Point-CounterPoint: Who should Toboni Pick as the Nats Manager

Posted on October 13, 2025 by DonH

Andrew L.: I liked the idea before of promoting Matt LeCroy. I also listened to Paul Toboni in a recent radio interview about hiring a manager and giving him a second chance . For some reason, I think he was talking about David Ross, but who knows. I could see LeCroy or another minor league coach.

DonH: My first choice is still Mark DeRosa. His analysis of players on MLB Central is spot-on. The manager bug has bitten him. The issue as I see it is when he wants to make the jump.

Steve: My 1st choice was the first guy off the board (Skip Schumaker). Second choice would be to find a great minor league manager who excels in moving players up a gear to steal Toboni’s words. Then marry that coach up with a tactician with MLB managerial experience.

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Best laid plans can go awry; Don’t reinvent the wheel, just build a better one!

Posted on October 12, 2025 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
Photo by Steve Mears for TalkNats

The only way is up. The Washington Nationals pitching staff was so statistically bad at a 5.35 ERA that they set a mark for the worst in team history and second worst in MLB in 2025. If there is any good news is the fact that the FIP was 4.72 telling us that the defense in both their actual performance and positioning played a factor in the demise of the pitching staff.

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The Nats aren’t going to buy a championship — but the fans do deserve to see a financial commitment!

Posted on October 11, 2025 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

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Let’s Do this Again! Unused RCR Points? Let’s Bring More Holiday Cheer to Deserving Kids.

Posted on October 10, 2025 by DonH
Baseball Field – Photo by Warning Track Power.

Back in 2021, TalkNats started an initiative to collect items from the RCR program and donate them to the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy, which supports young scholar athletes from Wards 7 and 8 in DC. You can see our very first post about the effort here:

Donate Your Unused Red Carpet Rewards Points to the Nationals Youth Academy).

The initiative has continued and grown each year. Last year we made our biggest contribution ever to the YBA — 164,214 points. Your efforts and generosity have brought a huge amount of attention to Nationals Philanthropies (sometimes referred to as Nats4Good) and to the Academy. And of course, they have brought joy and fun to the kids. You can see pictures of the swag delivered to the YBA from previous RCR points drives at the following links.

Shoutouts Attached to Swag Make for Good Vibes.

Final Update to 2023 RCR Points Drive

The Kids Will Really Love it (2022 Points Drive)

This year, your RCR points expire earlier than ever before, at 11:59 pm on November 1. Once again, instead of letting the points vanish, we humbly ask that you donate your unused points to a worthy cause — The TalkNats RCR Points Drive for 2025, which begins today.

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What the Nationals Can Learn from 2025 Playoff Contenders

Posted on October 9, 2025 by Stan4Nats

The 2025 season did not finish on a good note for Washington Nationals fans and the organization. At 66–96 and their sixth successive year outside the playoffs, anger was understandable. However, seasons like this can be turning points as well, times to reflect, re-form, and learn from those who have overcome obstacles. The change in the Nationals organization is changing in a massive personnel turnover.

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What is the status with Miguel Cairo and the coaching staff?

Posted on October 9, 2025 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats

After all of the news broke yesterday that dozens of people whose employment ended with the Washington Nationals from the clubhouse to the medical staff to the front office, there are three prominent names remaining after the dust settled. Paul Toboni is the President of Baseball Operations, Mike DeBartolo who previously held the interim-GM title will remain with the team with a job title to be determined, and Reed Dunn who became the most senior person in the amateur scouting department will also remain with the team and his job title is to be determined. There currently is no head of the player development department. There is no manager or coaching staff named at this point.

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Even if you have money to spend for a player, he has to say ‘Yes’

Posted on October 8, 2025 by Andrew Lang

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Arb numbers give us a start to a payroll projection for the Nats

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

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Posted in Analysis, FreeAgents, Offseason, Toboni | Leave a comment

It’s not all about the money — but more money would help!

Posted on October 6, 2025 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

In the 2018 MLB Draft, the Washington Nationals first round pick was at №27, and the team selected Mason Denaburg. Yes, that was a bust — but truth be told, the pickings were slim at that point and Denaburg spent much of his baseball career on rehab from injuries. Picking at the back of the draft is tough. If you’re picking there, it usually means you made the playoffs.

But too often, and since the 2011 draft when the Nats selected Anthony Rendon at 6th overall, they haven’t scored on many draft picks. Even when the Nats made the right choice on drafting Lucas Giolito, they botched it in player development. You need to draft and develop well. On May 27, The Athletic published a scathing article about the Nats issues in scouting, drafting, and player development that might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.

The newly hired PoBO, Paul Toboni, spoke at length about setting the foundation. It’s not all about the money, it all begins with scouting, drafting, player development and yes, a little bit of luck. You can do everything right and get derailed by an injury. The problem is the Nats weren’t doing steps 1-to-3 well, and that is why Toboni is here.

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The Brewers go into the NLDS as a Moneyball spinoff and what we can learn from that

Posted on October 4, 2025 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

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