In late September, I wrote an article, which you can find here, that broke down four potential candidates for the vacant General Manager position with the Nationals. They quickly kept one of those candidates, Mike DeBartolo, in the organization as assistant general manager, a win because he did a fine job as the team’s interim GM in the short term. Then they cut another candidate from my list, Boston Red Sox director of amateur scouting Devin Pearson, except they were able to get him into the assistant general manager role, another win because it kept the GM position open for another strong baseball mind.
Well, Toboni has done it again, as he takes yet another name off my list as assistant general manager, this one being Justin Horowitz, director of amateur scouting for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Horowitz has run the draft for the Pirates for the past two years, and while it’s difficult to judge draft classes so quickly since they happened, the results so far have been fantastic, as in his first draft he selected Shortstop Konnor Griffin 9th overall, who is now one of the top prospects in the sport. He also selected prep right-handed pitcher Seth Hernandez 6th overall in 2025, who I think has the highest ceiling of anyone from that draft.
Horowitz grew up in California but has DC roots from his four years at Georgetown University, where he played club baseball and earned a degree in finance. He began his baseball career in 2012 as an intern with the Red Sox baseball operations and worked his way up through the Red Sox system to special assistant to amateur scouting in 2023. It was during this time that he crossed paths with Toboni, and the two became close friends during their 9 years together in Boston. In late 2023, Horowitz joined the Pirates as their director of amateur scouting, and while time will tell how his lessons will pan out, it already looks like he has some impressive hits on his resume.
With the first two assistant general managers hired by Paul Toboni as scouting directors, he clearly recognizes the need for change in scouting and player development in the Nationals organization. To build a strong foundation like the one in Boston, the team must be able to develop its own talent instead of constantly acquiring it from other organizations, and Toboni is bringing in some of the best young minds in the sport to make that possible for the Nats.
So with 3 of the 4 candidates for the General Manager position I wrote about in the Nationals organization, and none of them as GM, the question remains; who will take on the role of GM for the Washington Nationals? The final name from my previous article, Brian O’Halloran, would be a good choice for the position because he has experience as a general manager from the days when Chaim Bloom was in charge of Boston’s baseball operations. However, Toboni seems focused at the moment on bringing in “his” guys, people who fit his vision, and O’Halloran may not fit that vision because he’s an older guy and largely tied to a different regime.
With a figure from outside the Red Sox organization on Toboni’s staff in DC, perhaps Horowitz could provide insight into candidates from outside Boston who could be considered for the General Manager position, such as current Pirates front office members or front office people at various clubs he has crossed paths with. While I would still expect Toboni to once again look for “his” guy to fill the GM vacancy, it’s interesting that he brought in assistants who could help him fill that role first, rather than the other way around. Whatever happens, Horowitz is an excellent addition to the front office for the Nationals, and I’m already excited about the draft classes he, Toboni and the rest of the staff have put together in the coming years.
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