The Washington Nationals and new POBO Paul Toboni have their manager.
As first reported by Jeff Passan, the Nationals are finalizing a deal to hire 33-year-old Blake Butera as manager, making him the youngest manager in MLB in more than 50 years.
Butera has been a lifer in the Rays’ system, as he was drafted in the 35th round in 2014 out of Boston College and played two seasons in the low minors before moving over to coaching. He managed then Short-Season Class-A Hudson Valley from 2018-19 and Low-A Charleston in 2021-22, going 258-144 and leading Charleston to a pair of league titles. He was named Low-A East Manager of the Year in 2021, and won division titles in all four of his seasons as a skipper,
Tampa Bay promoted Butera to Minor League Assistant Field Coordinator in 2023 and again to senior director of player development in 2024, and now, he will become the youngest man to skipper an MLB team since Frank Quillici took over the Twins in the middle of the 1972 season.
Butera also has extensive international coaching experience, as he has worked in both the Australian Baseball League and Dominican Winter League, and he was Mike Piazza's bench coach for Team Italy in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
He now takes over for interim skipper Miguel Cairo, who led the Nats for the final 72 games of last season after the team dismissed Davey Martinez (and GM Mike Rizzo) right before the All-Star break.
Cairo was in consideration for the full-time gig, but was told earlier this week he was no longer in consideration. He was one of three known candidates to have interviewed, the others being former Orioles manager Brandon Hyde and ex-Guardians bench coach and associate manager Craig Albernaz, who was hired as Baltimore’s new skipper on Monday.