The Washington Nationals are in the very early stages of establishing an entirely new front office. With their most pivotal offseason in a very long time just getting underway now, the Nationals and their fans know that there is a lot of work to be done in order to return the organization to its former glory as one of the most consistent competitors of the 2010s.
New faces are in place, such as the team's new President of Baseball Operations, Paul Toboni, and he himself came over from the Boston Red Sox with some rave reviews from those who worked with him. He has already had to make a ton of tough decisions, including almost entirely cleaning house from the current front office, but it's hard to disagree with the decisions and choices he's made so far.
But now, after it became known that Mike DeBartolo, the team's interim General Manager from the 2025 season after his predecessor Mike Rizzo was fired, was granted an opportunity to stay within the organization, people began to wonder how the rest of the front office would shape up. It now appears we might have a little bit more clarity into how that might look with the newest member of the organization.
That new member comes in the form of Devin Pearson, who has been with the Red Sox as well since 2017. Pearson has spent the last 3 years as the Director of Amateur Scouting within their organization, and has spearheaded the team's draft room for the past 3 drafts as well. Him and Toboni have worked together for awhile now, and it's clear that Toboni has a lot of trust in him, and coveted him as his right-hand man.
Similar to Toboni, Pearson comes over with a ton of praise from those who know him and have worked with him, with many people who cover the Red Sox wondering how the team will replace both Toboni and Pearson. They are both seen as huge losses within their walls, with Pearson being noted as a "very strong talent evaluator" and an "up-and-comer" by Joe Doyle, who has a pretty strong finger on the pulse of what goes on within a lot of organizations.
The bottom line is, Paul Toboni is clearly taking his time in getting this front office arranged for future success for years to come. While we certainly are all patiently awaiting any sort of news regarding the managerial search, if Toboni takes a similar approach, he will get himself and the organization a true home run hire.