The Washington Nationals still believe that president of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo is the best person to see through their rebuild effort. The franchise made this clear by signing Rizzo to a multi-year extension on Wednesday.
Rizzo, who worked in his role for the past 15 years, was previously on an expiring contract that was set to end after the 2023 campaign.
“I’m honored and flattered to have this extension. It’s an honor that the Lerner family has entrusted me for so many years with the keys to the franchise,” Rizzo told the reporters on Wednesday. “… My goal is to put out a product the fan base can be proud of and that we win a lot of games and bring another parade to Washington, D.C.”
Mike Rizzo joined the Nationals in 2007 as an assistant general manager before being named full-time GM in 2009. He added the president of baseball operations title in 2013.
Under Rizzo, the Nationals made the playoffs five times. They were eliminated in the first round in four of those postseason trips but ended up winning it all in 2019.
However, things didn’t go well for the Nationals after their World Series run. They finished at the bottom of the NL East in each of the previous two seasons and are likely to do the same this year. Washington is currently last in the division with a 65-80 record and trails the fourth-placed New York Mets by 1.5 games.
