In the continued aftermath since the news that shocked the baseball world after the firings of both Mike Rizzo and Dave Martinez, more and more details have continued to emerge. With the latest details that have now been revealed, we may now know a little bit more as to why they were both relieved of their duties.
What we definitely know is that both Martinez and Rizzo had club options that were to be decided on by ownership as to their status for next season. With those options not likely to be picked up for 2026, the Lerner family chose to fire them both before the end of the season, rather than having their Washington Nationals keep things status quo for the remainder of the year.
Per Talk Nats, who reported earlier this month that the option for Martinez was not picked up, seemingly set off a "chain reaction" that ended up causing both to be fired after Rizzo refused to fire Martinez. While the team will likely never confirm this, it makes a lot of sense that things would have played out this way, as the team has been in a pretty downward spiral since winning the World Series in 2019. It is also notable that Rizzo side-stepped questions about this ultimatum during his appearance on The Junkies yesterday morning as well, only adding fuel to the fire that this took place.
With other factors such as some extremely negative articles from Ken Rosenthal and Barry Svrluga, who reported on things like pointing fingers to the failing rebuild and the Nationals' refusal to adapt to modern changes, it made sense that the Lerner family likely felt they had to have those tough discussions sooner than they would have liked.
There were a number of factors that played into the decision that the Lerner family had to make. Whether it was the team's poor roster construction, which added $54M in mostly failed player additions to the roster this offseason, or the team's lack of effort and energy on the field, there was plenty of blame to go around.
What can't be understated is how poorly Rizzo's track record of draft picks panned out for the most part, as without the large contributors like Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, and Anthony Rendon, the team has only received a league-low 4.3 WAR from homegrown players, which is far and away the lowest amount.
Obviously, Rizzo is not the only one to blame, as whether you want to point fingers at Martinez for losing the clubhouse after making some brutal comments or want to blame the Lerner family for not committing more from a financial standpoint, there were a number of reasons why the rebuild is failing right now. Hopefully, the team can turn things around with new faces at the helm.
Who do you think is most to blame for the rebuild being stuck in the mud? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.