Sell the team: Why the Washington Nationals are in a never-ending rebuild

On October 30, 2019, at 11:50 p.m., a 14-year-old me stood gleefully in front of my living-room TV as I watched my favorite team, the Washington Nationals, finally win a World Series title, defeating the Houston Astros 6-2 in game seven.

A storybook season that has all but been washed away in the minds of many because of the utter incompetence of ownership, the front office, coaching, and player performance over the past six seasons.

The Nationals are officially a bottom-feeder; the team has failed to make the playoffs since that beautiful night in 2019, coaching and player development have been lackluster, and the on-field product has looked like the Single-A Fredericksburg Nationals, much less the Washington Nationals. Everything has been a disaster, and Nationals Managing Principal Owner Mark D. Lerner should shoulder much of the blame.

Refusal to Spend Money

Mark Lerner has consistently refused to spend to complement the few young players who have developed, leaving the Nationals stuck in a cycle of mediocrity, constant deadline selling, and top draft picks.

The Nationals, in their 2019 World Series win, had a payroll of $200 million; this year, it’s $113 million, 25th in baseball, a total letdown to everyone who supports the team with their money.

When Ted Lerner handed the team to his son in 2018, the goal was to bring a title to D.C., but even with stars like Bryce Harper, ownership hesitated. Harper walked, and although 2019 temporarily covered it up, the same pattern followed—choosing Stephen Strasburg and mishandling his contract as well as his retirement, and watching it backfire on him and the organization was embarrassing.

The first rebuild only exposed deeper issues. Trades involving Trea Turner and Max Scherzer failed to deliver enough impact talent from a loaded LA Dodgers farm system, and instead of learning from that, the team doubled down by trading Juan Soto rather than paying him, the Soto deal was another strained relationship as the team leaked a reported contract offer of $440 million for 15 years that Soto had declined mid-season, the Nats hoped it would put pressure on Soto to sign but it backfired horribly.

Now, even as players like CJ Abrams and James Wood show real promise, nothing fundamental has really changed. The Washington Nationals still feel stuck in the same in-between state—never fully rebuilding, never truly competing, just cycling through short bursts of hope followed by familiar sell-offs and resets.

Whether that’s “insanity” or just ownership under Mark Lerner prioritizing caution over aggression depends on perspective. To fans, it can look like billionaire indifference—an unwillingness to reinvest enough to turn a promising core into a real contender. But whatever the label, the outcome is the same: a franchise that continues to drift, even as talent starts to emerge.

Incompetent Player Development

After the 2019 World Series title, the Washington Nationals weren’t just an aging roster—they were a team entering a rebuild with an organization that still thought and operated like it was a contender. The bigger issue wasn’t only the players, but how hesitant ownership under Mark Lerner was to fully invest in modern player development and infrastructure.

Under GM Mike Rizzo, Washington lagged behind the league for years in analytics and technology, and that wasn’t just a front office problem—it reflected an ownership group that was slow to approve meaningful investment. Even as the team slid into rebuilding years, the Nationals continued to underfund areas that teams like the Rays and Dodgers were using to consistently develop talent and stay competitive.

That reluctance showed in how long it took for basic modernization to arrive. Only recently, in 2026, did the organization begin seriously expanding its player development tools, including the Trajekt Arc pitching machine, which simulates real pitchers using advanced tracking data. For most teams, that kind of technology would already be standard; for Washington, it’s treated like a late attempt to catch up rather than a foundation already in place.

To me, it reinforces the same pattern. Even in a clear rebuild, the Lerner family’s approach has been cautious to the point of being reactive rather than proactive. Instead of leading change, they waited until they were far behind to invest in it, which is a big reason the Nationals’ rebuild has felt so slow and uneven.

Players like Elijah Green, Carter Kieboom, and Jackson Rutledge are prime examples of first-round picks that have bottomed out in the Nationals’ minor league system, and Victor Robles is an example of bad coaching and player development for players that are already at the major league level.

The Spoils System

Finally, the biggest issue over the past six years wasn’t just roster construction—it was how long the same voices stayed in control. For most of that stretch, manager Davey Martinez and GM Mike Rizzo kept their jobs largely on the strength of the 2019 World Series run, even as the team steadily declined. Under ownership stability from Mark Lerner, that success translated into loyalty that outlasted results.

The coaching staff also reflected that comfort zone. Martinez and his circle, including hitting coach hires like Darnell Coles, leaned heavily on familiarity over innovation, and the team often looked outdated compared to more modern organizations. Coles prioritized hitting the ball on the ground rather than getting it in the air for higher exit velocities and line drives. As the losses piled up, accountability never really followed.

More recently, that approach finally changed. After years of stagnation, the Nationals moved toward a more analytical direction, and players have credited improved hitter meetings and more data-driven preparation for the offensive turnaround. In 2026, they’ve emerged as one of the better offensive teams in baseball, with players noting the added value of modern information and in-game planning.

But that improvement also highlights what was lost. By waiting so long to modernize and eventually moving on from Rizzo and Martinez in 2025, the organization effectively delayed its own reset by years. The result is a franchise still paying for a long stretch where loyalty mattered more than performance—and progress came far later than it should have.

Is Mark Lerner just going through the motions with day-to-day hires, or is he now getting serious about winning baseball games?

The Future

Since the passing of Ted Lerner, the long-term direction of the Washington Nationals has only felt more uncertain. Attendance has dropped, the team has drifted further from contention, and it’s fair to question how committed the organization is to pushing forward rather than just maintaining stability.

From my perspective, the problem comes down to ownership. The Lerner family, worth billions according to Forbes, has consistently avoided fully investing in keeping elite talent or accelerating a rebuild when the team had a chance to compete. Instead, they’ve leaned into caution, cost control, and slow resets that never fully take shape.

Fans, players, and even the new baseball operations staff deserve better than that cycle. Washington is a major market with the resources and fan base to support championship baseball, but that only happens if ownership commits to it. Right now, it feels like the franchise is stuck between directions—half rebuilding, half trying to compete, and fully committing to neither.

Even with recent changes in leadership and more modern hires like Paul Taboni, moves like trading away key pieces such as Mackenzie Gore only reinforce the confusion. Each step forward seems followed by another reset, and it raises the same question every year: is this a real long-term plan—or just a cycle the Lerners are comfortable keeping in place?

Sell the team.