Taking a look at the Mike Rizzo era of Washington Nationals baseball

Mike Rizzo has been an ever present for Washington Nationals fans, so I decided to take a look at his tenure

On an early July night, the 16 year tenure of Washington Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo came to an end. After getting swept by the Red Sox, Rizzo got axed alongside Davey Martinez, the manager he had become tied to the hip with in recent years. I wanted to take a look at Rizzo’s tenure and discuss his legacy in DC.

The Rizzo Legacy:

Even if the past half decade was rough, Mike Rizzo will always be a legend in Washington, DC. When he became GM in 2009, the team was a basket case. After the Smiley Gonzalez saga, the team was a joke and the Jim Bowden era was a disaster. They needed a real pro to come in and run the show.

That is exactly what Mike Rizzo did. He came in and showed ownership and the city what competence looked like in the GM position. At this time, Rizzo was more than just competent, he was elite.

He took this young franchise and turned them into a winner quickly. Under his leadership, the team started to turn things around. In 2009, the Nats finished a dismal 59-103. It was a brutal year and the teams second straight 100 loss season.

However, the Nats started showing progress in Rizzo’s second season in 2010. The team was still in last place, but they won 10 more games, improving to 69-93. This season really excited the fans because it was when the teams great new hope Stephen Strasburg debuted. His debut is still one of the greatest moments in team history.

That upward mobility continued into 2011. Before the season, ownership and Rizzo made a statement of intent when they signed Jayson Werth to a massive 7-year deal. It was a sign that this team wanted to compete sooner rather than later. An emerging young core of Strasburg, Ryan Zimmerman and Bryce Harper was coming, and they needed a veteran to lead them.

That 2011 season was when Nationals fans including a 10 year old me really started to believe. The team went 80-81 and looked on the precipice of something special. Players like Michael Morse, Wilson Ramos, Danny Espinosa, Tyler Clippard and Jordan Zimmermann were really starting to break out.

With a couple big moves and some internal development, this team could be something special. Mike Rizzo knew this and made his big move when he traded for Gio Gonzalez, one of his most underrated moves.

With Gio, Jordan Zimmermann and a returning Stephen Strasburg, the rotation was strong heading into 2012. The lineup was also looking good with Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth, Ian Desmond, Adam LaRoche and Danny Espinosa. There was also a teenage x-factor on the horizon in Bryce Harper.

That 2012 season was a magic carpet ride for Nats fans. Rizzo’s great work had turned the team into a 98 win ball club. Harper debuted and was a sensation, Stephen Strasburg was back and an ace, the team was the story of DC. It was all because Mike Rizzo had built something special. That Jayson Werth playoff walk off in game 4 of the NLDS brought a noise to the Nationals Park crowd that was so electric and you have to thank Rizzo in part for bringing that kind of joy back to DC.

The Nationals ended up losing that NLDS series in devastating fashion, being a strike away on multiple occasions. It was only the beginning of the playoff heartbreak in the Rizzo era. However, bumpy roads lead to beautiful places.

After a down 2013 season where they went from 98 wins to 86 and no playoffs, Rizzo decided to let Davey Johnson go. To replace him he brought in Matt Williams. While Williams had his struggles in 2015, he brought the team back to the playoffs in ‘14.

The rotation of Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Doug Fister, Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark was the best in the league. All five were fantastic, with three of them finishing top 10 in Cy Young voting. Anthony Rendon also had his breakout season that year.

After falling to the Giants in the NLDS, Rizzo made his greatest move. He signed Max Scherzer to a 7-year $210 million contract. It was seen as a huge risk at the time and a lot of people thought it was going to be a bad contract. However, it turned into one of the best free agent deals ever, with Scherzer winning 2 Cy Young’s and a World Series. He also threw 2 No-Hitters and fired a 20 strikeout game. Mad Max was the greatest Nat ever for me.

Despite a brilliant year from Max and the greatest season in team history by MVP Bryce Harper, the Nats missed the playoffs. Something was off in the clubhouse and that was evident when Jonathan Papelbon choked Harper.

That year got Williams fired and Rizzo decided to hire the charismatic Dusty Baker to get control of the clubhouse. This worked well as Baker led the Nats to back to back playoff appearances. Daniel Murphy also put together some insane seasons in the Dusty era. However, Dusty could not get over the hump so he was fired after back to back NLDS losses.

In came Davey Martinez, the manager that finally got Rizzo over the hump. After an 82-80 2018 and a 19-31 start to ‘19, Rizzo could have easily fired Martinez, but he stuck by him. This ended up paying off as we all know what happened in 2019.

Thanks to great seasons from hero’s like Juan Soto, Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner, Howie Kendrick, Strasburg, Scherzer and so many others, the Nats turned it around. They never stopped believing thanks to Martinez’s eternal positivity and the fact they knew that Mike Rizzo built a winning roster.

After patching up the bullpen at the deadline, the surprise Nats were ready for October. After some Juan Soto heroics and some help from Trent Grisham, the Nationals were ready to overcome their NLDS curse.

To do that, they had to conquer 106 win Dodgers. Like most Nationals NLDS series, it went to 5 games. Unlike their previous NLDS series, they finally got it done this time. After coming back thanks to Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto going back to back off of Clayton Kershaw, the game went to extra innings.

In the 10th, the Nats loaded the bases for Howie Kendrick who hit a grand slam to straight away center. Kendrick, who was acquired for next to nothing by Mike Rizzo had won the Nats the NLDS.

After overwhelming the Cardinals in the NLCS, the Nats had to slay another dragon. The 107 win Astros remain one of the best teams I have ever seen. They had an insanely deep lineup and three hall of famers in the rotation.

However, they could not beat those pesky Nats. The road team won every game of the series. After going up 2-0, the Nats lost all three games at home. However, Stephen Strasburg would dominate in Game 6. In Game 7, things looked bleak until Anthony Rendon and Howie Kendrick saved the day again.

Their clutch homers led the Nats to victory and the team became world champions. It was the culmination of years of great work by Mike Rizzo.

In the 2010’s the Nats were won of the best teams. They went 879-740 in the 2010’s, the fourth best record of the decade. This just shows how great of a job Mike Rizzo did. He was one of baseball’s elite GM’s in the 2010’s. Rizzo made great trade after great trade and had a great feel for the free agent market. In 2019, he was on top of the baseball world.

Where it All Went Wrong:

However, even in 2019, there were some signs that the window was closing. The Nationals had become the oldest team in baseball and their prospect pipeline was drying up. Mike Rizzo was beginning to struggle in the draft and a retool was on the horizon.

In all honesty, 2019 was the Nationals last chance to win it all. Thankfully they did it. However, the 2020’s have not been so kind to Rizzo and the Nats. They have the second most losses of any team in baseball since 2020.

Outside of a marvelous return for Juan Soto, that Rizzo magic has not been there in the 2020’s. Even his great trading ability became hit or miss. While the Soto trade was a masterclass, he did not get enough for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner. He was also not finding enough talent on the margins. The combination of Rizzo and Davey Martinez had become stale and in my opinion they had to go.

Since 2012, the Nats have gained the least amount of value from their draft picks. That is just unacceptable from a GM. In an era where analytics have become king, Rizzo has been late to the party.

As we highlighted, Mike Rizzo was a great GM and is a hero in DC. However, all good things come to an end. After selecting Elijah Green and Seaver King with top 10 picks in recent years, could you trust him to get the draft right?

I will always love Mike Rizzo, but all good things have to come to an end. It will be exciting to get a new voice with new ideas in the door. We need an infusion of new ideas. Rizzo has been around so long that a shakeup is probably for the best now. This year proved that the rebuild was stagnating and something had to change. Mark Lerner decided to blow it up.

As we discussed, Mike Rizzo has an overwhelmingly positive legacy. His work in the 2010’s was masterful and it brought a championship back to DC. However, even the best lose their touch sometimes and it felt like the time for change had come in DC.

Thank you Mike Rizzo and good luck with whatever comes next!