Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
An age-old proverb, “Actions speak louder than words” rings true in sports. The hype machine means nothing. President of Baseball Operations, Paul Toboni, literally said “I hope that everyone in this room (at the Hot Stove event) judges us on the actual actions of the players and the decisions we make” and then there was a pause and Toboni added, “as opposed to whatever I say today” as if that shouldn’t count? Huh? This is Washington, D.C. People hang on every word. Toboni said it the day he was hired that we “keep score for a reason” and “accountability” is part of his culture.
And Paul, we expect that you will follow through with what you have said. We are your customers. We are adults in the room, not the 15-year-old you described as Paul Toboni the teenage San Francisco Giants fan.
Two weeks ago Toboni went on a few interviews, and can we hold him to whatever he said on those days? Because he said a lot. And we did a compilation of two key clips from those interviews below in which Toboni said, “By no means do we feel we’re set going into West Palm.” He was referring to not having his roster fully acquired for the start of Spring Training camp which opens officially in just four days. This is where time seems to fly — and Toboni is almost running out of time to finish the objectives that he set.
In the next clip, Toboni says, “We’re actively looking in that [pitching] market, and I think there’s a chance we can sign a player here in the next week or two. But we will see how the market evolves for these players.”
To date, the team has signed a total of one player to a deal above the league minimum $780,000 salary, and that money went to Foster Griffin, a starting pitcher, for $5.5 million. Yes, the team did make some arbitration deals too. But when they traded MacKenzie Gore, and his $5.6 million deal, the payroll reset to where it was at the Winter Meetings at $110 million. That is $30 million below where it was on Opening Day of 2025.
While spending isn’t everything, those season ticket holders at the Hot Stove that I attended (of which I am also a full-season ticket plan holder), many fans are upset that the team has not to this point signed some roster upgrades, and in particular, Ryan Zimmerman told Toboni on his 11th Inning Podcast, that the team needs a veteran leader on a 2-to-4 year deal, and added, “I’m not saying to go crazy to get the top of the [free agent] list — that would be cool too.”
Yes, getting a Jayson Werth type of player would have been great like the Nationals accomplished after the 2010 season. Watch this segment on the TalkNats Podcast with guests Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard that begins at the 5:20 mark and talks about building a winning culture with a leader who has been there. A good veteran player at a position of need on a 2-to-4 year deal like Zimmerman suggested made so much sense when he said it on Nov. 18 of last year.
Toboni had already mentioned both first base and catcher as positions of need. He would be correct, and he got Harry Ford in a trade at the catcher position. The dream of some to get J.T. Realmuto vanished quickly. None of the wish-list players happened unless Foster was on your list. Toboni also mentioned the need for more pitching. Yes, and as they say, you can never have enough pitching. But generally you want a position player as your clubhouse leader.
While the team added Matt Mervis to compete for first base on a minor league deal, and got Abi Ortiz in the Gore trade, plus internal candidates like Luis Garcia Jr., Andres Chaparro, and top prospect Yohandy Morales and Warming Bernabel, and besides Garcia, there isn’t anyone with a true MLB track record. That was a position of need identified by Toboni that obviously led to the rumors of Rhys Hoskins as a target — and those rumors proved to be a false alarm.
In fairness to TBone, he has four more days before camp opens in West Palm. Nobody wants to think that what we got are some unfulfilled words at this point — and too much losing before Toboni arrived. All of that leads to the frustration in the fan base. While some fans say it’s a Triple-A roster at MLB prices, that’s a bit of a stretch. However, we do need to see action from those words as well as discernible progress. Take me to your leader.
