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The Washington Nationals are set to go outside the box with their reported managerial hire.
The team will hire 33-year-old Blake Butera as their new skipper, per multiple reports. Butera would become the youngest person to manage in the big leagues since 1972.
Frank Quilici was also 33 years old in his first season as manager of the Minnesota Twins.
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Hudson Valley Renegades manager Blake Butera posts the lineup before Wednesday’s game at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill on July 10, 2019. (Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal via Imagn Content)
Butera had previously been the senior player development director for the Tampa Bay Rays. He has named to that role in October 2023 after spending four seasons managing in the minor leagues.
In his first season as manager in the minor leagues, he was just 25 years old. Over those four seasons, he had a 258-144 record with four first-place finishes. In Butera’s last two seasons managing Low-A Charleston, he won league championships and went 170-82.
Butera transitioned to coaching after spending two seasons as a player in the Rays’ minor league system. Across his two seasons in the minors, he had a .235 batting average.
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Blake Butera (10) of Team Italy poses for a photo during the Team Italy 2023 World Baseball Classic headshots at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan, on March 4, 2023. (Mary DeCicco/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
He was drafted out of Boston College in the 35th round of the 2015 draft. Butera played four seasons at BC and was the team’s captain.
The Nationals fired manager Davey Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo in July. The pair had helped lead the franchise to a World Series title in 2019.
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Hudson Valley Renegades manager Blake Butera poses at Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls, New York, on June 12, 2019. (Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal via IMAGN)
Martinez had a 500-622 record across nearly eight seasons at the helm. Interim manager Miguel Cairo had a 29-43 record after Martinez was fired.
The Nationals hired former Boston Red Sox general manager Paul Toboni in September to replace Rizzo. They hope the combination of Toboni and Butera can help lead the Nationals back to the World Series.
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