Q&A: Nats GM Rizzo talks young core, offseason plans

In a recent conversation with MLB.com at Citi Field, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo spoke on a wide range of topics, from the team’s young players on the Major League roster to the offseason plans for improving in 2025.

MLB.com: No matter what happens during the rest of the season, the Nationals made significant progress in 2024. Do you agree with that statement and why?

Mike Rizzo: I think we have. You are seeing our young players develop at the big league level. We have four starters [in the rotation] who have one or fewer years of service in the big leagues. More or less, we are running four rookie starters [MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz] out there each time we go through the rotation. I see those guys getting better each and every time. They have the stuff to pitch here. They have made jumps when it comes to the command of their stuff. We are working on pitch shapes and adding different pitches – changeups for some of them. They have competed all year with good stuff and they are taking strides to get better each and every start.

MLB.com: You have outfielder James Wood on the roster. How do you think the offense has progressed?

Rizzo: I think we have made some progress. We have a young core group of guys. Keibert Ruiz had a poor first half, but he is having a solid second half. C.J. Abrams had a good first half and kind of tailed off in the second half. But he is a 20/20 guy. [Luis Garcia Jr.] has really taken off at second base, hitting .280 and close to a .780 OPS and playing good defense. He has really worked hard on his defense. I like how José Tena has done offensively and at third base, a new position he has never played before. He is learning on the job in the big leagues, which is difficult as we all know. We have an elite defender in Jacob Young in center field. We think we have core pieces in Wood and Dylan Crews. We are running seven rookies for the last month and a half. I can only see us getting better.

MLB.com: From 2009-11, you were rebuilding the Nationals. How do you compare that period to the rebuilding you have done from 2020-24?

Rizzo: I think we are better, deeper and more athletic than we have ever been since I’ve been here. I think that’s what made us a little bit better. [We have] depth with young controllable Major Leaguers, but our Minor League depth has never been better. That is going to serve us well down the road.

MLB.com: Who do we expect to see in the big leagues next year and make an impact on the Nationals?

Rizzo: All the names that we know about. There is Brady House, Yohandy Morales and Jackson Rutledge. We’ll have Cade Cavalli. He will be pitching again after coming off Tommy John surgery. Jake Bennett will be pitching again after having Tommy John surgery. So we have a good stable of guys at the high Minor Leagues that are going to make an impact sometime in ‘25. But we have great depth in the mid to lower Minor Leagues, too, that is going to be the next wave of guys, special guys, that are coming up.

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MLB.com: A lot of people thought the Nationals were in the abyss starting in 2020. When did you realize that everything was going to be OK?

Rizzo: It shows the character of an organization when things were at its worst, and 2020 was a mess for just about every team in baseball. I think you have to be realistic with where you are at and what your situation is – not only at the big league level, but at the Minor League level. My job is to make tough decisions and sometimes unpopular decisions. In ‘21, when we decided to turn this thing over and start this rebuild, it was difficult to trade a Hall of Famer in Max Scherzer and a perennial All-Star in Trea Turner and then one of the great young players in Juan Soto (in ‘22). Those were not easy decisions. Those are sleepless nights before you do it. But you can’t be afraid and you have to follow your philosophy and plan and that’s what I did.

MLB.com: Now, a lot of people are talking about the Nationals fighting for a Wild Card next year. Are you thinking that way?

Rizzo: I just need to see improvement from our young players. We have to be strategic in what we have this offseason and allow this young core group of guys to get better each year. My goal every year is to make the playoffs and win a championship. … I can see the light at the end of the tunnel of making it realistic that [we] can compete against the teams in our division like the Mets, Phillies, Braves and even the Marlins. … A game like (Monday’s 2-1 loss against the Mets), we look at it as a learning experience, but there is going to be a time where we have to win those games. I think you are seeing the experience level of these guys. I can see it in their eyes and then their reaction in their tone after the game. I can see these guys learning how to win in those close games.

MLB.com: Do you see the team signing a Jayson Werth-type of veteran who can help the young players grow and win a lot of games like the team did starting in 2012?

Rizzo: I think we need to improve ourselves in any avenue we can. Free agency will certainly be one of the avenues that we’ll attack to improve. Also we have to look at the trade market and the development market. We have to be hitting on all of those cylinders to get us where we want to go.

MLB.com: Are you looking for a first baseman?

Rizzo: I wouldn’t keyhole us at first base. We need some offense. We need a couple of bats that can hit in the middle of the lineup and take the onus off some of these good young core players and assist them in the run creation of our offense. We have the core players to be middle-of-the-lineup hitters. If we add a bat or two into that group, it takes a little bit of pressure off everybody and everybody can relax a little bit more and develop into the players we think they are going to be.

MLB.com: When I talk to you, I can’t help but think about your dad, Phil, who was a great baseball scout. Like him, you have proven that scouting still works.

Rizzo: Scouting is the backbone of this whole thing, man. Evaluation is the key. What we have done here is, we have married the analytics with the eye test. The human element is as important here as it is anywhere. We pride ourselves on that. Scouts and player development make this engine run. We often see the finished product in the big leagues, but what people don’t see is the thousands of ground balls being pounded by some coach in the 100 degree heat in Florida or riding the bus from Fredericksburg to God only knows where. I was on those buses when I was a player and as a kid. So I have a real affinity for guys who work in the game as scouts, coaches and trainers. These people are the forgotten ones in the game. I think we’ve shown here that we appreciate it. We utilize it and we incorporate it in our total philosophy on player acquisitions and player evaluations.