12:21PM: DeBartolo will be staying on in Washington’s front office, Ghiroli reports in a follow-up.
12:19PM: Assistant general managers Eddie Longosz and Mark Scialabba won’t be returning to the Nationals in 2026, The Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli reports. These departures are two of what seems to be multiple changes made under new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, as Ghiroli writes that “several scouts and members of the team’s staff in Florida” are also on the way out.
It isn’t surprising that Toboni’s hiring has triggered a staff overhaul, as some prominent names left the organization even before Toboni was hired two weeks ago. Since the start of September, former scouting director Danny Haas and senior director of amateur scouting Brad Ciolek each left the Nats for jobs with the Orioles and Tigers, respectively. It is fair to wonder exactly how many members of Mike Rizzo’s front office will continue on with the Nationals under Toboni — most prominently, assistant GM and former interim GM Mike DeBartolo’s role with the team remains unclear.
Rizzo himself shook up the front office and player development staffs a few years ago, but Longosz and Scialabba were two of the longtime Washington staffers who stayed put. Longosz started with the Nats in 2010 and worked as the club’s director of scouting operations for the eight seasons prior to his elevation to the AGM and vice-president role in 2023. Specifically, Longosz was the assistant general manager of player development and administration.
Scialabba’s ties to the organization stretch back even longer, as he first joined the team in 2006. Working as the Nationals’ director of minor league operations from 2009-13, Scialabba took over the player development department in 2013 before becoming the assistant GM of player development following the 2019 campaign.
Is DeBartolo still the GM, or is he assuming a different role?
Assistant GM
Who will assist the assistant GM?
Assistant to the GM
Good. Wish them well but no offense – what they’ve all done the past 5 years has been horrendous
Even on the run up to winning the World Series the Nats had a terrible history of drafting and developing, besides Soto. That’s why the farm system was so bare that when Turner was out in 2021 that they had to bring in Alcides Escobar from the Royal’s organization to fill in for him. Imagine that, not having anyone in your entire organization to call up to fill in, even temporarily, at short stop.
Later it also contributed to having to start the rebuild with trading Turner as well as Max.
They didn’t get much back from the trade either. Keep in mind Robles was considered a better prospect than soto. Look how that turned out.