Rizzo finally received his 'ultimate season'

Executive Access is running a series of throwback episodes from 2017, beginning this week with Nationals president of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo.

Mike Rizzo experienced the ultimate baseball high last October, watching the team he had assembled win the final game of the year. The Nationals’ World Series championship was the first in franchise history, their win over the Astros completing a vision the general manager had put into motion when he assumed his position in 2009.

What were the keys to Washington’s ascent to the top of the baseball world.

“We’re always looking forward,” Rizzo said in March 2017. “We’re in win-now mode, but also be competitive for the long term. We like where we’re at as far as an organization. We have a lot of key components that are locked up long term, we’ve got ourselves a fertile farm system that is going to be a feeder system for the big league club. We don’t look at windows; we look at the landscape as we’re going to be a championship-caliber organization for the long haul.”

The Nationals won the National League East in 2017, falling to the Cubs in a five-game NL Division Series. Washington missed the postseason in '18 after going 82-80, though the addition of Howie Kendrick on a two-year pact prior to the year would prove to be key an October later.

A bigger move would come after the 2018 season, when the Nationals signed Patrick Corbin to a six-year, $140 million deal. Adding Corbin to a rotation led by Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg -- who were both on long-term deals of their own -- gave Washington a potent trio atop the rotation heading into '19.

For Rizzo, inking a player long term comes with a risk-reward factor that executives must weigh heavily before making such a decision.

“You really have to know the player that you’re committing long term to,” he said. “You have to know their personality, their work ethic, how they’re going to react to this huge amount of money in this long-term deal. I think you have to be very, very careful with the personalities that you do it with. Ultimately, these long-term signings have to fit into your one-, three- and five-year plans and your long-term global look at your franchise. It’s never a win-now scenario with that because the commitment is too long. They have to fit into your win-now mode, but also your win-for-a-long-period-of-time mode.”

Rizzo had plenty of experience with top-heavy rotations, having been the D-backs’ scouting director when Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling carried Arizona to the 2001 World Series title.

“It taught me that talent wins,” Rizzo said. “We came back and ran Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson at them in Games 6 and 7. It shows how roster construction is what it’s all about in the GM chair.”

Rizzo had been preparing himself for his shot at the top job throughout his scouting career, so when he got his chance in 2009, he felt confident in his ability to be successful.

“I was always trying to think as a GM would think,” Rizzo said. “When I was named interim GM, I knew I had a great opportunity to put my fingerprints on the roster and try and change things for the better, bring some respectability and a winning culture to the franchise.”

Even after watching his team get to the postseason three times between 2012-16, Rizzo said on Executive Access that his club hadn’t yet had what he called “the ultimate season.” There was only one ending that would satisfy the Chicago native: to be the last team standing.

“There’s only one team happy at the end of the season, so 29 are unhappy,” Rizzo said. “We strive to be that team. Our goal is to have a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Last October, Rizzo finally got his wish.

Listen to the entire interview on Executive Access, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Art 19 or wherever you get your podcasts.