BREAKING: The Washington Nationals Make A SPLASH Hiring 33-Year Old Blake Butera As The Next Manager

BREAKING: The Washington Nationals Make A SPLASH Hiring 33-Year Old Blake Butera As The Next Manager

The Nationals are taking a huge swing by hiring 33-year-old Blake Bouter to be the Nets Nationals manager. And everybody, if you’re a Nats fan, buckle up. This is going to be a process, but man, it’s going to be a good one. You are Locked on Nationals, your daily Washington Nationals podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. And thank you all for making Locked On Nationals your first listen every single day as we are free and available wherever you get your podcast. I am your host Ryan Clair. You can find me on Twitter, Ryanclary 11, and also of course we are part of the Locked On podcast network where it’s your team every single day. And right here, right now, we are here with the Locked On Nationals podcast. And the Nationals have hired their next manager, and that is 33-year-old Bluke Bluke Blake Bouter from the Tampa Bay Rays. And guys, wow, wow, wow, wow. Is this a surprising higher? Yes. Is this stunning? Yes. Every word in the dictionary, everything that you have for a synonym of surprising, that’s exactly what this is. But also, this is the correct move. And I love this higher. But today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. And right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. So download the app today. So Jeff Passen from ESPN broke the news earlier this morning that the Nationals will be hiring 33-year-old Blake Bouter who is the double A manager and also alongside those things ran player development for the Rays down in their minor league level. First and foremost, what a surprising hire. I mean, why did we not have this on our radar at this point? Paul Tabone, who was a relatively surprised hireer for the Nationals, like they took an assistant GM, bypass the general manager position, and sent him up to be the president of baseball operations here in DC. That was a surprise hire. But then he brings in Devin Pearson. He brings in other guys that are coming in from player development backgrounds. And then his first big move is to hire someone who has not coached up at the major league level, but has done an incredible job of player development and also managing down at the double A level. This is a great hire for the Nationals. And here’s why. I think right now what the Nationals need most is obviously a culture setter, but someone who also can understand the fundamentals of coaching. Right now, what this national staff needs most probably is just a new change of direction. That is what you get with a new president and now a fresh and new manager who is 33 years old. One thing that I have always been just kind of hounding everybody on with a new manager coming to town is I want someone who is relatable. I want someone who can relay information, get the information to CJ Abrams and James Wood and be relatable. But was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays a little over a decade ago out of Boston College where he served as the team captain there for a couple of years. But this is a hire that I think fulfills everything that the Nationals need. And right now with this rebuild, this is obviously a sign of the times. Like this is a hire that you make that you want a manager to grow with this young team. And I think that right now is going to have the best possibility right here in DC to grow with this young upand cominging organization. This deal for Bouter is stunning. I mean, this is something that no one out there, not a single soul out there was saying the Nationals are going to hire Bruce Bera or uh Blake Bouter. I keep on saying Bruce. Blake Bouter. This was not on our radar. This is something that I think the Nationals probably have been kicking the tires around the scene around Nationals Park and probably thinking to themselves, are we going to make this higher? Is this going to be something that if we do elevate this guy who has only been a double A manager, who know has run player development with the Tampa Bay Rays. Are we going to take this outside chance and name this guy the manager and skip some steps? Well, ultimately they said yes. That is exactly what we are going to do. This is the youngest major league player. And forget all of that, by the way. Forget that he hasn’t managed in Major League Baseball. Forget that he hasn’t been in a major league uh dugout in clubhouse for the remainder of a full season. This is the youngest MLB manager in over 50 years. Yes. This Yes. Sign me up for this today. If I’m Nationals fans and everyone around this organization, this buys you some time. This buys you some time for Boutero to grow with an Eli Willlet who’s coming up the pipe in a few years. Grow with Brady House and Abrams and Wood and Cruz and some of your young mature pieces on this team that are going to be stars hopefully down the road. Yes, this is a slam dunk hire for the Nationals. And while I’m not going to sit here and say I know everything about uh Blake Bouter at this point, I could tell you everything about him. I can’t. But I can tell you this. He comes from an organization by the Tampa Bay Rays who have done one thing better than anybody on this planet and that is develop talent. Paul Tabone has made one thing very clear throughout the first few weeks of being the president of baseball ops here in DC. That one thing that he has made clear is that he wants to create a player development and scouting monster. So what do you do? You go get Devin Pearson from the Red Sox. You go get Justin Horowitz from the Pittsburgh Pirates. you go make these flashy uh R&D signings and get analytics into the building. And your final chess piece is that you hire someone from the Tampa Bay Rays who not only has been incredibly successful with the Tampa Bay Rays as a manager, but someone who has been incredibly successful for their player development down with the Tampa Bay Rays. Blake Bouter. And again, this is a outside the box hire, but you might be interested in what he has done. Well, what he has done is win baseball games. He has managed the past four seasons down in the minor leagues, and he was a manager down in 25 years old for the Tampa Bay Rays, and he has won and finished first place four times, and has won two championships in that time frame. This is someone who is not only capable of managing a major league game, but this is someone who is capable of coaching up young talent. That is another thing that Taboni hit on in his introductory press conference. And so bringing in someone from an organization like the Rays who coaches up and develops talent better than anybody on this planet and getting one of their key guys who have been a part of that success in making that your manager. This feels like the perfect marriage for the Washington Nationals. And this now finally feels as if that this organization has arrived in the 21st century. You have analytics, you have datadriven guys, and with all these hires, this makes you feel as if this ownership group will go in and invest on these different things. This is a stunning hire. A completely stunning hire. No one expected this. People throw out the name, maybe Bruce Bochi. Maybe you go out there and get Bob Melvin. And we talked about Roco Baldelli earlier this morning. We talked about other different candidates who could be coming up. Not one soul thought it would be the Rays doubleA manager and player development senior director for the minor leagues for the Tampa Bay Rays. What an absolutely stunning move. But oh my gosh, this is going to work out in the Nationals favor. I believe in that. And the reason why I believe in that, well, stay tuned. I’ll tell you more after this. The NBA is back and there is no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. And even if you missed the start of the game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. And it keeps every game so exciting, especially when your team’s making that late push. You want to see the Wizards take on the Thunder tonight. Tonight in Oklahoma City, it’s a big game for the Wizards, the worst team in the NBA against the best team in the NBA. Let’s see what these young players can do. And by the way, why don’t you throw some points on Alex Sar to go over on the point total and over on his rebound total. Let’s see what the former number two overall pick can do tonight. So, right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. And we are back here on Locked on Nationals as the Nationals have named 33-year-old Blake Bouter as the next Washington Nationals manager. And this is a stunning move, but I feel good about this hire and I feel confident in this selection. And here’s why. I think what the Nationals needed most was a change of culture. I’m going to assume is going to be able to change this culture. But also secondary and probably really what might be most important for most people out there. This is someone who can marriage analytics and coaching and managing a game. He has proven that when you come from an organization like the Rays, you come from an organization that is just incredible when it comes to player development. You come from an organization that is great at coaching. And with Kevin Cash being one of the best managers in Major League Baseball, this is an organization that understands what it takes to develop players. And so now having this with Bouta as the national skipper moving forward, I think this is a tremendous higher. He has had a two 258 wins and 144 losses over his managerial career down in the minor leagues for granted, but still 258 wins to 144 losses. This is someone who wins. And it’s not all because of him. It’s because of what the Rays can do and all the different things that they use in analytics. And they are a great draft and develop organization, but also they have coaching. And coaching, while we always talk about analytics and data, coaching is married with the idea of data and analytics. And those things go hand inand together. And really more importantly than that, you have to have someone that can translate both those things and get that information to the players. I think having someone like Blue uh Blake Bouter, it is exactly what the Nationals need. One thing that really stood out from Jeff Passen’s reporting here was number one, he was a senior player development director for the Tampa Bay Rays and has managed uh for four years now down in the minor leagues. And but one thing that he said in his piece here, which I’ll read here momentarily, was this bouter’s experience extends beyond the Rays and drafted him in the 35th round goes on and on and then he gets to this. With fluency in advanced metrics and the detailoriented approach that has made the Rays employees coveted by other teams, Boutero was regarded in the industry as a future manager. His combination of managerial and player development experience appealed to the Nationals whose hiring of Tabone, 35 years old, gave them the youngest head of baseball operations as well. This is someone who has a background in analytics, who has a background in being a player, in being drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays, which we all know they’re a great organization. and number three has a background of success for coaching up and managing baseball games. Being a minor league manager, while yes, the priority is not maybe necessarily winning. Winning is obviously something they want to do, but it’s really about coaching up the younger talent. And if you are good at that, you are going to make your way up into the major leagues. As Jeff Passen said, this is someone who was thought to be a Major League Baseball manager someday. He was the bench coach for team Italy in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Like obviously this is someone who has been highly regarded across major league front offices and coaching staffs around baseball. Tabone making this hire. I mean, this is a risky hire. Don’t get me wrong. This could easily go the other way and the Nationals could easily be sitting there with their hands up being like that was not a great hire, but I feel confident in it being a good one because the Nationals are not in this win now mode. Like Bout does not enter this gig saying we got to start winning like right away. No, that’s not what it is. He is going to be given time to do what he wants to do. And also I think the most important thing about this is that Tabone and Bouter have similar backgrounds. Both being former players at the division one level. Both being guys with player development and analytical backgrounds. The only difference is one is a manager and one is the president of baseball operations. But having those two things and going together in today’s game is a big deal. pairing that president slashGM and having them think alike with the Nationals manager and the skipper of this team. Those are two things that do not come across in baseball. Because while the president does the shopping of the ingredients and the manager is the one who actually cooks up the meal, baseball nowadays, the front office really kind of leads the managers in the direction. They have a lot of things to do with how the lineup is constructed and the way that they want to see guys play and the different splits and the different numbers that come from it. These are going to be two guys with Tabone and his people and uh Bouter and whoever he hires as his coaching staff. These are going to be guys that will be working side by side and be in this process together. This is an exciting hire. This is a good hire, I think some would say, because half the battle is getting a president and/or GM and a manager on the same page. If I’m a Nats fan today, which I am, I feel good about that. That is already out of the way. Having someone who is fluent in analytics and player development, now being your manager, and now being able to coach these guys up, that’s what this team needs. How many times did you sit there watching this Nationals team for the past few seasons and say, “Oh my gosh, I’ve seen that base running mistake before. How have they not learned? Oh my gosh, I’ve seen CJ Abrams make that same exact play on that same exact mistake that he made last week. He just did it again. How many times did you say see different outfielders taking bad routes to get a baseball? A lot. How many times you see Karuise make the same mistake over and over and over again? We have seen it. We have not seen changes under Dave Martinez. Now I feel as if that I am confidently saying that change is coming to the nationals. Hiring a Blake Bouter type allows this guy to grow with this team. He is not going to have the pressure of winning on game one. He is not going to have the pressure of making October baseball in 2026. He is going to be given a lot of time to get this thing right. And I think that’s how it should be. This is a team that I think hiring someone like Bouter realizes like, hey, we’ve got to make changes. We have to go in this thing, tear it all up, take out all the guts with it and completely replace it. And that is what they are doing. And so the next thing with Boutero is obviously having no managerial experience up in the major leagues. That is a little cause of concern and I think there is a little bit of a gray area that he will have to eventually color in. But how can he do that? And will he do that? I’ve got one thing that I really want to happen on this coaching cycle that I think the Nationals will prioritize, but also it just simply has to happen. I’ll tell you what that is after this. This episode is brought to you by Prize Picks, and you and I make decisions every day, but on Prize Picks, being right can get you paid. Don’t miss any of the excitement of this sports season, whether you’re following the NFL, NBA, or both. And there’s no better time to jump in on the action than with our friends at Prize Fix. And if you haven’t tried it yet, Prize Fix the is the simplest way to play. Just pick more or less on at least two player stats, and if you get them right, you win. It takes less than 60 seconds to make your lineup, and you can play anywhere. Pricefix operates including the big states like California, Texas, and Georgia as well. And I’ve been using Prize Fix during both football Sundays and NBA tip offs. And it keeps every game so exciting. 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This would be I’m not going to say a musthave for the Nationals, but it should be very high on what they should be doing. A lot of things with managers and especially with what the Nationals want to do here. Like this hire is clear to me of what they are trying to do. Tabone has made it clear that he wants to have a coach. He wants to have someone that can coach up players and coach up talent while also managing the game. This is that higher. But also, you have to communicate those things in ways that might be a little unique. And when you are dealing with major league type players, some of them have some egos. Some of them may not take it from this young 33y old and the coaching that could be coming from that might rub some of them the wrong way. Communication is going to be a big key from the front office down to the dugout with whoever hires as some of his coaching staff. So if I am Bouter and if I’m Paul Tabone, the first thing that I would do is get a bench coach with experience. It doesn’t have to be a former manager. I think a former manager would be great. Like if you want to go out there and let’s say uh Bob Melvin, if you want to hire him as your next bench coach, awesome. I think that makes sense. If the Nationals want to go out there and nab one of Aaron Boon’s guys to from a bench coach to be a bench coach here in DC, if you want to go hire someone else out there or an older guy who may see analytics the same way that Tabone does or maybe it’s Brandon Hyde, someone we have talked about who has been a great communicator from the front office to the manager side. That is someone who may not get a managerial job and he might come here and be the next Nationals bench coach. You have to have someone who has been in a clubhouse, who has gone through a rebuild, who understands analytics, and who can communicate those things and help a manager with the day-to-day stuff that he may not know. And it’s not to say that this is going to be rocket science for Blake Bouter, but there are going to be a lot of learning curves for him. I mean, this is a 33y old. Oh my gosh, they just named him as the next Nationals manager. This is a huge move. Just from, forget his background of being a DA manager. He’s 33 years old. He is the same age as Bryce Harper. He was 19 years old in 2012. Think about that for a second. The same age as Bryce Harper. This is a young guy. Like this is someone who’s could stick around here forever if he wants to. But I love this hire. But there are things that need to happen to make this hire work. And I think having someone from a background of coaching and managing games like a Brandon Hyde would be a tremendous hire to be your next bench coach. And I think that’s what the Nationals simply have to do. This is an exciting time for Nationals fans. How can you not be excited with this? Paul Tabone gets it. He understands it. The Nationals are not going to go out there and grab the number one manager on the market. They are not going to go out there and get the sexiest thing out there. But what Paul Tabone has realized, instead of getting the sexiest thing this cycle, he is getting the sexiest thing from the two cycles down the road. He is making them skip their steps and saying, “Hey, we know that you are going to be a major league manager someday. We know that you are going to be a stud of a manager sometime soon. Why not just skip AAA and skip double A and skip whatever next step it is being a bench coach or a third base coach on a team. And you know what? We’re going to make you the manager. This is a brilliant, brilliant idea and I love it. I love this approach. You have to be happy with where things are going right now. And again, you have to feel good about this hire. We’ll get into more of it as time goes on. Unfortunately, I’ve got a root canal to get to. I’ve got to get my teeth fixed. Tomorrow, I’ve got a show scheduled on Eli Willlets. After this, I’ll be out for the count. But stay tuned for Monday’s show. I will have the breakdown that you need to start off November and what has to happen to make this higher work. Will ownership be allin? Will Paul Tabone be all in? We’ll have those answers right here for you on Locked on Nationals. And whatever else happens after that, we will have you covered here as well. So, I’m going to the dentist. I’m going to get a root canal. I’m not going to have fun. But you guys have a good one. Enjoy the Washington Nationals. Enjoy the World Series tonight. I’ll catch you on the flip side. Have a good one. Go Nats.

The Washington Nationals make a bold, unconventional move by hiring 33-year-old Blake Butera as their next manager—the youngest MLB skipper in over 50 years. Butera comes from Tampa Bay’s player development system, where he compiled a 258-144 record as a Low-A manager while serving as senior director of minor league player development. Host Ryan Clary breaks down why this stunning hire makes perfect sense for a rebuilding franchise prioritizing analytics, coaching, and cultural transformation. The move signals ownership’s commitment to modernizing the organization, pairing Butera with President Paul Toboni to create alignment between front office and dugout. Clary explores the risks and rewards of skipping traditional steps, emphasizing Butera’s fluency in advanced metrics and proven ability to develop young talent—exactly what Washington’s emerging core needs as they build toward contention.

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0:00 Intro

0:30 Nationals hire 33-year-old Blake Butera as manager

2:02 Why this surprising hire wasn’t on anyone’s radar

4:04 Youngest MLB manager in over 50 years

6:39 Butera’s player development background with Tampa Bay

9:12 Why this hire works for the Nationals’ rebuild

12:16 Butera’s impressive minor league managerial record

15:20 Taboni and Butera share similar analytical backgrounds

18:24 Addressing coaching mistakes from the Martinez era

21:27 Nationals need experienced bench coach to support Butera

24:31 Brandon Hyde as potential bench coach candidate

26:02 Skipping steps to get future star manager now