The Nationals are expected to hire Blake Butera as their new manager, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. Butera had been the Rays’ Senior Director of Player Development for the past two seasons. He spent four years as a minor league manager with Tampa Bay.
As Passan points out, the 33-year-old Butera will be the youngest manager since Frank Quilici in 1972. It’s been a theme for the former Rays’ farmhand. After a couple of seasons as an infielder in the low minors, he moved to the coaching side, taking over as skipper of High-A Hudson Valley in 2018.