]

Poaching from the Rays is a great strategy. Those guys know how to build a good team on a budget.

If the intention is to run this team like the Rays, then Im gonna drop the team. No point in rooting for a team that has no interest in postseason success.

[blue911]

Davey Johnson knew how to hammer out horseshoes

Yep. My best technical skill is shaking pinball machines

[imref]

Nussbaum and Golden are posting about what they are hearing so far about the hire:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Nationals/comments/1ok6hab/we_cover_the_nats_heres_what_were_hearing_about/

The early consensus is that this is a great pick. One former colleague of Butera told us this is the hire he would've made if he was in Paul Toboni's shoes. Two former colleagues said he was a terrific communicator and bridge between the front office and the players. One of those people told us: “He has experience translating metrics and data to players from different backgrounds and ages. Perfect for this diverse roster.”

Across the baseball industry, the sense is that this move will be a positive change for the Nationals, who have struggled to play clean baseball in recent seasons. Some in the game believe Butera will offer a major shift from the previous regime led by former manager Dave Martinez. Butera comes from a Rays organization that is known for a focus on the fundamentals — a characteristic that some believe Martinez and his staff didn’t hammer home enough in recent years. Washington routinely ran into outs on the bases this season and had ill-advised mental errors on defense.

We also asked about the lack of experience — Butera is 33, after all, and his managerial experience is with the lower-level affiliates. The response we got: Tampa surrounded him with veteran coaches when he took started managing (at 25!) in their system. Personally, I wouldn't be shocked to see Washington take a somewhat similar approach, though Toboni (35 himself) has not shied away from young hires throughout.

[Natsinpwc]

If the intention is to run this team like the Rays, then Im gonna drop the team. No point in rooting for a team that has no interest in postseason success.

Well they’ve been running the team like the Pirates. So this would be a step up.

[Slateman]

Well they’ve been running the team like the Pirates. So this would be a step up.

Nah, running a team like the Guardians, Rays, or Brewers is the worst place for a franchise to be. Accepting being pretty good while never once striving for a championship is the worst place to be in sports.

[imref]

Nah, running a team like the Guardians, Rays, or Brewers is the worst place for a franchise to be. Accepting being pretty good while never once striving for a championship is the worst place to be in sports.

Well, we once had Matt Williams, and it seems that if him and Butera ever touched, the world would explode. And that was when we were committed to spending for a championship. So maybe things will be better with the opposite?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

My sense is that, absent a sale of the team, the only way the budget goes up to push beyond the Rays/Brewers/Guardians approach to constructing a team is when the Nats get to that level first. If Toboni and Butera get Crews, Wood, etc... up to that level, then there may be a chance they'll put money in.

[welch]

Butera is young? Bucky Harris was 27 when Clark Griffith made him manager of the Nationals in 1924. That World Series, he out-managed the great John McGraw, bamboozling McGraw by starting a right-hander in Game 7, causing McGraw to start a LH future Hall of Famer, Bill Terry, while having a southpaw worm up under the Griffith Stadium grandstand. When McGraw replaced Terry with a right-handed huitter, Bucky countered with a pair of right-handers. The final righty was Walter Johnson, just as a later Nats manager had one of his startinh pitchers throw relief in Game 7.

Nothing wrong with a young manager.

[blue911]

Butera is young? Bucky Harris was 27 when Clark Griffith made him manager of the Nationals in 1924. That World Series, he out-managed the great John McGraw, bamboozling McGraw by starting a right-hander in Game 7, causing McGraw to start a LH future Hall of Famer, Bill Terry, while having a southpaw worm up under the Griffith Stadium grandstand. When McGraw replaced Terry with a right-handed huitter, Bucky countered with a pair of right-handers. The final righty was Walter Johnson, just as a later Nats manager had one of his startinh pitchers throw relief in Game 7.

Nothing wrong with a young manager.

Given Griffith’s reputation, he probably did to not have to pay for a manager

[Smithian]

Don't we have enough "ownership is cheap" threads?