The Nationals' search for a definitive replacement in the front office is in full swing.
The Athletic reported earlier this week that the team has contacted several active members of other MLB clubs' front offices, including Cubs GM Carter Hawkins, Diamondbacks assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye, and Dodgers senior VP Josh Byrnes. The report also indicated that these are by no means the finalists for the position, though it did note that former Twins general manager Thad Levine has not, at this time, been contacted by the Nationals.
Carter Hawkins
As was first reported by USA Today's Bob Nightengale and later confirmed by the Washington Post's Barry Svrluga, Cubs GM Carter Hawkins is among the Nationals' primary candidates for the position. Svrluga also indicated on Thursday that the team has begun meeting with candidates in person, and The Athletic reported that Hawkins has undergone a preliminary interview with the team.
Hawkins has been with the Cubs since the 2021-22 offseason, when the team hired him away from the Cleveland Guardians to make him the General Manager under President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer. Hawkins' tenure with the Cubs thus far has been contentious with Northside fans to say the least: for a team unlikely to retain the services of Kyle Tucker beyond 2025, his comments to ESPN in August about being unwilling to deal from the farm and sacrifice future production for back-end bullpen help left many fans disillusioned. A cursory glance at the replies to the aforementioned tweet by Nightengale provides myriad examples of disgruntled Cubs fans eager to see Hawkins depart the team as Chicago look to return to the Postseason for the first time since 2020.
It goes without saying that the Nationals are in a significantly different position than the Cubs. Washington isn't having discussions about the risks of trading prospects to acquire late-inning relief arms, they're trying to rebuild to a point where they can even dream about having those conversations to begin with. Hawkins' background with helping the historically cheap Guardians find success lends his self-proclaimed mission a little credence.
Amiel Sawdaye
Sawdaye, an information systems graduate out of the University of Maryland, was formerly a director of scouting with the Red Sox before joining Mike Hazen's Diamondbacks in 2016 in an assistant GM capacity, declining a General Manager role with Boston and spurning the Twins in order to do so. Sawdaye was also in the mix to replace Billy Eppler as the head of the Angels' front office in 2020. Amiel also served as the acting GM in Arizona for a brief period in 2021 when Hazen required a physical leave of absence.
Josh Byrnes
Byrnes has a dense resumé, working his way up to the scouting director position with Cleveland in 1998. The following year, he took on an assistant GM role with the Rockies, then jumped ship to Boston in '03. In the years following, Byrnes was the sole General Manager of the Diamondbacks, where he oversaw the NLCS-bound 2007 squad and hired current Tigers manager A.J. Hinch and oversaw the drafting of Max Scherzer and Paul Goldschmidt.
Byrnes also took the helm of the Padres in 2011 until a new ownership group cut him loose in 2014. In that time, Josh also oversaw the drafting of Trea Turner and Max Fried before joining the Dodgers as a senior vice president of baseball operations. Byrnes was also in consideration for high-end roles with the Mets, Cubs, Angels, Red Sox, and others at some point in time. It may be difficult to pry away Byrnes from the extremely successful Dodgers, but one can imagine it to be in the Nationals' best interest to bring in a voice that carries the Dodgers' philosophy to drafting and development, especially for a team that has struggled to produce impact bats from the draft and international amateur free agency.
Mike DeBartolo
DeBartolo, already the interim General Manager of the Nationals, is obviously also under consideration for the full-time position going forward. It's likely many Nationals fans would prefer to see the Lerner family hire from outside the organization in a change in direction from how the team has operated in years past, but DeBartolo will still get a fair shake in the positional search. Even if he doesn't end up with the role, it's likely that he remains in the organization as an assistant in a similar capacity to his position under former GM Mike Rizzo.
DeBartolo, who's been with the club since 2012, was named assistant to the General Manager prior to the Nationals' World Series-winning 2019 campaign. It's also possible that DeBartolo is named General Manager underneath a new President of Baseball Operations. Mike Rizzo served in both capacities as the head of the organization, but many clubs around the league are beginning to designate those jobs across two different individuals. It's unclear currently if that is the plan in the Nationals' search.
As far as other candidates go, the Athletic's piece on the Nationals' search indicates that the Cleveland Guardians declined to comment on whether the team's General Manager Mike Chernoff, who serves under President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti, had been contacted or interviewed about the position. Teams must consent to active members of their staff interviewing with another organization, and are not required to disclose whether or not they have to the media.
Who should take charge of the Nationals going forward? Reach out to us on Twitter @DistrictOnDeck and sound off with your thoughts.