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Nationals Add Another Key Member to Their Front Office With Latest Hire

Originally posted on Washington Nationals on SI
By Brad Wakai | Last updated Oct 24, 2025 7:50 PM ET

It's now clear what new Washington Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni wants to get accomplished during the early stages of the offseason.

After determining who from the previous regime would be sticking around and who would depart, he has started to make his first hires to build up his front office staff. The first two were notable considering they were plucked from the Boston Red Sox, Toboni's previous regime.

Devin Pearson, who will become an assistant general manager with the Nationals after serving as the amateur scouting director with the Red Sox, was hired before Andrew Wright, Boston's minor league field coordinator, was brought in as a special assistant to Toboni.

It was also revealed that Mike DeBartolo -- the interim general manager after Mike Rizzo was dismissed -- was retained, although it's not clear exactly what his role is going to be at the time of writing.

Nationals Make Another Front Office Hire by Poaching Justin Horowitz From Pirates

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Toboni wasn't done there, though. According to Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post (subscription required), the latest hire made by Washington is Justin Horowitz, the amateur scouting director of the Pittsburgh Pirates who will now become an assistant general manager in D.C.

This is the latest indication of how Toboni wants this franchise to be run, with him putting a major emphasis on scouting and identifying talent so the Nationals can have a constant flow of up-and-coming young stars.

Horowitz Has Boston Red Sox Ties

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It shouldn't surprise anyone that Horowitz also has ties to the Red Sox based on Toboni's previous hiring history. And despite Horowitz officially coming from the Pirates, he got the majority of his professional experience in Boston.

After starting as a baseball operations intern in 2012, he became an assistant of amateur and international scouting. From there, he worked his way up the ranks on that side of things, becoming an area scout for three years from 2015-18, a crosschecker of special projects from 2018-2020 and then a special assistant in the amateur scouting department until he took his most recent role with Pittsburgh in November 2023.

Horowitz and Toboni spent nine years together with the Red Sox, and naturally, the two became good friends. Now, the former is joining the latter's front office as an assistant general manager, bringing his drafting acumen with him to the nation's capital.

While the track record of Horowitz in the role of scouting director is limited to just two drafts, he made some notable selections with shortstop Konnor Griffin now sitting as the No. 1-ranked prospect in the entire sport, alongside 2025 sixth overall pick Seth Hernandez coming in at No. 27 overall.

Once again, this is an exciting hire for the Nationals and this fanbase.