00:00We finally got this prattle. Why did it take so long to get this press conference from Blake Butera, the new manager and the youngest manager in Major League Baseball history?
00:09Or first, let's hear from Butera, who had his press conference and talked about joining the Nationals and taking over the reins.
00:16I obviously enjoyed my time managing with Rays. And then when they brought this next opportunity up to me, it was something that was obviously on a broader spectrum with a lot more players, a lot more staff members to oversee.
00:28I think it was something that gave me a much better perspective of how to build an organization from the ground up and what goes into creating a winning culture, creating a winning team, creating a winning organization.
00:41And, you know, I think when this next opportunity came about, I always loved being on the field. I love the competition. I love being with the guys every day. So this is a no brainer.
00:50Yeah, I think I mentioned earlier, just the culture is the biggest thing. I think we create an environment where players feel challenged at all times, but also supported.
00:58It's something that's really important and something that Tampa Bay does a great job of. They're always going to be up front with their players in terms of what their deficiencies might be.
01:09But there's also an art to it where you don't just tell a player what they need to get better at.
01:13You tell them where we view them, where we think they can get to, and then make sure we support the heck out of them to get them there.
01:19And then, Rob, it shouldn't be a surprise that more staff members from the Rays are being poached because naturally when you've won as much as they have over the last decade or two, you're going to want to replicate that.
01:32We've seen that go on all across Major League Baseball, but Butera is young, Aram.
01:37Like, this is beyond anything that we've seen before. What do you make of this hiring here?
01:43And, you know, honestly, if they can do a good job in free agency and some player acquisition, they should be okay because they've got a ton of nice young talent, nice little core.
01:54And that's why I like this approach. I think, you know, we see the coaching carousel so often.
01:58And I think with a younger team is bringing in a manager who's been around the block.
02:03Is that really going to be what connects with some of these young players?
02:07I don't know. And I think we kind of saw that that kind of wasn't the case with some of the issues that they had at times with some of their younger players staying focused.
02:16But I also think it's similar to the trend we saw and have seen in the NFL where it's like those forward thinking, younger, offensive minded coaches that become very popular.
02:26I think there's a similar aspect to it in baseball here where you have guys that have been in the trenches and player on the player development side, understand what is required to get up to the big leagues and kind of make that adjustment.
02:39And I think this is the right guy to potentially be able to usher guys up there to do that, because at the end of the day, they need to convert a lot more of their young talent coming through the minor leagues.
02:47If they're going to anywhere where they need to go and where they want to be.
02:50And I think the player development focus and a younger a younger manager who's going to align with the very young core probably makes a lot of sense.
02:59Yeah. And you look at the core, as you said, it's very young.
03:01They haven't been able to build around them. That's been the issue.
03:04But they have C.J. Abrams, James Wood, who, of course, has been fantastic, was in the All-Star game.
03:09Dylan Cruz, Luis Garcia, Mackenzie Gore got off to a great start last year.
03:12D.J. Hurds. Let's also not forget the Nationals had the number one overall pick in the draft.
03:17They took Eli Willett. So eventually he will come along, too. So they're in good shape there.
03:21Within the division, though, I think this is where the issue is, Aram, is that, look, I mean, when you have the Phillies and Mets and the Marlins came off a great year and they finished ahead of the Braves,
03:31the Braves, you know, run differential said they should have won 85, 90 games.
03:35I mean, I guess they probably will next year. So Washington, Aram, no matter what, could be at the bottom.
03:39But I think it sounds like they're sort of prepared for that next year, too.
03:43Yeah. And it seems like we'll talk about kind of the rumor mill and stuff like that.
03:47Mackenzie Gore could potentially be expendable. And you wonder if they just it feels like the rebuilding a rebuild.
03:53But at least you see some of these young pieces here. And I think they just realize it's going to be a process.
03:57So we might as well invest in a younger manager, see if he can blossom with us as well and and try something a little bit different.
04:04And I don't hate that with the new regime here in the Nationals front office.
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