Mike Rizzo, Nationals Agree to Contract Extension; GM Won 2019 World Series

The Washington Nationals announced Wednesday they agreed to a multiyear extension with general manager Mike Rizzo.

"Mike and I have talked and worked with each other almost daily for 17 years," managing owner Mark Lerner said. "Together with my family and the entire Nationals staff, we've always shared the same dream: to make the Washington Nationals a team that our fans could love and be proud of. ... "We are once again hard at work to build a championship contender in D.C. We now believe we have the beginnings of a roster filled with promising young players and exciting prospects at nearly every position."

Rizzo took over as the general manager in 2009 and was the architect of the Nationals' World Series-winning squad in 2019.

Wednesday's agreement ends a period of uncertainty over Rizzo's future in the nation's capital.

The Nationals have generally been in a state of limbo ever since the Lerner family said in 2022 they were exploring the possible sale of the franchise. Nearly all of the key players from the 2019 team are gone, and the Opening Day payroll has gone from the fourth-highest in MLB to 22nd over that span.

Questions over Rizzo specifically emerged after The Athletic's Brittany Ghiroli reported on Sept. 7 the Nationals "gutted their scouting department." More than a dozen employees will be leaving the organization after this season.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic provided a little more context, noting how "Rizzo's current staff, without question, is a tad bloated." To that end, some level of attrition may not be a bad thing.

On Rizzo specifically, Rosenthal also wrote how the 62-year-old "can be mercurial, according to Nationals sources who spoke on condition of anonymity in exchange for their candor." As a whole, Washington "was slow to embrace analytics and has struggled to develop pitching," two marks against the person running the front office.

Still, some looking critically upon the Nats for allowing Rizzo, whose contract was due to expire, to twist in the wind.

In addition, as much as fans can rightfully be upset with the team for quickly tearing down a championship roster, Rizzo has done well to lay the groundwork for the future. Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter ranked Washington's farm system as the sixth-best in baseball coming out of the draft in July. MLB.com's Jim Callis, Sam Dykstra and Jonathan Mayo had the team at No. 8 in their August midseason rankings.

The Nationals have three players (Dylan Crews, James Wood and Brady House) among MLB.com's top 100 prospects. Crews and Wood are both in the top 10.

Keeping the same GM in place for a decade or more can cause things to go stale. Just ask the Chicago White Sox. When it comes to Rizzo, he has provided Washington with enough evidence to belief he remains the right man for the job.