The Washington Nationals have been busy making moves in all sorts of capacities throughout the entire offseason so far. After having so much to do before taking the field again in 2026, the organization has already crossed a lot off their list so far this winter.
After bringing in Paul Toboni to be the new leader of the organization moving forward as the President of Baseball Operations, he had to completely start from scratch in terms of finding a big league coaching staff that is current with modern teachings. This is something the previous regime lacked, and it ended up costing them their jobs in the end.
Toboni went out and hired Blake Butera, just 33-years-old, to be the new skipper for the Nationals, and the two of them have been hard at work building out their new coaching staff for the upcoming season. The Nationals had been arguably the worst coached team in the sport over the last few seasons under previous manager Dave Martinez and his staff, so hopefully things will be different.
One thing is certainly different between the new hires and the old ones, and that is the overall age of the recent hires, as well as the number of coaches that are going to be involved with the club. This is now the largest uniformed coaching staff in the history of the Nationals' organization, and their newest hire is another younger mind on the rise.
That would be Shawn O'Malley, not the famous UFC fighter, but a former utility man most known for his time with the Seattle Mariners awhile back. He is just 37-years-old, not much older than any of the other coaches the Nationals have hired this offseason, and he will be serving as the other new assistant hitting coach. Alongside him will be Andrew Aydt, who was hired earlier this offseason for the same position.
The coaching nucleus figures to be a strongsuit for a club that certainly was lacking in the department overall, and while it remains to be seen just how much the club plans to spend in free agency this offseason, you certainly can't sit and act like Toboni has done nothing but sit on his hands. If the coaching has to come in and be established before bringing in premium free agents, there is a very logical argument for that here, but much time still remains before Opening Day for that to change.
What do you think of the Shawn O'Malley hire by the Nationals? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.