The end of the Rizzo-Martinez era: How loyalty led to the Nationals' downfall

Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez brought Washington a championship in 2019. They built a roster and culture that delivered one of the most unforgettable playoff runs in recent MLB history, and for that, they earned the fanbase’s respect. But in the seasons that followed, the Nationals clung to old ways, old players, and outdated philosophies. The team prioritized familiarity over adaptation, and that loyalty played an outsized role in the organization’s decisions. In the end, it cost Rizzo and Martinez their jobs.

Since winning it all, Washington hasn’t finished above fourth place in the NL East. They’ve endured five straight losing seasons and have become one of the worst-performing franchises in baseball. From sticking with underperforming veterans to refusing to modernize their infrastructure, the Nationals let sentiment drive decisions that repeatedly backfired.

Loyalty to Players

Few decisions better illustrate the Nationals’ unwavering loyalty than how they handled Patrick Corbin and Stephen Strasburg after the 2019 World Series. Corbin was a hero that October, but his performance plummeted in the years that followed. From 2020 to 2024, he posted ERAs of 4.66, 5.82, 6.31, 5.20, and 5.62. Over that five-year span, he had the highest ERA (5.61) among all MLB starters with at least 300 innings, and he allowed the most hits, runs, and home runs in the league.

Despite this, the Nationals never pulled him from the starting rotation. Rizzo defended Corbin’s spot by pointing to his durability, saying “he pitched every fifth day.” But at some point, availability should not outweigh performance. Most organizations would have moved on, shifted him to the bullpen, or eaten the salary. Instead, Washington kept sending him out every five days. That loyalty to Corbin’s 2019 heroics cost the team competitiveness and innings that could’ve gone to younger arms.

Then there was Strasburg. Just days after winning World Series MVP, he signed a seven-year, $245 million extension, a sentimental deal that seemed risky from the outset. Rizzo even admitted that while he usually hesitated to give pitchers long-term contracts, in this case, “it's the person that we're signing, not just the player.” That quote summed up the organizational mindset. The status of a beloved franchise icon outweighed sound judgment. Unfortunately, Strasburg’s body broke down. He threw only 31⅓ innings over the life of that contract, battling thoracic outlet syndrome and nerve damage that ultimately ended his career.

But instead of accepting that reality, the Nationals held on to hope. They delayed planning for a replacement and failed to treat Strasburg’s absence as permanent. His 2023 retirement ceremony was scrapped due to disputes over his contract, with the organization remaining in limbo, unwilling to turn the page. Ultimately, Strasburg’s contract goes down as one of the worst in baseball history, and the Nationals lost half a decade without a true number one starter.

Both Corbin and Strasburg exemplify how loyalty clouded judgment. In both cases, loyalty to players became a liability, costing the team wins, roster flexibility, and years of development for potential replacements.

Loyalty to Leadership

Even as the Nationals suffered through four straight last-place finishes from 2020 to 2023, the ownership stuck by Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez. Instead of making a fresh start, the Nationals doubled down in 2023 by handing out extensions to both, signaling continued blind faith in the leadership based on delivering the title to D.C. four years earlier.

No other MLB franchise had shown that level of patience amid such consistent losing. As FanGraphs noted, the Nationals became the first team since Connie Mack’s Philadelphia A’s to keep both their GM and manager after four straight last-place finishes. 

Stability quickly turned into complacency. Martinez’s clubhouse message started falling flat, and Rizzo’s roster moves kept missing. Neither adjusted to the modern game. Even when it became clear the team needed a new direction, ownership stuck with the same voices.

By 2025, the results grew impossible to ignore. The team stagnated under leadership that no longer got through to players or built competitive rosters. With a sixth straight losing season on the way, the Lerners finally made a change. 

The decision to retain Rizzo and Martinez for so long was rooted in loyalty to 2019, a reluctance to move on from the figures who brought a championship. But that loyalty came at a steep cost. By prioritizing past success over present results, the Nationals delayed change and allowed their competitive window to stay shut.

Loyalty to Philosophy

The Nationals didn’t just stay loyal to people. They stayed loyal to process. Instead of looking outside the organization for fresh ideas, they promoted from within across scouting, player development, and coaching.

The organization’s coaching staff consists of Davey Martinez’s friends and connections. Tim Bogar was promoted to bench coach in 2020 and held the role until 2023. Henry Blanco was moved from bullpen coach into a strategy role and was just announced as the new bench coach after the firings of Martinez and Rizzo. Jim Hickey and Darnell Coles, both longtime colleagues of Martinez, were brought in to lead pitching and hitting. Even new interim manager Miguel Cairo called Martinez his “best friend” and “brother” in an emotional interview and came from within his trusted circle.

Cairo has kept repeating the same tired messaging that frustrated fans for years, saying things like “try to go 1-0” and “we just gotta keep battling” after losses, the exact phrases Martinez was criticized for. 

Continuity like that can sometimes help build chemistry. But in the Nats case, it created an echo chamber. The Nationals rarely pursued top analytic or development minds from outside organizations. Teams like the Rays, Astros, and Orioles built modern, cutting-edge systems. Washington did not.

Federal Baseball put it bluntly: the franchise seemed content to “do as little as possible,” sticking with internal hires and outdated methods. It kept the team from evolving, left them behind the rest of the league, and cemented a leadership structure that was closed off and old-fashioned.

By promoting from within out of loyalty, rather than seeking new voices and ideas, the Nationals slowed their own progress and missed a chance to build something modern for the future.

Loyalty to Old-School Methods

Even as baseball entered a new era of data and development, the Nationals stayed loyal to their old-school roots. For example, they remain one of the only teams in MLB without a Trajekt Arc pitching machine, a cutting-edge tool used by over 25 clubs to simulate real pitchers and improve hitter preparation. The technology has become “rapidly approaching ubiquity” across the league, with even small-market teams like the Rockies and Marlins making the investment. Several Nationals players said they wished the team had one, especially when nearly every opponent they faced did.

Instead, the Nationals lagged behind with older tools like the iPitch machine and VR headsets. Those offer some value, but they lack the realism and competitive edge that Trajekt provides. The cost isn’t even prohibitive. It’s roughly $500,000 upfront or around $15,000 per month to lease. Still, Washington has chosen not to invest.

As another example of this approach, the Nationals’ analytics department stayed small, and their player development staff was one of the thinnest in the league. According to The Washington Post, team leadership resisted efforts to modernize, as “voices against change” continued to overpower progress.

That resistance started at the top. Mike Rizzo, a lifelong scout, built the team the traditional way and never fully embraced analytics. While other clubs invested in biomechanics labs, high-speed cameras, and modern player tracking, the Nationals fell behind. That outdated mindset showed up everywhere, from scouting and development to on-field decisions.

The team’s draft record is proof. For nearly a decade, the Nationals failed to draft and develop an above-average everyday hitter. Many of their picks followed the same pattern: toolsy athletes with poor plate discipline or big-bodied pitchers with injury concerns. Rizzo’s loyalty to traditional scouting blinded the organization from adapting to modern draft trends.

An external survey of MLB scouts conducted by Baseball America in 2025 ranked the Nationals among the worst teams at identifying and developing talent. One scout said bluntly that the Nationals were “way behind” in terms of scouting and evaluation practices.

The 2022 selection of Elijah Green is a telling example. Despite clear red flags about his contact issues, the Nationals took him fifth overall based on raw tools and projection. Green has yet to reach Double-A. He is currently in Rookie ball, striking out in more than 40 percent of his plate appearances.

All of this points to one core issue: a deep loyalty to an outdated system. The Nationals were slow to invest in new tools, slow to grow their analytics department, and slow to adapt their draft philosophy. One American League scout described their past drafting as a “scattergun approach” that looked for raw talent rather than traits they could actually develop. As Federal Baseball said, “by 2025, [the Nationals] were not one of the smart teams anymore…the whole organization felt stuck in the past.” By sticking with what worked in 2019, they failed to build a foundation for the future. 

The Nationals’ loyalty to old-school methods and Rizzo’s traditional scouting mindset held the organization back. In an era when smart teams leaned into technology, data, and innovation, Washington stayed stuck in the past and paid the price on the field, in the draft room, and in the standings. As FanGraphs put it, the Nationals had become “a cautionary tale,” a once-respected franchise that failed to evolve and fell far behind the rest of the league.

Loyalty to Culture

In 2019, Davey Martinez’s laid-back, player-first clubhouse was a strength. Veterans held each other accountable, and the “stay in the fight” mantra became the team’s identity. But that same approach stopped working during the rebuild. Martinez kept one of the most player-friendly environments in baseball, even as the roster got younger and the losses piled up.

He rarely showed urgency or tough love. What once felt like stability started to look like complacency. During the team’s recent 11-game losing streak, things finally cracked. Martinez snapped in a press conference: “It’s never on coaching. Never. It’s always on the players.” According to The Washington Post, players were “shocked, dismayed, and pissed” by the comment. Rizzo and front office members had to meet with players to calm things down. Martinez walked back the quote the next day, but the damage was done. His voice no longer landed, and the trust was broken.

The Nationals tried to preserve the 2019 vibe for far too long. Martinez kept referencing the title team when talking to the club, but younger players weren’t part of that success. Instead of redefining their culture around the current team, Washington clung to the old one. While other rebuilding teams reset leadership or restructured expectations, the Nats kept the same core in place. Rizzo, Martinez, several coaches, and longtime support staff all stayed, and the team simply hoped the magic would return, despite the much different roster make-up.

By 2023, even Martinez’s positivity seemed forced. But the organization still extended him, choosing loyalty over change. It wasn’t until this month that ownership finally admitted things had gone stale. In announcing the firings of Rizzo and Martinez, Mark Lerner said, “Our family is eternally grateful for their roles in bringing a World Series trophy to D.C... but the on-field performance has not been where we expect... This is a pivotal time for our club, and we believe a fresh approach and new energy is the best course.”

It was a long-overdue acknowledgment. The Nationals kept chasing the ghost of 2019 instead of resetting. Their loyalty to that past culture stopped them from building something new.

A New Chapter

Loyalty is often seen as a strength in sports. It can build trust, chemistry, and stability. But for the Nationals, unchecked loyalty became a weakness. It blurred decision-making and delayed the changes they needed to stay competitive.

The front office stayed loyal to the same voices at the top. Rizzo and Martinez remained in charge for nearly six years after the World Series, even as the team kept losing. On the field, they handed roster spots and big contracts to veterans based on memories instead of performance. Off the field, they stuck with old-school scouting and outdated training tools while the rest of the league moved forward. And culturally, they tried to preserve the 2019 vibe instead of building something new for a younger roster.

The result? Five straight losing seasons. 

But finally, there is change.

Mike DeBartolo has taken over as President of Baseball Operations. He’s not just Rizzo’s assistant. He’s forward-thinking, analytically minded, and was heavily involved in the Juan Soto trade, which is now seen as one of the best in recent MLB history.

It’s likely that neither DeBartolo nor interim manager Miguel Cairo is the long-term solution. Neither has proven anything yet. But change was overdue. If Cairo can spark better results on the field and DeBartolo nails the draft and trade deadline, they might earn a longer look.

Lerner’s decision to fire both Rizzo and Martinez suggests this shift might finally be real. For the first time in years, the Nationals seem ready to evolve.

The story of their decline is a cautionary tale. Loyalty is admirable. But blind loyalty, especially to the past, can lead to ruin. The Nationals chased the ghost of 2019 for far too long. It cost them years of progress.

Now they have a chance to start fresh. But they can only rise again if they stop looking back and start building forward.

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