The Red Sox are losing a key member of their front office.
As first reported by Jeff Passan and later by The Athletic, the Nationals are hiring Red Sox executive Paul Toboni as their new head of baseball operations.
Toboni, 35, has been a senior vice president and assistant general manager in Boston since Nov. 2023, when he was promoted from vice president of amateur scouting and player development after the Red Sox hired Craig Breslow to lead their baseball operations department.
He had reportedly been in the running to earn the general manager title that Breslow is reportedly looking to add underneath him, but instead, he will head to D.C.
Toboni replaces Mike Rizzo, who was fired along with manager Davey Martinez on July 6, and replaced on an interim basis by Mike DeBartolo.
Toboni’s role is yet unclear, as in if he will be a GM/POBO or just the latter with someone (perhaps DeBartolo) under him, but he was one of several reported candidates to lead the Nats’ front office – a group that also included a fellow Boston assistant GM in Eddie Romero, among others, and saw DeBartolo also interview.
In the hire, the Nationals get an executive with a proven track record on the scouting side, as he can count Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, Conolly Early, and Kristian Campbell among the draft picks made during his tenure leading the scouting department, as well as three key trade pieces: infielder Chase Meidroth and catcher Kyle Teel, who were part of the Garrett Crochet deal, and RHP Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, who was dealt to the Yankees for Carlos Narvaez.
Washington’s struggles in the Draft were unfortunately a hallmark of Rizzo’s tenure, as they have drafted and developed only two players since 2013 who have reached a career 5.0 bWAR – and both of them, pitchers Nick Pivetta and Jesus Luzardo, were traded before even getting out of Class-A.
That could change soon with Dylan Crews under control for five more years, among other young players, but Toboni’s track record does speak for itself.