McGowan started in baseball with the Yankees as an analyst in 2019 before moving to the Mets as an analyst in 2021. He rose through the Mets’ front office for five years and was promoted to data science manager earlier this year. McGowan’s work at the club has primarily focused on the draft, and he will continue in a similar role at the Nationals as he takes over his new club’s amateur scouting force.
The hire follows an offseason that focused on overhauling the Nationals’ front office and coaching staff after Paul Toboni and Blake Butera were hired to replace Mike Rizzo as head of baseball operations and Dave Martinez as manager, respectively. Butera has made a number of additions to the coaching staff in the weeks since his hiring, while Toboni has retained interim GM Mike DeBartolo in an assistant GM role, while former Pirates director of amateur scouting Justin Horwitz has also been added to the organization as an assistant GM.
The Nationals’ focus on bringing in front office talent with a history in scouting continues with the hiring of McGowan. Toboni himself, of course, started his career with the Red Sox as an area scout before rising through the ranks to become an assistant GM during his time with Boston. That his front office staff has thus far reflected that experience is hardly a surprise, especially considering the Nationals remain entrenched in a lengthy rebuild that began in 2021. James Wood has emerged as a core piece of the future and some other players have shown promising, even controllable pieces MacKenzie Gore And C.J. Abrams Trade candidates continue to be heavily speculated, with no end in sight to the club’s rebuilding phase.
That makes strong scouting, drafting and development decisions a must in the coming years as the club looks to dig itself out of the hole it currently finds itself in. Bringing in minds like Toboni, Horwitz and now McGowan should help in that effort to bolster the scouting credentials of the Nationals’ front office, and the hope is certainly to build out a robust farming system around top prospects. Eli Williams, Travis SykoraAnd Jarlin Susanathe latter two of whom could theoretically make their MLB debuts sometime during the 2026 campaign. That’s especially important considering that the Nationals’ previous high-end draft picks under Rizzo haven’t always worked out in recent years. Dylan Crews was selected second overall in 2023 and certainly has a lot of potential, but he has yet to prove himself as even an average hitter in the Majors. Elijah Greenwho was selected fifth overall by the club in 2022, is an even bigger question mark as he has struggled to hit even in the lower minors and has not yet reached the Double-A level.
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