The Washington Nationals waved an early white flag on their season by firing manager Dave Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo last week. A move Ken Rosenthal bashed in a bold rant about the club’s ownership randomly caring all of a sudden.
There is no denying that since the Nationals won their first and only World Series title in 2019, they have been downright bad. In the six seasons since, they have had a losing record every year, including four 90 or more loss campaigns. They are likely to have another in 2025, with the club at 53 losses as we near the All-Star break.
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So, the decision to fire Martinez after eight seasons and Rizzo after 16 was not completely shocking. Popular MLB insider Ken Rosenthal believes the firings were justified after the last six years. However, in a post for the Foul Territory podcast, he laid into the club’s ownership for their lack of accountability since they played a sizable role in the franchise’s fall from elite status.
“This is a major upheaval, one week before the draft. Less than a month before the deadline. The Nationals’ record this season, and the law six is horrible,” he began by saying. “I know Rizzo did some things in the front office a couple of years ago to try and improve their player development and international and amateur scouting. But those failures go back more than a decade. These moves don’t come without some justification.
Washington Nationals record (2020 to 2025): 325-443
“The problem here is that the issue starts a the top. When Mark Lerner made a statement to announce these dismissals, he made no mention, of course, of ownership’s culpability,” Rosenthal added. “How they used to run top 10 payrolls and no longer do. Part of it also is this ownership has been indifferent. They’ve been apathetic. They’ve been disconnected, and then all of a sudden, they wake up? It’s just odd. Odd timing overall.”
The Lerner Family had put the franchise up for sale a few years ago. However, in February of 2024, they took the team off the market. Yet, they have not made a serious investment in the roster over the last half-decade. And it has shown in the product on the field.
Washington Nationals fans will surely hope the Family’s sudden renewed interest will be a sign of a major change of strategy in how they run the franchise going forward.
