Most significant stories of 2023: Lerners lose their patriarch

We’ve reached the final week of the year, so it’s time to look back at the Nationals’ most significant stories of 2023. We continue the series today with sad news that came just before the start of spring training: Ted Lerner’s death …

Ted Lerner was born Oct. 15, 1925, the same day the Washington Senators lost Game 7 of the World Series to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He would spend the next 94 years waiting to see a major-league ballclub from D.C. win the ultimate game.

Lerner was a smart and successful businessman, to be sure. He founded Lerner Enterprises in 1952 off a $250 loan from his wife, Annette, and built it into the largest private real estate company in the region. But his passion was baseball, and when the opportunity finally came for him to purchase the Nationals at 80, he didn’t hesitate to write the check for $450 million to Major League Baseball.

Lerner spent the next 13 years trying to build a championship franchise. It wasn’t always smooth, and mistakes were made along the way. But on Oct. 30, 2019, he stood on a makeshift stage near second base at Minute Maid Park in Houston and accepted the Commissioner’s Trophy from Rob Manfred, his lifelong dream realized at last.

“They say good things come to those who wait,” he said at the Nats’ victory parade that weekend. “Ninety-five years is a pretty long wait. But I’ll tell you, this is worth the wait.”

Lerner made it all the way to 97 before passing away Feb. 12. His death, while planned for by his family, nevertheless had significant ramifications for the future of the Nationals franchise that have yet to be resolved nearly a year later.

Lerner officially handed over day-to-day control of the club to his son, Mark, in 2018, but he remained a voting member of the ownership group along with his wife, children and their spouses. He continued to negotiate major contracts, such as Stephen Strasburg’s ill-fated $245 million extension following the World Series. And he was part of the family’s decision in April 2022 to explore the potential sale of the franchise.

That sale, of course, has yet to take place. Lerner’s death put a hold on business matters for a brief while, but in the months since there remains little indication a sale is imminent. Only one serious bidder reportedly has emerged in Ted Leonsis, and the longtime Capitals, Wizards and Mystics owner has not been willing to meet the Lerners' asking price for the Nationals, stalling negotiations.

All of this has left the organization in a state of limbo for more than a year and a half. General manager Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez each received contract extensions in August, clearing up their future, but a number of front-office officials and members of the coaching staff were let go or reassigned at season’s end, with less-experienced replacements assuming their positions in most cases.

The Nats’ payroll barely topped $100 million this season and ranked in the bottom third of the league for the first time since 2011. It’s expected to increase some in 2024, though that will mostly be the result of salary bumps for players already in the organization, not of outside acquisitions.

There are legitimate baseball reasons for this. A rebuilding club is going to be headlined by younger (and, thus, cheaper) players and isn’t likely to be a major player in free agency until it’s ready to win again.

But what will happen next winter? If the Nationals continue to improve on the field, if some or all of their top prospects reach the big leagues and form the foundation of a roster ready to win again, will ownership approve the signing of top-tier free agents entering the 2025 season?

We don’t know the answer for sure, because we don’t know for sure if the Lerners will still own the team by then. Mark Lerner has subtly suggested he’s still in this for the long haul and has given Rizzo the green light to spend when the time is right. But until it actually happens, it’s only theoretical.

For 13 years, the Lerner family wasn’t afraid to admit it desperately wanted to win a World Series title while its patriarch could still be a part of the celebration. That glorious moment came on a late-October night in Houston.

The family’s motivation since? That’s harder to discern. And the passing of the patriarch earlier this year only complicated matters.