Interim General Manager Mike DeBartolo Introductory Press Conference | Washington Nationals

First question. Thanks everybody. Um I want to recognize Mike and Davey um for all the significant contributions they’ve made to the Nationals over the last many years. um you know to win a World Series and to bring that joy and happiness to the Nationals community, the DC community, the organization is an incredible accomplishment and um they’ve devoted many years of their lives to to the Nationals and I learned a lot from from working with Mike and Davey and um and I’m appreciative of RZ for the opportunities. Uh I want to thank the Learner uh Cohen and Tannon families uh for their confidence in me. Um, I’ve known and worked with Mark Learner for 14 years, and I’m excited to build on that relationship. Um, look, I, uh, the fans are right to be frustrated. Um, we’re all frustrated. We have, um, we have a lot of interesting, exciting, young pieces, uh, to build on. We have a lot more we need to build. um you know simply um stepping up our game is not enough. You know, we need real change. Um I’m excited to bring a a fresh approach, a fresh voice uh to this role and um integrate more data, more technology, more innovation into our decision- making um across the organization at all levels um and hopefully improve the performance of our players as well. Um we’ve got the uh draft starting on Sunday and the trading deadline at the end of the month. Um the owners have empowered me with um making the decisions in those areas. Uh and I’m really excited to do so. Um, I’m going to bring uh my own approach uh my own philosophy, my own skill set uh to the role and every um every aspect of what I do is going to be in the long-term interest of the nationals um with the goal of building a perennial competitive team that can win a championship and I know ownership shares that goal. Uh, so with that, I’ll take your questions. Uh, I’m gonna give my phone to Kyle because I have a rookie mistake where it’s ringing. I’m gonna go Cairo. I’ll take that later. Mike, with making changes to the approach and the draft being essentially five days away, can you in that shorter time window employ a different approach or how what’s the balance there? Well, the amateur scouting leadership has been working for, you know, a year um to prepare for this and I’ve been in the loop and following as well and I have my own opinions and work collaboratively with them. So, um they’re very well prepared. They’ve um been working hard for this moment almost even before the last draft ended. And so, I’ll bring my own voice to that process. um and I’ll work collaboratively collaboratively with them and take what they have to say and ultimately be responsible for making the case. To whatever extent you can share details about um your conversation with Mark and with ownership about how they want to proceed here. Um how much do you feel like you have the authority to do things the way you want to do it and not feel like it’s a continuation of what has been here before? Yeah, they’ve um they’ve said, you know, with the draft, with the trade deadline, the the two most, you know, important kind of decisions and events we have in front of us that it’s uh my job to to make those decisions and of course I’ll be in consultation with them and work collaboratively with our staff. Um, but I’ll be empowered with making those decisions and I feel prepared and uh excited to do so. You talked about the long-term vision. Where do you see as the biggest area or need for for change within the organization? you know, just taking the uh position two days ago, uh I’m I’m uh I don’t want to um you know, I think there’s a lot more of an ability to use data and technology and innovation um at at every single level, you know, um decision- making um as part of player development process, as part of the evaluation process, as part of the uh medical process. um you know so I’m going to bring that sort of philosophy and approach to um to the role but too early for me to single out one specific area. All that stuff takes financial commitment at some level in personnel and in technology. Have you had convers but have you had conversations about commitment to building this out? Every conversation I’ve had with ownership is they want to build a winner and they want to build a winner as soon as they can and they’re motivated. Um there are a lot of different ways to invest in the club whether it’s staffing, technology, players, there all sorts of ways to do it. They have a lot of questions about the best way to do it and they’ve been asking a lot of good questions and I can sense a desire from them to get us back to um a championship caliber club and it’s a it’s of great importance to them. You have a lot of areas of expertise within this organization. Which one are you most looking forward to sharing in this new role or bringing to this new role? um you know coming from u an analytics background and uh you know building up that department um I’m excited to try to leverage some of those you know both analytics and also new technology uh throughout the organization and really we have a lot of great information and I think there are ways it could be integrated more into all of our processes and so I think I’d like to, you know, lead that sort of uh transition and integrate that even further. I’ve talked about I’m Katie, by the way, Katie, I’m the Cardinal writer, but since the Nationals don’t have one, here I am. Um, when you’ve talked a lot about data, analytics, technology, um, when you look at your player development system, is that an area where you would really like to emphasize those three things? I’d like to emphasize it everywhere. Yeah. So not just not just in player development um the scouting process uh you know player select you know uh the amateur draft international I think there are more ways that we can leverage it and I think there’s a lot of interest um in a variety of levels of those departments to to use it more and to get more tools and so um I’m going to work hard to to make that possible. Would it be fair to categorize this as a modernization of the organization? I mean, I would like to I don’t want to use that characterization necessarily. Um I want to I want to make improvements and yes I think um if if if more emphasis on technology and uh data is a modernization then certainly that’s what I would like to do. As you look at the performance of the big league team so far this year what areas have you been satisfied with and in what areas do you feel like there is real need for improvement? I um obviously, you know, we’ve got some young players playing extraordinarily well. You know, James Wood, Mackenzie Gore, CJ Abrams, and and some others. Uh that’s been extremely encouraging to see, you know, to have several young players playing at an all-star all-star caliber level. Um you know, I think we need to build and bolster um the support around them and uh improve the consistency of of play, right? you know, um, five, six weeks ago, we were two games under 500, you know, and now we’re we’ve fallen further back. So, you know, these are very young players. Some of them haven’t played 162 game season before. And, um, they’re learning and they’re growing together. And, um, I think we want to every single day the emphasis is going to be building their skill set, getting them better. Um and you know that but we certainly it’s clear you know from the results we have a long way to go to sort of build up that consistency and build up the talent level to get to where we want to be which is competing for a playoff spot every single year. You talk about uh wanting to integrate a more data driven message for you um a what is your relationships with the current coaching staff and b how confident are you that they are going to be able to implement that sort of message? I think um I have good relationships with the coaching staff. I think have good relationships throughout the organization and um I’ve had a lot of great conversations, you know, both over the course of the season, but even the last couple of days uh with some of our coaches about what we can do better, um how we can leverage some of the tools that we have even more. Um so I I’ve been very encouraged by those conversations. Mike, the trade deadline obviously looming. Everybody knows you traded Sodto as a four plus player. McKenzie Gore is pitching great and he’s a four plus player. Do you have to explore deals like that even with people that are considered part of the core? It’s too early. Um I respect the question Barry. It’s too early um for me to wade into that just two days into the role. I need to have more conversations, you know, with our staff um with ownership and chart a path forward at the deadline. you know, we’re going to be really well prepared um uh with whatever path we choose, but it’s too early for me to to go into that. And just in past deadlines, what were you in the room all the time? Was that part of the Just kind of describe your role in the past? Um, you know, I’ve been heavily involved in the trade deadline process going back 10 or so years. Um, I’ve negotiated several of the trades we’ve done on my own, you know, with direction, you know, with RZ’s final decision obviously, but negotiating, um, you know, I played, uh, I’m proud of the role I played in the Janoto trade and trying to identify some of the key players in that trade and, um, including James Wood and, um, and negotiating, you know, elements of that trade and strategizing around that trade for, you know, months in advance. Uh so you know I’ve I’ve executed and been heavily involved with the trade deadline for 10 years. Um when it came to the coaching staff and I know this is all happening very fast. Was there consideration any other changes beyond the the couple that we saw today with Bob Henley coming back and uh Henry moving up to bench coach? Those two changes uh you know rez and David were so uh seismic. Um that’s you know quite a bit of change and we haven’t gotten into anything more than that. That’s quite a lot of change for now. So uh kind of in the same vein in the front office have there been any other like seismic shifts within the last 24 48 hours or so? No. You spoke about how your how your team had been preparing for this year’s draft since basically like last year’s day one of the draft in spite of these changes right now. Can you talk about the preparedness that this that your team has there with the draft? Yeah. So, we’ve got uh the amateur scouting leadership is meeting uh they’ve been meeting since earlier this week. Uh I’m going to fly back uh first thing tomorrow morning and and uh join those meetings. I’ve talked to Danny Hos, our vice president of amateur scouting, multiple times, you know, in the last few days. Um you know, uh Danny uh Brad Seolic, our senior director of amateur scouting, and Reed Reed Dunn, our um assistant director, have all been working hard on that. Um, we’ve got uh draft analysts that are that are helping assist in that process, too. Uh, Taylor Cho and Silus Morsync. So, um, we’ve got a good team on it and I’m excited to um, join those and continue those discussions. Mike, this this might seem like a silly question, but would you like this job long term? I would be honored and uh, I care deeply about the Nationals. Um, and I, you know, everything in my life revolves around, um, trying to build the nationals into a consistent uh, perennial contender. And so I’m devoted to that. Of course, it’s out of my hands and I respect, you know, whatever decision gets made and I’m not, you know, I’ve got enough on my plate between the the draft and trade deadline. So, it’s not a concern of mine, but the answer to your question would be yes. Along those lines, what have these last 48 hours been like for you? I’m sure there’s the initial shock of getting the news and then everything that’s happened since. Yeah, very little sleep. Uh phone blowing up and having a hard to to keep up. I mean, it’s been um uh but it’s been it’s been exciting and it’s been rewarding. Uh on first thing Monday um well, Sunday night addressed addressed the the team. Uh first thing Monday held a Zoom with um all uh members of the baseball operations staff um and have just been meeting constantly with with staff players um sorting out you know working with Miggy and um uh and so it’s been it’s been very busy and uh at some point uh get some refs but it’s been it’s been exciting and I’m I’m appreciative of the opportunity. Have you had an opportunity to like stop and think about what this means for you? there’s enough going on. I I appreciate the question, but there’s enough uh there’s too much going on, you know, and uh maybe at some point down the line, but there’s just trying to hit the ground running and um and try to get things better as fast as we can. To what degree can you share what your message to the team was when you when you met with them? I’d rather not get into uh the stuff that I say to the players and in the clubhouse. I’d rather keep private, but I appreciate the question. the same with the front office. Yeah, I’ll keep those you know the front office um you know I’ll I’ll keep those private. Sorry. Um since you are heading back to prepare for the draft from what you’re able to share, what would you say are your priorities this year when making picks for the draft? Yeah. Um it’s an exciting time. You know, there are several really talented players that are going to be in the mix for us. um we have to decide, you know, how to strategize with our our bonus pool money and what the player bonus pool demands are and run through all those scenarios over the coming days. So, it’s it’s, you know, there’s a lot of talent there and it’s exciting for the organization that we’re going to be able to bring in someone from that group and um and we’ll see if we can use dollars, you know, uh strategically to bring in as many top prospects as we can and I think it’s u it’s going to benefit the long term of the organization. I know Strawber and Harper before you got here, but in your your sense of it, when does that decision be, you know, is it made? Is it when you know you have whoever you want, does it happen early in the week? Does it happen last minute? It really depends. It it depends on the um depends on the player pool. It depends on the bonus demands. So, it can just vary so much. I don’t want to kind of put any expectation on it, you know. Uh, I think, you know, publicly the last few years it’s it’s happened, you know, probably later, but it really just sort of depends on on each unique situation. Mike, we know what the record’s been in recent years, second most losses in the majors since 2020, but with you, as you said, good pieces on on hand. I wonder what you see as the window for being a when when can fans expect that, okay, yeah, we’ve got a team that could contend here. Yeah, you know, with we’re about halfway through the season, you know, and again, just being in this particular I’ve been, you know, working for the organization for 14 years, but just getting into this role for two days um with half the season to go and um you know, seeing how these guys sort of react over the second half of the season, how they play through a full season. Um I want to I want to I’m going to be evaluating, you know, that in every level. I think um obviously the goal is to get to a team that’s contending every single season and that gives you the best chance to win a World Series and like I said, I know ownership’s committed to that goal. So um but in terms of putting an exact timeline on it, I need more time to um to evaluate things. Are there any roster moves today that you can share yet or are there going to be any today? The one we haven’t announced quite yet. Okay. Yeah. I don’t know if it’s been told. Okay. All right. You mentioned wanting wanting to see changes in the current club and its performance. What what makes Miguel the right person to lead the club in the interim and could he be a factor in the future perhaps in the managerial role beyond this season? I know it’s very early for that one. Yep. Yeah. Miguel’s I mean he’s a true professional. He his work ethic is off the charts. His experience u you know both playing playing so many different positions, playing so many years for different teams um in so many different roles, you know, front office coaching. So, he’s going to bring a wealth of experience and um you know uh energy to the to the team and I’m excited to see that. Um I can’t I I’m not going to comment on the managerial process at this time. Obviously, we think highly of Miguel um giving him that that role. Um but can’t comment for that. Thank you, sir. Thanks. Thanks, Mike. Thank you. Now I can get Oh yeah, we’re open now. Yeah, you’re good.

Interim General Manager Mike DeBartolo’s full introductory press conference on July 8, 2025 from Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.
_____________________________________________________________________

Make sure you don’t miss any of your favorite videos from the Washington Nationals and subscribe now!

Make your way to Nationals Park to see all your favorite Nats live at nats.com/tickets.

Follow us to keep track of everything happening on the field, and off:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/nationals
Facebook: http://facebook.com/nationals
Instagram: http://instagram.com/nationals

1 comment
Leave a Reply