The Nationals will hire Justin Horowitz as assistant general manager, first reported by Joe Doyle of Over-Slot Baseball. Horowitz, who previously served as the Pirates’ director of amateur scouting, will now work under Washington’s new president of baseball operations, Paul Toboni.
Toboni, like Horowitz, has a background in amateur scouting. In fact, Horowitz spent several years working under Toboni in the Red Sox’s amateur scouting department. This is certainly no coincidence. To this point, Toboni’s first assistant general manager hire this offseason is Devin Pearson, who happens to take over his role as Boston’s director of amateur scouting in 2023. Toboni clearly wants to improve the Wizards’ draft stock — years of poor drafting almost certainly led to Mike Rizzo’s unceremonious ouster before last summer’s draft — and hiring Horowitz is a step toward that goal. While it’s difficult to accurately evaluate draft classes without the benefit of hindsight, Pittsburgh’s performance in the two drafts (2024 and 2025) under Horowitz has been widely praised.
The Nationals have made several personnel changes since Toboni was hired, with former assistant general managers Eddie Longos and Mark Sharaba among the casualties. Mike DeBartolo, Washington’s interim general manager between the Rizzo and Toboni eras, remains with the organization, but it’s unclear if he will join Horowitz and Pearson on the AGM or if he will take on a new role. DeBartolo has been in the Nationals’ front office for more than a decade, including serving as the AGM from 2019 until his interim promotion in July.
Athletic team It was originally reported that Toboni would name a general manager “soon,” but that was a month ago, so it’s unclear whether hiring a No. 2 is still a priority for the Nationals and their new chief baseball executive. Ironically, neither did the Nationals. amateur director He began scouting after Brad Ciolek was cut by the Tigers last month. Doyle said the team does still intend to fill that hole.
