Sep 27, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals outfielder James Wood (29) and Nationals outfielder Jacob Young (30) celebrate with Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams (5) after their game against the Chicago White Sox at Nationals Park. Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Paul Toboni Sets Lofty Goal for Future of Nationals Organization

Originally posted on Washington Nationals on SI
By Cameron Zunkel | Last updated Oct 2, 2025 7:00 PM ET

With the 2025 regular season over, the Washington Nationals are making changes in their organization. Those changes started in the middle of the year when Washington fired GM Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez. The team has now hired a new president of baseball operations, Paul Toboni.

Toboni revealed his first move as president is to hire a new manager. Miguel Cairo is the current interim manager, but it is not a guarantee that he will be the choice to lead the club in 2026.

The Nationals want to fill their managerial opening as quickly as possible and there are plenty of viable candidates, including Cairo.

Finding a manager is the first task towards a much bigger goal, though. Toboni took to social media to let Washington know his much larger plan for the organization. The new president wants to "create a scouting and player development monster" in the nation's capital.

a word, mister president pic.twitter.com/SnAVqj0Etm
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) October 1, 2025

The Future of the Nationals

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Washington has not made it back to the playoffs since winning the World Series in 2019. In the six seasons since, the Nationals have finished fifth in the National League East five times, including this past year. Clearly, changes had to be made.

Washington has had top pick after top pick, but their season outcome does not seem to get any better. In fact, if the Nationals were not ineligible for a top pick, they would have the third-best odds to have the first overall draft pick in 2026.

With all the top picks they have had, Washington has built a great farm system. This makes development incredibly important.

Young Prospects in the Nationals System

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Scouting and player development are arguably the most important steps towards bringing the organization back to the postseason. The Nationals are going to need plenty of it as their system is filled with talent. Three of their top 30 prospects are in the MLB top 100 prospect list.

Of those 30 prospects, 11 are under the age of 20. Three of those 11 are 17 years old, including their top prospect, Eli Willits. With players that young, development is something the Nationals need to take seriously.

In addition to those prospects, Washington has plenty of young talent at the big league level. James Wood, Dylan Crews, Daylen Lile, Robert Hassell III and Brady House are all under the age of 25.

Development does not stop once the players get to the Major League roster. These are the type of players that have to continue to get better and perfect their craft. If Washington wants to win in the future, they have to develop players at all levels.