"The fans are frustrated. We're all frustrated," DeBartolo said. "We have a lot of interesting, exciting young pieces to build on."

If the Lerner family conducts a serious search and decides Mike DeBartolo is the best guy, the fans will accept that. However, if they just hand DeBartolo the job, it will be a tougher sell. It would be yet another example of the Lerner family being lazy and taking the easy way out.

Nationals interim general manager Mike DeBartolo and interim manager Miguel Cairo are ready to try to turn around an organization that's had the second-worst record in the majors since 2020.