The Washington Nationals are finalizing a deal to hire Blake Butera as manager and make him the youngest person to hold the job in the majors in more than half a century, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
At 33 years old, Butera will be the youngest manager since the Minnesota Twins hired Frank Quilici in 1972, according to ESPN Insights.
With their rebuild since a 2019 World Series win stalled, the Nationals fired general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez in July. Former Boston Red Sox assistant general manager Paul Toboni was hired in late September as president of baseball operations to replace Rizzo, and Washington's search for a manager landed on an unlikely candidate in Butera.
Previously the senior player development director for the Tampa Bay Rays, Butera has managed four minor league seasons -- the first at 25 years old -- and compiled a 258-144 record with four first-place finishes. In his final two seasons with Low-A Charleston, Butera's teams went 170-82 and won league championships.
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.
Washington's path back to relevancy in the loaded National League East is expected to take years. While the Nationals have a franchise-caliber player in outfielder James Wood, teams plan to inquire about their willingness to trade left-hander MacKenzie Gore, who is two years from reaching free agency, and shortstop CJ Abrams, who will hit the open market after the 2028 season.
The Nationals' farm system was ranked 22nd in MLB by ESPN's Kiley McDaniel following the selection of Oklahoma prep shortstop Eli Willits with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft. Washington's top pitching prospect, Travis Sykora, underwent Tommy John surgery in July and is expected to miss most of the 2026 season.