President of baseball operations Paul Toboni explains why the Washington Nationals reversed course and hired a general manager
The Washington Nationals kicked off the Blake Butera era win a 10-4 win at Wrigley Field on Thursday afternoon behind an encouraging Opening Day performance from both Joey Wiemer and Brady House, while Cade Cavalli impressed in his first nod of the season. The win opens the season with some optimism for a franchise that has been discussed by multiple outlets as a contender for the worst team in baseball in 2026, but it also marks the start of a new chapter for the organization.
Washington opted to turn to Paul Toboni to bring in revitalize the front office and direction of the franchise, leading Butera to be tabbed as the new manager roughly one month later. But at the time, it was unclear what roles Toboni would also move forward to fill. At first, the plan didn't have bringing in a general manager in the cards. But that changed, instead adding more youth in a management role with Ani Kilambi, 31, eventually joining the organization in mid-December.
To Toboni, the addition of Kilambi to fill his first general manager role has strengthened the Nationals' analysis as they began the rebuild this offseason.
"When I said that at the start, I meant it. I think I was of the mindset that I was going to not hire one at least the foreseeable future, at the time. And then the more I just got to learn the skill sets of everyone internally, those that we brought in externally, I was like what I think we could, we could really use this, not just as a like a sounding board, but also someone that could really drive some of the areas where I think we could use some expertise and some help," president of baseball Paul Toboni said during a radio interview on 106.7.
Kilambi joined the organization after four seasons as the assistant general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, specializing in analytics, research and development while the Phillies saw investments in those areas double under his watch. For Washington, the investment has translated to improved on-field technology highlighted by the much-discussed Trajekt machines added in West Palm Beach, while Toboni added the team uses the Trackman systems to evaluate pitches.
"You're able to say like, okay, that breaking ball at 85 miles per hour, moving this many inches horizontally and this many inches vertically. Like this is how that pitch actually plays in the big leagues."
As for roster decisions, Kilambi joined the fold almost exactly one month before the Nationals opted to trade MacKenzie Gore before turning to the waiver wire to add possible options to the minor league roster, and at worst, to stockpile talent in Triple A. How much that translates to continued success will be the biggest question for a Nationals team looking to surpass preseason expectations of less than 70 wins, but it's been clear he's made an impression.
"Obviously, we landed on Ani and man, he's great. He's got - I think I said it when we hired him, like he's got a really unique way about him, where most things he walks into he is the smartest guy, but he doesn't like to let people know that he's the smartest guy."