Apr 17, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Washington Nationals hats and gloves in the dugout against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the sixth inning at PNC Park. Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Nationals' Employees Slam Ownership of Franchise in Brutally Honest Interviews

Originally posted on Washington Nationals on SI
By Maria Aldrich | Last updated Sep 20, 2025 4:36 PM ET

In July, the Washington Nationals decided to fire manager Dave Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo. Their season was one of the more disappointing ones around the league, and the ownership group decided to make a change.

Because of that, the Nationals will have to start over for the first time in over a decade, with interviews for the open general manager job taking place as owner Mark Lerner decides who is going to lead this franchise going forward.

Washington has struggled throughout the 2025 campaign, but that isn't anything new. They have been one of the worst teams for several years, and this season has been no different. Beyond what's happening directly on the field, how things have been run are a hot topic within the MLB community.

But in a bombshell report from Barry Svrluga, Andrew Golden and Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post (subscription required), it's multiple former employees who have pulled the curtain back when it comes to the disfunction of the Nationals.

Jarring Criticism of Nationals Ownership Pour In

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The three writers conducted exclusive interview statements made by "over a dozen former or current Nationals employees and others around MLB" who are familiar with how the Lerners run their team, which is unprecedented insight into what has been taking place.

"It's so inefficient. When there's that many people in the room, it's hard to come to decisions in an orderly fashion," said one source.

The overarching theme of the situation conveys the idea that there is simply too much going on with little progress being made. There is a clear lack of direction, which consequently impacts the team as a whole to create an exhausting domino effect.

"How does [anything] get decided? Who who has input into it? Who is influential and who's not?" one sourced asked. "I couldn't tell you the first thing because I'm not in those meetings."

Lerner has flirted with the idea of selling the team in the past, but the family ultimately decided against it. There is an abundance of uncertainty surrounding the team's leadership at this time, but overall, there appears to be a great deal of ineptitude in relation to how the franchise is being run.

There is a lot that needs to change when it comes to the Nationals, and this report makes it clear that things at the top are affecting the product on the field.

"What's clear is that the only people with real decision-making power are members of the family: Mark Lerner and his brothers-in-law, Ed Cohen and Bob Tanenbaum; Mark's sister Marla Lerner Tanenbaum; and, to a lesser extent, Mark's sister Debra Lerner Cohen and Mark's wife, Judy," the story revealed.

That type of chaos makes it hard to pinpoint who is running what when it comes to this franchise. And it makes it clear why things have gone so awry following the passing of Ted Lerner in 2023.