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The Nationals are finalizing a deal to hire Paul Toboni from the Red Sox as their new head of baseball operations, ultimately choosing to bring in an up-and-coming outside voice to lead the organization rather than staying in-house.
The deal with Toboni is not done yet, but sources familiar with the move confirmed the 35-year-old has been selected by the Lerner family as the choice to replace Mike Rizzo, who was fired as president of baseball operations and general manager in July after 16 years in the position.
Still unclear is Toboni’s new title with the Nationals, whether he is named president of baseball operations, general manager or both, and whether he’ll have a GM as his second-in-command, whether that’s current interim GM Mike DeBartolo or someone else.
No official announcement has been planned yet, but the club has hoped all along to be able to introduce its new head of baseball operations just before or immediately after the season ends Sunday, with Major League Baseball discouraging teams from holding major press conferences during the postseason (which begins Tuesday).
Toboni was one of at least seven reported candidates for the job, joined by DeBartolo, fellow Red Sox assistant GM Eddie Romero, Dodgers senior vice president Josh Byrnes, Cubs GM Carter Hawkins, Guardians assistant GM Matt Forman and Diamondbacks assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye. From that group, only Byrnes (a D.C. native) had previously held a full-time job running a baseball operations department (both Arizona and San Diego).
