One of the youngest teams in baseball now has the youngest manager in baseball.
The Nationals are finalizing a deal to make 33-year-old Blake Butera their new manager, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported.
Butera has been in the Rays organization since the franchise drafted him in 2015.
After parts of two seasons as an infielder, he moved over to coaching.
The Boston College product spent four seasons as a manager in the minor leagues, amassing a 258-144 record, and then was promoted to the senior director of player development in 2023.
Butera takes over a Nationals franchise that has been adrift since winning the World Series in 2019 — finishing fourth or last in the NL East in each of the last six seasons.
The Nationals fired manager Dave Martinez and GM Mike Rizzo in July on their way to a 66-96 season.
Washington, which has third-youngest roster in MLB with an average of 26.2 years old, does boast some young talent.
James Wood, 23, is one of the more promising young outfielders in the sport after hammering 31 home runs last season.
CJ Abrams, 25, has become a steady starting shortstop after being the prized return in the Nationals-Padres Juan Soto trade in 2022.
According to Passan, Butera is the youngest MLB manager hired in the past 50 years.
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