Nationals president of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo has been named 2019 Executive of the Year by Baseball America, the first time he has won the award. Rizzo built the '19 Nationals roster and delivered a World Series championship, the first for the franchise in its history, including time in Montreal prior to 2005.

The Nationals have been above .500 in each season since 2012 and made the playoffs five times in that span. Rizzo made a handful of moves before and during the season, including signing free-agent pitchers Patrick Corbin and Aníbal Sánchez, and acquiring fan favorite Gerardo Parra.

The Nationals hired Rizzo prior to the 2007 season as an assistant general manager. He became acting general manager in '09 and was given the full-time position in August of that season. Overall, Rizzo has been in professional baseball for 36 seasons.