“I think we’re a little ahead of schedule,” general manager Mike Rizzo said of the Washington Nationals’ rebuild when asked for a progress report by 106.7 The Fan on D.C.’s Sports Junkies in the first week of September. Told.
“I really like this Double-A club with a lot of prospects,” Rizzo said, referring to the Harrisburg Senators’ roster, which features 2021 first-round draft pick Brady House.Ranked No. 3 on MLB Pipeline’s list Nationals top prospect), 2023 first-round pick Dylan Cruz (No. 1), Robert Hassell III (Ranked No. 8, he was acquired in 2022 in the Padres’ deals for Juan Soto and Josh Bell.), James Wood (No.2 also came from San Diego.), more.
“The last three drafts have really had a positive impact on our farm system,” Rizzo continued.
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“I like the young group of players at the Major League level. I think we’re going to increase our win total from 55 wins this year to eventually 71 wins, which I think is a positive aspect of the rebuild. And we When you look at the core group of six or seven players that the team already has and the impact-type players who are in the minor leagues, not far from the big leagues, you can’t help but be pleased with how the rebuild is going. I do not think.”
“And since July of 2021, when we began this rebuild, we must see light at the end of this tunnel, because we are ahead of schedule for the original rebuild in 2020. Because I think there are,” he added. ’09, ’10, ’11. ”
[ed. note – “Managing Principal Owner Mark Lerner echoed these thoughts when he spoke to MASN’s Dan Kolko late this past season, telling Kolko he thought the Nationals were in a good place in terms of their rebuild heading into the offseason.
“I think the future is very bright. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Lerner told Kolko:
“I just think over the next few years, there will be really terrific change to get ourselves to another level. You have to also remember one other thing, when you’re comparing us to other organizations who have done this, we’re probably going to do a full turnaround faster than any team that’s ever done it. Most of the teams are 8-9-10 years, and some of them haven’t even turned it around yet.
“We’re only in the second full year of this, and we see a lot of promise. I really believe in the next two years we’ll be back in the playoffs.”
“I really believe the future is bright here for us,” manager Davey Martinez said after signing a multi-year extension in the nation’s capital.
While the sixth-year skipper was happy with the progress in the organization and the effort of his big league club, he said there was a need to instill a message in the minds of all their young players.
“They need to understand that we got better,” Martinez explained. “We progressed a lot, and we got to be ready to go next spring.”
Martinez was happy with the effort from his club, but he said they need to take the next step going forward.
“They fought every day. They didn’t quit. Played hard for 27 outs, and that’s all I can ask from these guys, and they did get better, so I’m excited about this winter, what can happen, and then coming into Spring Training with a lot of these guys, the future guys that we have and the guys that are coming up. It’s going to be a fun winter and I’m looking forward to Spring Training.”
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“We know what’s coming at the minor league level and the prospect level,” Rizzo said in his own press conference once he too got a multi-year extension with the club. He pointed to the young pitching (MacKenzie Gore, Josiah Gray, Jake Irvin), the core of position players in the majors already (Luis García, CJ Abrams, Keibert Ruiz, Lane Thomas, and some young-ish prospects who came up), and the older arms in their bullpen they found around the league and turned into effective relievers, and said, “That’s an exciting young team.”
“You put that together with the [Jake] Ars of the world, and [James] with woods [Brady] I can see why there’s so much excitement about housing and that type of thing and not only within our organization but within our fan base as well. Because they are seeing this timeline come to fruition. They see the end of the tunnel for this rebuild, and we’ve been through this before too, so there’s a timeline, there’s a blueprint for how this is going to work, and we’ve been through this before. Reflecting the restructuring, we hope that we can reach another 10 years of dominance in the near future. ”
And if evaluators identify areas of need at the big league level or within the system, it’s also important to take the next step to complement what the organization already has and compete again.
Will it start this winter? Will the Nats be active in the free agent and trade markets?
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“As far as this offseason,” Rizzo said in mid-September. At the minor league level, I can develop that position, so I think I’ll continue to operate as I have been doing so far. It remains to be seen at what level we will interact, but suffice it to say that we want to improve the team and are not satisfied with the jump in wins from last year to this year. And our goal is to win, and there’s never been a better time than now. ”
