Could Mike Rizzo leave the Nationals? The latest rebuild of the Washington Nationals is off to a great start. The team already surpassed its win total of a year ago. They’ve won seven of its last nine series and are just an arm’s reach from wild-card contention in the NL.
On Tuesday, the team announced a two-year extension for manager Davey Martinez. The announcement added that Washington is negotiating with club president and general manager Mike Rizzo for an extension.
However, shortly afterward, doubts surfaced about Rizzo signing an extension.
Call it perfect timing, but the Nats extended Martinez on the same day the Chicago White Sox dismissed senior vice president Rick Hahn and executive vice president Ken Williams in a front office shake-up.
Nats insider Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post started connecting the dots that Rizzo could possibly be eyeing the White Sox opening.
Rizzo is from Chicago. He also started his career as a White Sox scout. His late father, Phil Rizzo, is a legendary scout who worked with the White Sox among several teams. Svrluga noted that White Sox owner Jerry Reinsforf adored Phil Rizzo.
But that is more speculation than anything else, although an educated assumption. Meanwhile, Mike Rizzo added fuel to the fire during his weekly appearance on 106..7 the Fan’s The Sports Junkies.
When asked if his extension was next after Martinez, Rizzo presented more questions.
“Well, I’ll put it this way: I’m Davey’s boss. My job is to take care of Davey and take care of the guys in the clubhouse, and I’ve done my job. It was important for me to have ownership sign-off on this multi-year contract. For me, it was important to have Davey solidified in that clubhouse as a guy that’s going to be around [to] see this rebuild go through. That was a success and job well done, Mike. So I appreciate that and Davey’s been terrific. He’s earned it. He deserves it. There can’t be another guy to see this through. The guy went from World Series champ to rebuilder. And hopefully comes out the other side of it as a World Series champ again.”
That’s certainly not the answer that Washington Nationals fans hoped to hear. Rizzo has been the architect of the club’s best years since the team moved from Montreal to Washington, D.C.
Rizzo has been the GM of the Nats since 2009. He steered the team that once looked like a poorly-ran expansion team into a consistent NL pennant contender since 2012, culminating in a World Series championship in 2019.
Rizzo drafted the Nats stars Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, and Anthony Rendon. He signed Juan Soto out of the Dominican Republic and landed Jayson Werth, Max Scherzer, Howie Kendrick, and Patrick Corbin, among others.
Rizzo saw the opening to trade an aging Scherzer and stars Trea Turner and Juan Soto recently once their price tag exceeded the means of ownership. In turn, the Nats have a deep pool of prospects looking to raise another pennant in the future.
CJ Abrams, Dylan Crews, James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, Josiah Gray, Elijah Green, Brady House, and others are the new wave of talent that will be endearing to Nats fans. Davey Martinez will get to manage the club for at least the next couple of years.
However, by his own words, it’s unclear if Mike Rizzo sees the Nats’ second rebuild all the way through as the club’s president and general manager. Hopefully, news that the White Sox’s primary plan doesn’t include Rizzo is a positive for him to stay in Washington.
Yet, the White Sox won’t be the only team clamoring to grab Rizzo’s services if he becomes available. There will be a lot of nervous Nationals faithful until the ink gets put to paper.
