The Washington Nationals hired the youngest general manager in Major League Baseball to start off an important offseason, and he is on the verge of going even younger with a big hire for the franchise.
Butera previously spent four seasons as manager for the Rays’ Low-A affiliate in Charleston, South Carolina, beginning as a 25-year-old and eventually winning league championships in his final two seasons.
The Nationals fired then-general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez in July, and named 35-year-old Boston Red Sox assistant GM Paul Toboni as their new president of baseball operations.
The youth movement follows a run of underwhelming seasons since Washington dismantled its 2019 World Series champion team. Toboni has tabbed Butera to help steer the team back into contention after finishing last in the NL East with a 66-96 record. But Butera is not the youngest manager in MLB history. There’s a front office legend with Hall of Fame credentials and a World Series championship among the youngest to ever manage an MLB game.
Here’s a breakdown of the youngest managers in MLB history, according to Fangraphs and Baseball Reference (player-managers are not included):
Youngest managers in MLB history
- Harvey Watkins, New York Giants (1895): The youngest recorded manager in MLB history was 26 years, 72 days when he began a 35-game run as manager. He finished with an 18-17 record and didn’t manage in the big leagues again.
- Horace Fogel, Indianapolis Hoosiers (1887): The former sportswriter was 26 years, 132 days when hired and had a 20-49 record during a rocky tenure in Indianapolis. Fogel stripped Jack Glasscock of his captaincy, fined and suspended other players, accused umpires of “barefaced robbery’ and drank heavily, according to the Society for American Baseball Research. He later spent the beginning of one season as the New York Giants manager in 1902.
- Horace Phillips, Troy Trojans (1879): He went 12-34 after being hired at 26 years, 353 days and later managed the Columbus Buckeyes and Pittsburgh Pirates.
- Branch Rickey, St. Louis Browns (1913-15): Before he was known as a Hall of Fame executive for the Brooklyn Dodgers credited with signing Jackie Robinson, Rickey became one of the youngest managers in baseball history at 31 years, 272 days at the end of the 1913 season. He managed two more years for the Browns before a successful seven-year stint managing the St. Louis Cardinals preceded his eventual move to the front office.
- Dave Bristol, Cincinnati Reds (1966-69): He took over near the end of the 1966 season at 33 years, 22 days and served as the precursor to the Big Red Machine of the 1970s, finishing with records above .500 in each of his three full seasons as Reds manager. Bristol later had stints as a manager with the Milwaukee Brewers (1970-72), Atlanta Braves (1976-77) and San Francisco Giants (1979-80).
- Frank Quilici, Minnesota Twins (1972-75): Soon after the end of his playing career, Quilici was named Twins manager halfway through the 1972 season at 33 years, 27 days. He then managed three full seasons in Minnesota, finishing with a 280-287 career record.
- Blake Butera, Washington Nationals (2025): He would become the youngest MLB manager since Quilici more than 50 years earlier. Butera turned 33 years old in August 2025.
- Eric Wedge, Cleveland (2003-09): He was six years younger than any other MLB manager when hired by Cleveland at 35 years, 65 days. Wedge managed in Cleveland for seven years, including a run to the 2007 AL Championship Series. He also managed the Seattle Mariners for three seasons (2011-13).
- A.J. Hinch, Arizona Diamondbacks (2009-10): Before he won a World Series with the Houston Astros, the current Detroit Tigers manager was one of the youngest managers in baseball. Hinch was 35 years, 359 days when he first was hired as a manager at the MLB level and had an 89-123 record in two seasons. It took Hinch five years to get his next shot as a manager in Houston in 2015.
