Washington Nationals News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Brad Mills-Imagn Images

Nationals Send Clear Message With Hirings of Paul Toboni, Blake Butera

Originally posted on Washington Nationals on SI
By Brad Wakai | Last updated Oct 30, 2025 5:57 PM ET

The two biggest pieces of the offseason dominoes for the Washington Nationals have fallen.

After operating for about half of a year without a permanent manager or someone leading the front office, both of those positions have now been filled. And who was hired offers a clear idea of what this new era of Nationals baseball is all about.

First, the hiring of Paul Toboni to be the president of baseball operations was notable. Not only was Washington able to pluck an up-and-coming executive away from a historic franchise like the Boston Red Sox, but installing a 35-year-old to run this organization was a 180-degree turn from having Mike Rizzo in place for such a long period of time.

Front Office Creates Clear Vision of Their Strategy

Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

As such, who Toboni brought in to fill out his front office was also notable. Not only did he pluck some more people away from the Red Sox, but he added those with impressive backgrounds in scouting and development.

Because of that, it's now easy to understand exactly what the Nationals will be about in the short-term: they are going to identify talent and develop them from a young age until they reach their ceilings at the big league level.

While that was the direction the organization tried to go after they won the World Series in 2019, it became clear the previous regime was over their heads when it came to actually getting things back on track after undergoing a teardown.

It's not a given that Toboni and his staff will get Washington to the point where they are contending for division titles and championships, but at least there is a clear vision from the top about what they are going to accomplish in the near future.

Manager Chosen With Intent on Maximizing That Plan

Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC

At the time of writing, it's not clear exactly why Blake Butera was chosen by Toboni to be the manager of this franchise going forward. But considering his impressive history as a minor league skipper before getting involved in the player development side of things the past few years, this pairing makes a ton of sense.

Not only has Butera worked with and managed young players, but he's overseen the development of them inside a progressive organization that is the Tampa Bay Rays. And considering that's a similar direction Toboni wants to take the Nationals, it's easy to see why this could be a good pairing.

Nationals Are Entering Bold, New Era

Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

But beyond all of that, the hirings of Toboni and Butera signal one thing: this is a new era of baseball in the nation's capital that is ready to do things differently than they have in the past.

Gone are the days of being behind when it comes to analytics. Gone are the days of being behind when it comes to talent identification and development. Gone are the days of not finding any edge they can to beat their divisional foes and others around the sport. And gone are the days of not adapting to the modern game.

Toboni was brought in to completely overhaul the baseball operations team. And Butera was hired to get the most out of the young star players currently on their roster and coming up the pipeline.

This is an exciting time for baseball in D.C.