It certainly was not the first time Blake Butera had been asked about his age. It certainly will not be the last. But on Monday, during a news conference for the new manager of the Washington Nationals, the third question about these circumstances — about being a 33-year-old in this role with no prior big league experience — well, that made him break a bit.
He grinned as his face reddened. He swayed in his seat on the dais as he waited for the question to finish. He chuckled under his breath, a chuckle that was drowned out by louder laughs from his dad and brother, who were sitting in the front row.
Making history as the youngest manager in more than 50 years invites these kinds of questions. No one seemed to be more aware of that than Butera, who didn’t seem to mind.
“When you talk with players and work with players, I think the last thing they look at is how old or young somebody might be,” Butera said. “What’s most important to them is do you care about them as a person first and are you going to do everything you can to help them become the best version of themselves on and off the field.”
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Butera on Monday was officially introduced as the eighth full-time manager in Nationals history in front of his family, Washington’s ownership group and a mix of old and new faces from a front office that is still being formed. The news conference came more than two weeks after he was hired. For good reason.
Becoming a first-time manager can be a whirlwind in and of itself. Adding to it: Butera’s wife Caroline was pregnant with their first child. He was offered a contract to become the Nationals manager before their baby, Blair, was born on Oct. 30. He signed it the following day.
Caroline was adamant their daughter should be at Monday’s event, though Butera joked, “the immune system’s not the strongest right now.” So his in-laws drove Blair up from Raleigh, North Carolina. And in a day she’ll never remember, Blair rested in the arms of Caroline, who sat close to a door, just in case Blair started to cry while her dad shared his vision for his team.
“We’re going to be committed to our process and a daily standard of performance,” Butera said. “That means focusing on improvement and excellence one day at a time, trusting that consistency is going to help us build something sustainable, not just for one year, but for several years ahead.”
Butera was a member of the Tampa Bay Rays’ organization for 11 seasons — two as a player in the minors and nine with the team’s player development staff. He managed in the minors for four years, never above Class A. His teams compiled a 258-144 record and won two championships. For the past two seasons, he served as the Rays’ senior director of player development. He didn’t have a timeline for returning to the dugout, but admitted he missed the daily competition in that role.
Early this offseason, Tampa Bay’s president of baseball operations, Erik Neander, called Butera. Paul Toboni, Washington’s new president of baseball operations, had requested to interview him for the manager role.
“Before I got the call that the Nationals were interested in talking to him, I thought we’d have the benefit of a little more time with Blake,” Neander said earlier this month, at baseball’s GM meetings. “Once I heard from Paul, and he described a little bit about what they were looking for, I got off the phone and immediately began to prepare for Blake being a National next season. And here we are.”
okkkk sooooo … he did a thing pic.twitter.com/TAmJpDB0Rs
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Butera was on Toboni’s short list of managers all along, then he got some advice from Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza. Piazza, who managed Team Italy in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, implored Toboni to interview Butera, who was his bench coach at the event.
So Toboni took a trip to Raleigh, because Butera’s wife was due to give birth soon, and the pair spent the day together. Butera thought they could build something special in Washington. Toboni felt their values for the organization aligned.
“We’re sitting in the car together and I was thinking to myself like ‘I could probably spend another two hours in this car,’” Toboni said.
Both will have their work cut out for them. Washington ranked 20th in runs scored and 29th in runs allowed last season. They finished with 33 outs below average, 29th in baseball behind only the Los Angeles Angels.
Washington still needs to complete its coaching staff, though Toboni said Monday that Sean Doolittle, Washington’s pitching strategist for the last two seasons, will remain with the team in a role that is still yet to be determined. Doolittle is close with new pitching coach Simon Mathews. Not to mention, Butera said every pitcher he’s talked to in recent days brought up, unprompted, the impact Doolittle has had on their careers.
Much like his young roster, Butera has something to prove. The idea of hiring someone so young wasn’t a concern of Toboni. After all, he’s 35, just a few years older. But throughout the process, Toboni has occasionally engaged in the following thought exercise: Who are the coaches that might be hot commodities in a few years — and how can he get them to Nationals Park right now? He believed Butera was one of those coaches. Only time will tell if he was right.
For all the challenges Washington faces, Butera is still excited about how much young talent he has inherited. In his phone calls with players, he’s found they’re excited, too.
“This group of players, everyone I’m talking to is like, ‘Yeah, we’re okay with where we’re at — but we have a lot more in the tank,” he said. “We’re not even anywhere near our ceiling yet.’”
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