Blake Butera has officially been the Nationals’ new manager for five days. But we won’t hear from the 33-year-old skipper for a couple of weeks while he and his wife, Caroline Margolis, get settled after welcoming their first child, Blair Margaux Butera, literally hours after he signed his new contract.

Thankfully, new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni took questions from members of the local media over a Zoom call yesterday to give his perspective of his first major hire and what ultimately made Butera his choice.

“I think it just starts with the person that Blake is,” Toboni said. “I think he just very much aligns with the values that we hold sacred as an organization. And then, I think Blake's leadership skills really jumped out to us from the get-go. And so I think those two things, in conjunction with each other, were two of the main driving factors. And then also, he's got a pretty unique set of experiences that didn't necessarily lead us to making the decision in isolation, but I think were very beneficial as we considered Blake's candidacy relative to the other candidates.”

That “unique set of experiences” Butera has includes serving as the Rays' senior director of player development over the past two seasons following a successful run as a minor league coach and manager in one of the best farm systems in baseball.

Not many people make the jump from a front office role in player development to first-time major league manager, but Butera now has. Given the Nats’ young group of players (Trevor Williams is the only player on the 40-man roster who is older than the new skipper and only by 3 ½ months) and need to continue developing players at the major league level, was experience in player development something Toboni was searching for in this hiring process?

“No, it certainly wasn't a prerequisite,” Toboni said. “We didn't want to pigeonhole ourselves into looking at one specific type of person or one specific type of experience or experiences. What we wanted was to make sure we brought someone in that fit our values and had great leadership traits. And then I think experience can take shape in a number of different ways. So Blake has great perspective, and what he's done in player development, I think he'll help drive a lot of that at the major league level. That said, we were very open-minded throughout this process.”

Part of Butera’s success in player development comes not only from his playing career at Boston College and on the Rays’ farm, but from his youth. Tampa Bay gave him the reins to its rookie ball team at just 25 years old. He’s been able to relate to the players in their early-to-mid-20s more than an older, veteran manager might have.

Again, Toboni said Butera’s young age wasn’t necessarily something the Nats were looking for, but it could work to the new skipper’s advantage.

“I can't speak to the older, veteran manager. I think so much it just comes down to the individual themselves,” the young exec said. “What I'll say about Blake is that one thing I learned through just talking to so many people, either within the Rays organization or outside, is he's got an uncanny ability to gain the respect and trust of, like, the grizzled veteran baseball coach that maybe has been in the league for 50-plus years. But then also the first-year analyst that is new to the game and that is probably trying to figure out what his or her path is. Blake also has an uncanny ability to relate with that person.

“So to me, it's one of Blake's greatest strengths. He's just able to really connect with people. And circling back to your question, I think the player group, especially younger players, will find him extremely easy to connect with. But then also, what you said at the start is true too. He's not afraid to hold folks accountable, which I think is a huge part of the job as well.”

Being a young, first-time major league manager also presents some challenges. As he comes from a Rays organization that excels in player development via analytics, it’s assumed Butera is well versed in the advanced metrics that drive today’s game. But how will he balance those numbers with the eye test and gut feelings that successful major league managers with more experience also rely on when making in-game decisions? And how will Toboni and the front office prepare and guide him in those moments?

“I think more than anything, and think you hit on it, so much of this work is done before the game starts. And I think our job as the front office is to provide Blake with all the information he needs to be successful,” Toboni said. “And then if we do a really good job building this relationship that hopefully is built on a foundation of trust, when the game starts, it's like, ‘Blake, you go get ‘em.’ And we fully entrust (him) and empower him to make the decisions that he needs to make to be a really good in-game decision maker. And Blake also has a unique perspective in that respect, too, coming from a front office. So I think he's pretty well equipped to be a really good in-game strategist right from the get-go.”

We still have weeks before we get to hear Butera’s own answers to these types of questions. And months before he’ll have to face his first in-game decision in the major leagues. But Toboni is hoping his first managerial hire is the last one he’ll have to make for a long time, as Butera fits nicely into the team’s short-term goals and long-term plans to get back to contention.

“How I approach it is, no matter where we are in terms of the state of our organization, we wanted someone that can do as good a job as possible in year one, but then also when we get four or five, six, seven years down the line. We also look at this person like they're leading us the way that this organization needs to be led, as it relates to the major league group. So to us, it fits both kinds of desires. Being competitive in the near term, but then also maximizing our potential in the long term.”