Washington Nationals

Washington Nationals

The Nats learned that their internal philosophies must change. Ownership recognized this and fired both Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez in July of 2025. The timing of the firings was unexpected. Most Nats fans expected Darnell Coles and Jim Hickey to be let go before Davey. Almost all fans could've agreed that none of the firings would be in-season. It showed an urgency from ownership that change needed to happen, and fast.

The Nationals announced Thursday that infielder Trey Lipscomb went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Rochester. Washington also reinstated catcher Drew Millas, lefty and righties Trevor Williams and Josiah Gray from the 60-day injured list. The Nats currently have five openings on their 40-man roster. Lipscomb, 25, was the team's third-round pick in 2022. He's seen limited MLB time in each of the past two seasons, struggling to a .206/.272/.237 batting line in 215 turns at the plate.

The Nationals are set to hire Justin Horowitz as an assistant general manager, as first reported by Joe Doyle of Over-Slot Baseball. Previously the Pirates' director of amateur scouting, Horowitz will now work under Washington's new president of baseball operations, Paul Toboni. Toboni, like Horowitz, has a background in amateur scouting. In fact, Horowitz worked under Toboni in the Red Sox's amateur scouting department for several years. That's surely no coincidence.

Arguably the biggest obstacle the new front office will need to tackle and address moving forward is player development, which was called out as being subpar by ace lefty MacKenzie Gore before the end of the season. Anyone who watched or paid attention to the Nationals this past season at any level could tell that the team had talent, but lacked proper infrastructure to be able to adequately support high-end development.

The Washington Nationals are in the very early stages of establishing an entirely new front office. With their most pivotal offseason in a very long time just getting underway now, the Nationals and their fans know that there is a lot of work to be done in order to return the organization to its former glory as one of the most consistent competitors of the 2010s.

Mitchell Parker emerged in 2024 as a major surprise, debuting in the big leagues after just four appearances at Triple-A Rochester before going seven scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in just his second start at the MLB level. Things looked good from there--minus a July 13 disaster where he was unable to escape the first inning, Parker managed a 4.01 ERA in just over 150 innings as a 24-year-old.

Paul Toboni speaks and acts like a modern president of baseball operations, with a first-day swagger and commitment to building a " scouting and player development monster." He said everything he should have said Wednesday morning, when he was introduced as just the third head of baseball in Washington Nationals history. Take him at his word, and it's easy to fall in line behind him and believe he'll update the front office and develop a thoughtful, organized, clear structure

The Washington Nationals wrapped up another disappointing season, finishing 66-96 and in last place in the NL East. For the first time in years, though, real changes are underway. The organization parted ways midseason with longtime manager Dave Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo, and just hired 35-year-old Paul Toboni as President of Baseball Operations. As the front office takes shape under Toboni, the Nats still expect to add a new general manager.

The Washington Nationals' tumultuous 2025 season will finally draw to a close this afternoon, and for many of us fans who have endured the hardships of this season, it's a huge relief. It should be an emotional afternoon, as the Nationals have a chance to send longtime legendary announcer Bob Carpenter into the sunset on a high note, but now another layer has been added to the game.