We cannot say that the contractual situation of Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo has been smooth sailing.
First, after manager Davey Martinez signed a two-year contract extension, the District of Columbia was expected to do the same with Rizzo.
Martinez and Rizzo were both at the helm when the Nationals won their first World Series title in 2019 against the Houston Astros.
Yet time passed and nothing happened at that level, to the point where the general manager was a potential candidate for the position that was vacant with the Chicago White Sox at the time.
But the matter is now settled. Indeed, after weeks of tight negotiations, the Nationals and Rizzo have agreed to a new contract extension that will make the executive general manager and president of baseball operations for more than one campaign.
Rizzo is leading a rebuild that is starting to take shape after a few more difficult years. Although they occupy last place in the National League East section, the Nationals are showing very encouraging signs in the second half of the season.
The latter will therefore be able to continue the excellent work he started, building this team around Keibert Ruiz, CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore, to name a few.
This is among other reasons why owner Mark Lerner chose to bring Rizzo back to Washington.
Mike and I worked together almost every day for 17 years. We worked collectively to transform what was essentially a depthless expansion team into a World Series champion. We are once again working hard to build a championship contending team. We now believe we have a roster full of promising young players at almost every position.
The future is bright for the Nationals and Rizzo can continue to contribute.
