Butera "honored, humbled excited" to become Nationals manager

Well before he even knew he would be a candidate for the Nationals’ managerial job, let alone get the job, Blake Butera tuned into Paul Toboni’s introductory press conference and found himself captivated by the franchise’s new president of baseball operations.

The 33-year-old with zero major league experience came to an immediate conclusion: “I can work alongside that guy.”

Turns out Toboni also had Butera in his sights, one of several names on a long list of managerial candidates he circled as ones to remember. And that feeling was only bolstered when he got a call out of the blue from Hall of Famer Mike Piazza, who employed Butera on his Team Italy coaching staff at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

“I have no idea what you’re doing with your search,” Piazza told Toboni, “but there’s this guy that you’ve got to interview.”

Six weeks later, these two previously unknown 30-somethings with an affinity for each other from afar, now sat behind the same dais at Nationals Park, a room packed with reporters, cameras, team executives and family members all watching as they officially began working together as the two people now in charge of this baseball club.

“I’m incredibly honored, humbled, excited to be the next manager of the Washington Nationals,” Butera said, donning his brand-new No. 10 jersey and curly W cap. “It was clear during this process that this organization, this city, are really special. This was somewhere my family and I immediately felt like we could make home.”

Few could have imagined six weeks ago these would be the two people sitting at that dais. But once Toboni, 35, was entrusted by the Lerner family to take over baseball operations after a decade climbing the organizational ladder in Boston, he went bold with his first major hire and selected one of the youngest and least-experienced managers in MLB history.

Butera, who officially was hired Oct. 30, never played, coached nor managed above Single-A. He’s the youngest major league manager since the Twins hired Frank Quilici, also 33, in 1972.

But he was a rising star in the Rays organization, having managed four low-level minor league teams to first place finishes and a Carolina League championship. Then he was promoted to senior director of player development, overseeing one of the sport’s most highly regarded farm systems.

It’s a different kind of experience than, say, Davey Martinez or any of the Nationals’ previous managers had when they were hired. But for a current roster loaded with promising-but-unproven players in their young 20s, it makes sense.

“I didn’t play in the major leagues, but I was in their position not too long ago,” Butera said. “I think just understanding them and meeting them where they’re at, and knowing they can always have someone they can go to, is really important.”

Butera said he’s already spoken with most of the players and found them to be welcoming, supportive and eager to get better, ultimately leading to better on-field results for a Nationals team that hasn’t had a winning record since the 2019 World Series run and fell to 66-96 this season, leading to the midseason firings of both Martinez and longtime general manager Mike Rizzo.

“I’ve had a chance to get to know a lot of them these last couple weeks, and I’ve been blown away by their character and their hunger to be great,” he said. “I can’t wait for our fans to see how special this team can be. We’re going to make them proud.”

First things first: Butera and Toboni are getting to know each other better as they embark on this joint venture. Today’s press conference actually represented only the second time they’ve met in-person, though they’ve been speaking over the phone daily since his Oct. 30 hiring.

Besides, they spent enough time together during their first face-to-face gathering to already feel like longtime co-workers and friends.

The traditional managerial interview takes place at the team’s ballpark, or somewhere else in the city. But because Butera’s wife, Caroline, was nine months pregnant with the couple’s first child, Toboni instead flew to Raleigh, N.C., to meet him at his home. They wound up spending the entire day and evening together, not wanting the conversation to end.

“Towards the end of the day, we’re sitting in the car together, and I’m thinking to myself: I could probably spend another two hours in this car. And it’s 11 p.m.,” Toboni said. “It’s a small thing, but it’s also a big thing in my opinion, because we’re going to be spending so much time around each other. If you’re itching to get out of that car, there’s probably something up.”

“That was super special to us,” Butera said, “that he was willing to put aside the traditional process of interviewing, wanting to make sure we put our family first.”

That includes the all-important day of Oct. 30, a day that will be hard the Butera family to ever top.

It began with Toboni formally offering Butera the job. But before he could sign the contract, he had a more-pressing matter: Caroline was going into labor. They spent the day at the hospital in Raleigh, waiting for little Blair Margaux Butera to be born. And then, once mom and daughter were resting comfortably, Blake Butera signed his contract and sent it back to the Nationals.

Eighteen days later, the entire family – including Blair – was on hand at Nationals Park for the formal introduction of the next chapter of their lives.

“I can’t wait for our fans to see how special this team can be,” Butera said. “We’re going to make them proud.”