In the last few days, details have been dripping out about the Washington Nationals GM hunt. We talked about the reports that linked the Nationals to Cubs executive Carter Hawkins the other day. However, some new names have become public candidates for the job.
A couple days ago, the Athletic published a list of candidates the Nationals are considering. Hawkins was on the list, but there were more names. Those names included Josh Byrnes of the Dodgers and Amiel Sawdaye of the Diamondbacks.
These are two interesting candidates with two very different backgrounds, but have an interesting link. Josh Byrnes has actually been a GM before, but it has been a long time. Byrnes was the GM of the Diamondbacks from 2005 till 2010. After that, he took over the Padres from 2011 to 2014. Since then, he has been a key assistant for the Dodgers.
During his time in both Arizona and San Diego, Byrnes was a great drafter, but could never win enough games to hold on to his job. However, his drafting prowess helped the next guy who came after him.
In Arizona, he drafted the likes of Max Scherzer and Paul Goldschmidt. With the Padres, he drafted Max Fried and Trea Turner. He made some pretty disastrous trades, including moving Scherzer while in Arizona and Anthony Rizzo with San Diego. However, after over a decade in the Dodgers organization, you would think he has learned a thing or two. Byrnes also grew up in DC and went to St. Albans.
On the other hand, Sawdaye has never been the main man. He worked his way up in Boston, actually crossing paths with Byrnes, who was with the Red Sox before taking the D-Backs job. After his stint in Boston, Sawdaye followed Mike Hazen to Arizona. He has been Hazen’s right hand man ever since.
Sawdaye has gone from an intern with the Red Sox to a seasoned executive who could be a GM. Obviously, the Nats have a history of hiring from the D-Backs. Would they want to go down that road again? Sawdaye has helped build an exciting D-Backs team, but he would not be the flashiest hire. Like Byrnes, Sawdaye also has a connection to the DC area, as he went to the University of Maryland.
However, another candidate was linked to the Nats by Mark Feinsand. Unlike the last two guys who used to work for the Red Sox, Paul Toboni is a current Red Sox assistant GM.
He has worked for the Red Sox since 2015. Toboni has a background in scouting and player development. Over the last few years, the Red Sox have been good at those things. Players like Roman Anthony and Jarren Duran have created an exciting home grown core. The Red Sox have also created an effective pitching lab, with the rise of Payton Tolle being a good example of that success.
It is so much fun to see all these different names attached to the job. Clearly there is at least some level of interest around the league. Hopefully the Lerner’s can work through their interview process in a timely manner and find the best candidate. Whoever the new GM is will have a lot of work to do this offseason.
