Aug 12, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; A Washington Nationals hat and glove in the dugout before a game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Peter Aiken-Imagn Images

How Will Losing Blake Butera to Nationals Impact Rays Going Forward?

Originally posted on Tampa Bay Rays on SI
By Nick Ziegler | Last updated Oct 30, 2025 11:55 AM ET

As the offseason is set to start soon for the Tampa Bay Rays, the organization recently lost a talented coach to the Washington Nationals.

With the World Series set to conclude soon, the Rays will have some decisions to make in the next few days regarding some of their key players. It shouldn’t be overly complicated for them to decide on what to do with options for Brandon Lowe and Pete Fairbanks, but what they will do following will be interesting.

While all eyes will be on what the roster is going to look like, Tampa Bay’s organization recently took a significant hit with the loss of Blake Butera, who was recently hired to be the new coach of the Washington Nationals.

BREAKING: The Washington Nationals are finalizing a deal to hire Blake Butera as manager, sources tell ESPN. Butera, 33, will be the youngest manager in MLB in more than 50 years. In four seasons as a minor league manager in the Rays organization, his teams had a 258-144 record.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 30, 2025

At just 33 years old, this is a massive opportunity for Butera and a bit of a risk by the Nationals. Despite his young age, the former Rays coach is at least older than every current member of Washington, but not by much.

Butera has been a part of Tampa Bay’s organization for the last 11 years with his role being on player development and as a coach for the minors. Considering the success that he has had as a coach and the talent that has come up from the minors, there is reason to believe that Butera is going to thrive.

Blake Butera Will Thrive in Washington

The Nationals are coming off a bad year once again and will be looking to make a fresh start with a new manager in Butera and a new front office as well. Since winning the World Series in 2019, Washington has been near the bottom of the standings in the National League ever since.

They do have some young talent on the team, led by James Wood, but player development has seemingly been an issue. The rebuild for the franchise is taking a long time, and they don’t appear like they are going to be competing anytime soon.

Hiring Butera is going to be a move for the long-term and not the short-term based on the state of the franchise currently. The Nationals will be hoping that he can help develop some of these young players who might be underachieving.

While it might be a bit risky to hire a 33-year-old to be the manager, Butera is coming from an organization that develops talent really well and might be the guy to change the culture back around in Washington.