FULL INTERVIEW: Paul Toboni New President Of Baseball Operations On His Philosophy, What’s Next

FULL INTERVIEW: Paul Toboni New President Of Baseball Operations On His Philosophy, What’s Next

Welcome back to the 11th inning podcast with KCO and Zim, Dan Kulko, Ryan Zimmerman, and joined now by Paul Tabone, the National’s new president of baseball operations. Paul, you’ve been through the car wash today here at Nationals Park. You had the press conference, you had a radio interview, you met all the local media, and now you’re sitting down with us. You all right? We good? I’m all good. I’m I’m ready to go. This is like playing games in like late August, early September. This is the spot I’m in. But, uh, all good. Yeah. So excited to do this. It’s great to have you here at Nationals Park. You’ve been here the last couple days and uh settling into the new role and meeting a lot of people and probably drinking through a fire hose right now, but uh we appreciate you taking some time and sitting down with me and Ryan. Yeah, anytime. Looking forward to uh getting to know you guys and uh happy to be on. Yeah, I think it’s a fun time. Um obviously you have watched the club from afar and you know know how talented we are. Young talent. It’s a I think it’s a a cool group to be involved with because they’re still up and coming. We just talked before you came on about how like a lot of these guys it’s their first full year and you know they were developed. They came through the system. Some of them maybe came through a little bit faster than than normal but you know a guy like James Wood has a huge first half and then fans are like oh he’s struggling. What are you do? It’s like this guy has never even played Yeah. a like I don’t think fans understand like August is tough. pitchers figure you out. For them to just play the whole year healthy, to learn what it’s like to play at 80%, to learn that, hey, I’m James Wood. My 80% is as good as, you know, you have to learn how to get through those things. So, yeah, obviously we’re excited to have you. I think you’re a great guy to take this kind of organization to the next level or the we say nobody likes to call it a rebuild anymore, whatever it is. You know, you have a a good core group, good young core group of guys like as an executive as think what what in your eyes do you think takes those young guys to the next level? Do you surround them with veteran guys? Do you let them just keep going? Do you you know what are your philosophies on you’ve seen so many young guys go to the next level? What what in your mind thinks takes them to that next step? Yeah, so uh obviously I I didn’t play in the big leagues, right? uh you could probably speak to it a lot better than I could, but you know how I think about it is like uh honestly I think about the Boston team this year, right? And we had so many young guys coming up similar deal like Roman first year, Marcelo first year, even the pitchers, Connelly Early, Pton Toy, all these these guys and um you know, I think it starts with the staff, right? having a staff around them that can really support them. But then the player group, like they’re all aligned on like how you should carry yourself, how uh you know, you should not only hold yourself accountable, but hold others accountable, right? Um and then you mentioned the veteran presence like uh I think a lot about Bregman and what he’s brought to that group, right? And uh you know, you don’t know what you don’t know. I think when you’re young in the league, right? And once your eyes uh start to open a little bit, uh just break, but Trevor Story or whoever it might be, right? like, hey, you know, this is this is my Trevor’s routine, right? And I get here at this time and this is how I go about my work. And uh sometimes you make the assumption that the young guys know that, right? Or even like the the more veteran guys, some of them don’t, right? And so uh allowing them to to see that and uh you know, folding it into their routines or their games, I think is a huge thing. So, um, yeah, I mean, I think you nailed on the head, like we talked about this, too, like adding some veteran guys and teaching. It’s it’s unfair to ask James Wood or Dylan Cruz or these guys to thrust them into a leadership position in year one. Yeah. Like these guys are just trying to figure out how to stay stay in the big leagues. Like, it’s hard to get here. It’s even harder to stay here. They’re adjusting as the league adjusts to them. So to have them try and teach other people how to carry themselves or you know create a culture that you know you need guys like Bregman, you need guys like Trevor Story that have been through it. And you know in my opinion that’s the biggest thing that needs to happen. Like you can’t win with just talent. We always say too like you can’t put culture or character into an algorithm. Yeah. Right. And you can’t buy it either. So you have to do your research and get good guys. obviously talented players, but people that are willing to create that culture. And once you create the culture, we always used say you could bring in one or two guys that are a little Yeah. Outliers that might be super talented and they’re almost forced to conform and become part of the part of the group and you include them and you make them feel comfortable and then a lot of times you see those guys even get even better because they start to have fun. And you know, I just love what he said about Bregman and and Story and those guys cuz I think people discount leadership, especially in in baseball. We’re here every day. Yeah. We spend more time here than we do with our family for basically eight months. Y and you really have to care about the people that you play with. Yeah. And that’s the only way to win. So yeah. Hey, can I add one more thing? Yeah, Ryan. Like you can add whatever you want, buddy. on that point, like I think there’s another like really important element and that’s like when you have the veteran guy that you know is is aware enough to realize that whoever it is, whether it’s Dylan or James or Dalen or whoever, right? And like empowering them to be comfortable being leaders even though they’re young, like I think that is big because sometimes those guys that come in are on, you know, one or two year deals, right? And they’re going to be gone after a year or two. But, you know, making sure that that uh given their like standing and their presence, right? Like they feel um like they’re, you know, encouraging and empowering like other young guys to to really be leaders in the clubhouse. Like sometimes that’s all it takes for for whoever any of those guys, right? To say like, “Okay, I can take the bull by the horns here and be a leader here.” Yeah, we’ve talked about that quite a bit as well. Um I’m curious, we’ll we’ll get into kind of your organizational philosophies and all that that stuff in a second. I’m curious though um just about your upbringing. Uh you’re you’re from the Bay Area. You played variety of sports growing up. You played uh baseball collegiately, but tell us about yourself growing up and why baseball became this love and passion of yours when there were other elements in the mix that maybe could have steered you in another direction. Yeah. Um I guess going way back like my grandfather and my grandfather’s brother um played in the PCL like way back in the day. So, um, those teams like with Deaggio and Dolph Camille and like the San Francisco Seals, Mission Reds, like I don’t know if those team names ring a bell for you, but um, it was funny when I was young, like I remember reading a biography on Joe Deaggio and uh, hearing that you see my grandfather’s name in the book and hearing that like he taught him how to tie a tie. Like my grandfather was kind of like the older guy around doing that sort of stuff. So, to some extent like I guess it’s in my blood, so to speak. Um that said, when I was young and you know, my brothers were here today, my you know, one of my sisters, like sports was just everything we did. Like I maybe not all that dissimilar from you guys, but um baseball like I honestly I didn’t spend the majority of my time playing baseball. I played a ton of hoops. Um I was just playing whatever season it was, I was playing that sport, you know, and what a concept. Yeah, exactly. We need a little more of that in this day and age. That’s another podcast. Yeah. Yeah, we can do that, too. Um Yeah. Yeah. But no, like I thought I thought I was uh honestly uh I knew I want to play in college. Um I thought I was going to be playing hoops in college. And uh I was a a good hooper, not a great hooper. And so, you know, I I could have gone and played in like the Ivy League or like low to mid majors. And I was like, you know what, if I’m going to be a professional athlete, like I should probably try and play at a high major and baseball is probably my chance to do that. But uh on the baseball field, I think I was like a pretty good athlete that was just super green. Like I didn’t know how to play the game. Um, and uh, and so I went to Cal and ended up having a few hip surgeries and uh, didn’t get on the field a ton, but uh, but had a blast. I had honestly I had a blast until uh, so we went to College World Series in 2011 and uh, and Zim’s UVA Cavaliers uh, fed us both of our losses in the College World Series and we were on we were packing. Just got awkward. Yeah. I know, but it was a great experience and and met a ton of friends and um and I look back on on that time with a lot of fond memories. So So when did the the focus shift from I want to be a pro alete to all right that that door is closed? Yeah. I I want to attack this from a different perspective. Probably too late to be honest. Like I think like you know when you’re like that young like you just I think you have this naivity about you like it’s still going to happen, right? I was like I was probably a senior with like whatever 25 or 50 total plate appearances and I like thought I was like still going to be drafted or something, right? So, uh, senior year I was kind of like that oh moment where it was like I got to figure my you know what out. So, um, you know, I I liked school. Um, I was always uh, you know, I I uh was always like intrigued by going to a school outside of the Bay Area. I spent my whole life in San Francisco and then at Cal and Berkeley and um and I I was interested in business. So I ended up going to the University of Notre Dame which was like exactly what I was looking for, you know, like big football school. Southbend’s great, you know, and uh so I went there for for two years and um I was interviewing for a bunch of jobs and I found myself checking box scores in the morning. I love baseball so I was just like I I got to get back into this. I don’t know how it’s how it’s going to look, but I got to get back into it. Well, I don’t think you started too late. you’re 35 and you’re you’re in charge of a team. So, I think I think you made a decent decision. Um, you know, you were with Boston for a while. This could be a tough question, but I think it’ll lead to a lot of like what are some of the most important things you learned from your time there? Obviously, starting from down low all the way up to where you were, like what are like some of the key things you learned how to run an organization? What what matters most? you know, what are like kind of I guess your main values that that you’ve seen breed success because that’s a great organization. Yeah. Uh honestly, I think more than anything I said it in the press conference like you win with people, right? And uh you can talk all you want and I’m a big believer right in like driving process and having really good you know systems set up uh around the operation at the same time and culture right like huge believer in all that same time like it’s people that drive all that right and so getting the right people in the door with the right values um maybe heard me talk about it like I want people that that come in and add energy into the room uh whatever room they’re entering people that are humble and open-minded and I was joking with France and I was like man, like having people in the building that can like give a jab and take a jab and not, you know, not get uh hurt over it, like that’s important to me, right? It tells me you don’t take yourself too seriously, right? So, um and then, you know, folks that are competitive and folks of high integrity, like uh those things are also really important to me. So, uh I talked about it like, you know, it’s it’s a line that I’ve stolen from someone, I’m sure. Um but making the scoreboard visible, like I think that’s a really good thing. And I think like there’s some people that are scared off by it and some people that are you know driven by that like oh I got to compete and like that’s what we want you know. So um so yeah just you know it’s not just about getting people that fit those values. It’s about creating the environment where they can thrive in those those areas. It’s funny because a couple podcast recordings ago, Zim was talking about how uh like winning and losing is important and the people I think you said the people who don’t care about losing or if they lose they’re losers and and you know maybe maybe a little harsh but also some truth to that. Like the goal here is to win is to be the last of 30 teams left standing. And it seems to me like that it goes on a large scale but on a small scale too. If you care about winning the little things on a day in and dayout basis and you whatever your task is in whatever role of the organization you want to win that day that and you care about winning that task that day that that will breed that sort of competitiveness that can lead to organizational wins on the field and then hopefully in October. Yeah. Yeah, no doubt. Like and even like when you’re not having like the best year that you can have, right? Like uh let’s say you’re eliminated from playoff contention, right? Like that drive should still be in you, right? Like you should still be going out there and working your you know what off to um you know to to break up a double play or get down the line or whatever those things are. Like that’s being a competitor and like that’s uh that’s what we want here in in all of our players, but also our staff members too. Like uh you know, could you imagine playing for a coach that wasn’t competitive? like you’d be like what is going on here right so those things are really important to me and uh you know it’s just one of the many things I think we’ll prioritize here going forward also not to like suggest that like this hasn’t been prioritized in the past I haven’t been here I don’t know but um just moving forward like those are going to be things that we uh we prioritize yeah and I think you know I think every big league organization has certain standards and you know sometimes you just need a refresh and things like that but accountability I think is huge and I think it’s super important for the players to hold each other accountable. And you know, there was a lot said earlier in the year about how the coaches are doing this, coaches aren’t doing this. Like coaches are great and especially at the big league level, but like there’s something to be said for a player saying something to a player and a coach saying something to a player. And I think it always is more heavy when it comes from another player. Not that coaches aren’t the same, but you know, a manager has a job, a hitting coach has a job and all that, but when your peer, when your when your teammate comes up and says something to you, and also like you said, you have to be able to take that as a man and be able to receive the criticism, but also go back and not not become contentious, respond positive. I think the best the best teams are able to do that and have some conflict because conflict is good, but you know, I think accountability and like you said, the competitiveness is what breeds success. And I mean, if a young team like we did and you’re out of the playoff contention, like those guys, a lot of these guys had the opportunity of a lifetime this year to play a full season in the big leagues. Not that they didn’t deserve to be here. Yeah, nobody gets called up to the big leagues unless they deserve to be here. But whether you’re in the playoffs or not, you’re competing for a job next year, your livelihood, and just the ability to play in the big leagues. Like, you should never take for granted. There’s always someone that wants to take your spot. That’s what my dad always told me. He’s like, you’re playing third base, you’re playing first base, whatever. You’re in the big leagues. There’s only x amount of people that get to do that. Like, don’t let anyone take it from you. if someone comes and takes it from you, you should be able to go to sleep knowing that I did everything I could. So, I love that sort of philosophy and breeding competitiveness is what makes organizations I think take the next step. Yeah, absolutely. I I’ll say too like I think it starts really early like and uh yeah, you might not see the fruits of it for for years, right? But uh we talk about the draft like yeah we can all evaluate tools and you know performance in college or in high school whatever it is right but like really going the extra mile to learn what the kid and the family is about like yeah it might not pay dividends right away but you know two three years down the line like I think you’re going to be happy if you have a lot of like the right character guys in in the building um that can kind of drive that winning culture that we’re talking about. What I think is interesting about you as a president of baseball operations, a lot of times these days, it seems from the outside, and not to speak about this negatively, but uh people who hold this role might have an analytics background or they have an Ivy League education. Um, but they don’t they didn’t play the game at the at a certain level, the collegiate level in your case. um they might be into the data components of the game technology, but they don’t maybe have as much scouting or or one of one or the other. You have a blend of those things. You did play collegiately. Uh you do have an NBA from Notre Dame. You were an area scout. You modernized the Red Sox draft and development uh operations over there. How do you think that that maybe uniquely positions you to not just handle your responsibilities as president of baseball operations, but also coordinate through all these other elements of the organization? Yeah. So, uh I think first and foremost like it allows me to uh maybe empathize with everyone in their positions. Maybe not everyone, but like, you know, I know the feeling of like driving the six or seven hours out to Leach, Texas to go see a junior college player that’s probably not going to be a top 10 round pick, right? And uh I know the feeling of like, you know, hey, you feel like you’re uh on an island, right? Like as an area scout doing all this work, no one’s seen you do the work and you’re not having all that much communication with folks in in the office, whatever it is. Like those can be uh tough feelings, right? So like you empathize with the job, you also empathize with how important the work is, right? Um, and I would say the same thing about all our analysts and and those in the R&D department as well. Like, uh, I can imagine what it feels like if you’re, you know, working really really hard to help gain an edge for us and no one’s hearing you. Um, that’s, uh, it’s important for me to foster an environment where like whatever everyone’s role is, right, they’re two things. They’re really challenged in the role, right? But then they’re also really supported. like they feel like, hey, I’m pushing them uh or leaders are pushing them, but uh they feel like we got their backs. Like that’s uh I think that’s true for hopefully every uh position across the organization. Yeah, it’s like the hybrid that we always talk about. And you know, I think that’s what we’re starting to see. Baseball, everything kind of goes in waves and it swings back and forth. And I think, you know, we went super data analytical, which there’s a place for that. I think there’s, you know, there’s tons of value in numbers and statistics and you can gain edges and even if it’s a 3% edge, it’s 3% that you didn’t have before. But, you know, to hear you talk about the human element, you know, being empathetic, challenging people, like actually communicating and talking to people and um, you know, I think that’s what combi the combination of both of those is what makes you successful. And I always say you can’t put character, you can’t put that in, you know, things like that into an algorithm. Yeah. And I think sometimes people forget that obviously human beings play on the field, but human beings also run everything that you see as well. And if you’re just pounding away or you know like you said that guy that’s doing the data analysis for like hours and hours and hours and never gets to talk Yeah. to another human being like you just get burnt out. So, I think having the human element and hearing you talk about relationships and communication and to me that’s what’s kind of been lost in the last few years, communicating like going out to dinner with people you work with. Like, and we both have young kids. My my oldest girl is about to be 12, so now it’s like into like they don’t know how to talk to people. It’s like they they they know how to text. they know how to like and it they like go talk to someone like get to know your classmates or in this get to know your co-workers or get to know your teammates like that’s what I tell a lot of these young guys too it’s like go out to dinner with someone that you don’t know on your team like get know where they came from know what they like have a beer with someone and just hang out like you’ll be surprised what you get to know so it’s really refreshing just to hear and it’s coming back I’m not saying it’s just you but like just to hear people like get back to sort of not the way baseball used to be or sports used to be because obviously the stuff we’ve learned in the last 10 years is groundbreaking. I think it’s made the sport infinity times better, but like I think just going back to like being human beings again is I think in my opinion a great way to run an organization. It’s it’s kind of nice to hear it. Yeah, it is. Um, you mentioned in your press conference that you want to build a scouting and development monster, which sounds really cool. Like, I like that. I think a lot of people like that. Um, what what is that to you and how do you go about accomplishing that on a more granular level? Yeah. So, I think like what it looks like at the end of the line, right, is like you see Dalen and James and CJ and all these guys, right? Like graduating to the big leagues and having success, right? Like imagine where it’s just like uh you know they’re like being churned out like year over year after year where you have all this young talent just non-stop coming up to the big leagues, right? Like that’s what we want to get to, right? The unsexy part of it is like what takes place before that, right? Like entering the draft like it’s not chance that some of these organizations that are really good in the draft, right, like are really good and they’re really good over sustained periods, right? And if they’re drafting at the back of the first round pretty regularly. Yeah. Right. So, um, you know, so much of it to me, like I think circles back to like understanding the things that are are important and then having, uh, leadership in place that can really align the group on, hey, these are the things, these are the expectations out of everyone in their roles and my job is to hold you accountable to that, right? And like we talked about, like I’m going to challenge you, but I’m also really going to support you. Um, and uh, and you know, I think if we do that, like uh, I keep saying the line, but like this world will take care of itself. Like don’t worry about that, you know, just worry about the process piece. No different than if you’re a hitter. Like if you’re, you know, looking at your, and I get it, there are times when you do this, but if you’re looking at your slash line on the scoreboard every day, like it’s probably going to wear you down, right? But if you uh are sitting there really locked in on on the work you’re getting in every day and you’re staying disciplined of the things that are going to keep you good, like you’ll be fine, right? Just let your numbers be your numbers. It’ll work out in the long run. Yeah. And I just love, you know, going back to the draft and you’ve said this too, like the philosophy of this is how our entire organization works and you’re going to hire coaches, you’re going to hire developmental people that all align with that philosophy. and from the top all the way down to the bottom. When we draft a kid and he goes to wherever he goes, from that point, he’s going to learn what the Washington Nationals expect of their players, how we develop, you know, in low A when you go up to high A, the system’s going to be the same. Like, it’s hard. I don’t think people understand like a young pitcher, a young position player can go from spot to spot to spot and he gets two or three different places and is told two or three different things like and not all organizations are like that. I’m not saying we were like that before either, but like like it’s just hard for a young player to do that. Like when everything’s aligned and your philosophy is everyone knows what it is, not only is it easier for the players, but then talk about the draft too. like we all know what types of players the Washington Nationals now like and it’s easier to make them successful if you’re drafting players that fit into that profile and you’re not just like throwing darts at a board and everyone talks about the first two or three picks and those are great and you know those are obviously the fun picks that everyone talks about but I think the really good teams like you’re talking about if you’re going to churn players in in it like it’s got to be those sixth through 10th round picks where obviously They’re all talented, but I think like you said, you do the extra work to find out what type of person they are. You want the guy that like, you know, maybe you’re up 10 to four, but it’s his last bat and he’s two for four and, you know, instead of going two for five, he wants to go three for five. Like those are the people you want in your organization. Yeah. And you know, if you build that, it’s just then you develop those players that, you know, man, how do they keep doing it? It’s like, well, they hit on like their late round players as well. Yeah. Yeah. No doubt. Like, and what I will say too, like for for those that are in the organization, I what I think a lot about is uh you know, I I tell our coach or I told our coaches when I was in Boston, like if I were to just like randomly pluck any minor league player, right, from any team and just ask them, hey, what are your two or three top priority goals, right? Like players should be able to recite them like that, right? Like, uh, I need to control the zone better, right? And I got to work on my range defensively. Like just keep those things front of mind, right? Like so when I say like hey yeah we have to align across the organization 100% like from like a hitting pitching catching standpoint like you have to be aligned on like what we value but it’s also like what are the process pieces to make sure that like all these players are individuals right and like to get the most out of each and every one of them like we got to be locked in uh on communicating with them and educating them on what is going to help them get up here and be successful up here right so it takes a lot of work and a lot of energy and honestly I think that’s why a lot of people shy away from it, right? Which highlights the importance of um, you know, having the right people surrounding these players. Do you have a drafting philosophy of the type of player or the characteristics of actual onfield play that you’re looking for? Uh, you know, I I have like probably profiles that I prefer, but you know, I don’t think you want to stay too rigid to them, right? So, like you don’t want to I love like up the middle athletic guys, right? You don’t want to keyhole yourself, oh, I was up on this guy, right? like that’s uh that wouldn’t be smart, right? So, um I think uh yeah, like there are certain attributes that uh we will value, right? And a lot of the times that lines up with like uh how informed we are on like what we can develop uh once they’re with us and what we can’t with our feelings, right? And like ideally, if it’s working really well, we’re selecting on the traits that we have a really tough time developing, right? and then pouring ourselves into the areas where players might be deficient in these areas, but we’re pretty confident we can push guys in the right direction here. Right. So, uh that’s like a way simplified way of putting it. It’s not that easy obviously, but just generally speaking, like I think that’s how I think through it. Yeah. What’s next? What What are the You have a lot of things on your plate. You have a lot of things you need to accomplish. What are the the biggest things that you hope to accomplish in the next week, two weeks, three weeks? Uh, so there’s the whole like baseball side of it. Then there’s the whole family side of it, right? So, uh, I haven’t seen my family much, so I’ll probably take a little bit of a a breather and spend some time around my wife and kids, but, uh, you know, the baseball side of it, like I really just, uh, need to spend time around people and, uh, you know, learn who makes up the organization, right? And then, uh, I think just learn how we do things here, right? Like I, uh, I don’t want to, you want to balance two things, right? like you don’t want to rush to judgment uh on on certain things or in certain areas, right? But you also want to be pretty uh quick and decisive if there are areas that you think you can improve right from the get-go, right? So that’s a challenge of a leader. Like I think a lot of those times like that’s it’s not terribly easy, right? But uh but uh I think it all starts with just getting to know people and how we do things, you know. Awesome stuff. Yeah, good stuff. favorite thing that you said was I believe in looking at the scoreboard and I think you know every winning and losing isn’t everything but I think even in the minor league level like valuing winning like teaching those young kids that winning is fun and like to work together to win and we’re all here to grind together and you know individually like you said you’re going to you’re you’re developing the minor leagues and that’s important and we should do everything we can but like learning to win in the minor leagues I think has been discounted for a while and everyone’s worried about developing, which I get, but like winning like a double A championship. Oh, whatever. That matters. Like those kids get to like spray champagne and like that’s what you want them. You want to have those kids want to do that. Like there’s nothing like it. So yeah, you know, I think the scoreboard teaches you a lot of lessons. It teaches you how to play the game. It teaches you situations, but getting back to like, you know, winning and losing, like it’s a it’s just great. It’s so simple but like and then kind of lost its way for a little while there. Yeah. Yeah. I’ll take that one step further because I like wholeheartedly agree obviously I said part of that but the uh you know like there there’s been so much attention paid to uh development which is the right thing right like we got to develop these guys right a huge piece of that is placing uh emphasis and a level of importance on executing when you need to execute right so if you’re in the game and uh the situation calls for you to execute right and you don’t execute like that should hurt you know what I mean like you really feel that and like when you walk back into the dugout like you should feel like you let your teammates down like and it’s not like I’m not saying you should sulk over it right or you shouldn’t get over it but like it should be really important to you to execute for all your teammates right um because like that’s a part of what drives winning and winning is really important right so uh you know I think there are different layers to it but yeah at the tip top of the pyramid it’s it’s that like winning is is so much of why we’re in this so and the big wins and the little wins I tell the story all the time Daniel Murphy in the dugout I would hear all the time. If a guy would be fighting through a long at bat and he’d foul off a pitch, he’d go, “Yeah, win another one.” Like, “You won that pitch. Now go win another one.” Like, those are the sorts of little wins that can lead to the big wins. Um, I love hearing that. Let’s get to some rapid fires. You ready? Yeah. All right. For every guest, Paul, for every guest that we have on the podcast, we end the interview with what we call five walk-off questions from the guy that we around here call Mr. Walkoff because he had 11 walk-off homers in his career. So, Ryan has five walk-off questions. So the idea is here to to answer them quick. Yeah. Yeah. You can answer them quick, but you’re the president of baseball operations and they’re nothing crazy. So I do the first and the last I ask everyone. So the first one is like a motto you live your life by or something you learned along the way that has really had a huge impact in your career like you know something just a saying or something. I said it in in the presser, but uh it’s a Greg Papaich line like get over yourself, right? Like you’re not that important, man. So, I tell myself that. And I think like I don’t know if you’re looking for an explanation here, but I think like the reason why it’s so important, it goes back to what we were talking about, right? Like being able to like give a jab and take a jab. Like if you think you’re too important, man, like you can’t laugh at yourself, like you can go play for the other team. You know what I mean? So, 100%. Uh and I think just that humility and that open-mindedness like it blends in or it bleeds into other things as well, right? like uh so yeah, I think humility is a big part of uh you know hopefully what I try to embody um but obviously what we want the group embody going forward. Love it. Yes sir. So you’re new to DC. First place you want to go or first thing you want to see can be you your family like what there’s a lot of cool stuff to do here. Uh okay so I mean there’s monuments areas. So the my my challenge is I’ve already been to a lot of the different monuments here. I spent a decent amount of time here. All right. So what’s your favorite DC thing? I mean I think just going down to the mall and like running along like like running the stairs and you know you get there early in the morning and the sun’s coming up like that’s a cool feeling you know. Um but uh I think that’s a good answer. No it is. Okay. You you know what you’re doing. You know what you’re doing. Running running on the mall is it’s a pro move. Yeah. I don’t know anything about running uh crack of dawn, so I I won’t speak to that. But uh you you athletes can talk about that. You know, you got four young kids. What’s your favorite activity or trip or what’s what’s the favorite thing you’ve done with your family lately? Oh man. Um coming to the yard is is up there, you know what I mean? Um my oldest is six and he’s starting to really get into it and and that’s fun. Um he was It’s funny. I mean, they were wearing jerseys today and it said Taboni on the back and he was kind of pissed off that his didn’t say wood, you know, like he’s nice. So, I don’t know what that means, but that’s uh that’s one. But, I mean, we’re pretty we’re pretty uh easygoing folks, you know, like we uh I grew up going to Lake Tahoe. Uh I don’t know if you ever been to Lake Tahoe, but like we you know, being on the lake and just spending time with family and friends like that that’s important to us. So, awesome. So, yeah, I know it’s kind of a boring response, but it’s good. It’s great. How I feel. Um, all right. A lot of good food scene in DC. Now, what’s your favorite type of restaurant or what what’s your go-to when you uh when you go out to eat? Okay. So, um I feel like I know this scene here a little bit. Uh I’m not really going to answer your question, but I’ll tell you what I’m really excited for and related to all this. Uh Jose Andreas has the restaurant, right? That uh he was on the podcast earlier this year. Was he really? Yeah. Oh, that’s awesome. You two are in some uh pretty special company. Sweet. I love it. Podcast guests. So, doesn’t he he just opened up a new one, right? And isn’t it like a 12 person like uh I’m So, he has a bunch of them here. Okay. Yes, there’s Mini Bar. Mini Bar is the It’s like a 12 seat. That one’s awesome. Um he’s got a bunch of places. So, okay. Dan Dan knows everyone. He’ll hook you up. Yeah. I don’t know him personally, going back to Jose, but he just seems like a great dude. And Ryan does. Uh he will actually hook you right actually. He’s one of the best humans you’ll ever eat and tremendous. His food and his places are incredible. Um but yeah, that’s that’d be a fun one to go to. Yeah, I think too. Like I mean we work in baseball, right? Like what that guy is doing with, you know, the stuff away from his restaurants like is is much bigger than baseball and pretty darn cool. Just seems like a a great guy. No doubt. Yeah. I mean nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. So if you’re into that sort that’s kind of cool. Kind of cool. Um, all right. Last one. We asked this to everybody. What’s your go-to karaoke song? Oh, man. You’re not going to make me sing it, are you? No. No. No. No one. Not yet. Actually, did someone sang one, but we don’t need it. Uh, probably Tom Petty, Free Fallen. Oo, yeah. Solid. It’s a people pleaser. Yeah. Yeah. Solid. Yeah. Some people lock up. That’s good. I like it. All right, Paul. Uh, awesome having you here, man. Congratulations on the job. Welcome to DC and thank you for joining us on the podcast. It’s been really cool learning about you and we looking forward to uh learning more about you in the weeks, months, years to come. Yeah, sounds good. Appreciate it, guys. Looking forward to getting to know you better over the course of the next few months, years. So, uh thanks for having me on. Awesome, man. Take care. Good. Paul Taboni joining us on the 11th inning podcast with KCO and Zim.

The full 11th Inning Podcast interview with new Washington Nationals President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni, who joins Dan Kolko and Ryan Zimmerman to discuss his path to becoming MLB’s youngest president of baseball ops, building a scouting and player development “monster,” his family, and his incoming philosophy.

Full episode: https://youtu.be/Q-enFQ7XCoA?si=i17MRDshsy68GevZ

Listen to the full podcast on:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1iJD2NLqdqQqMVLuSCI1gu?si=mow6HBhDQry3F-QTqEWbXg&nd=1&dlsi=0d8e7969f7544c48
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-11th-inning-with-kolko-and-zim/id902526402
Megaphone: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/ENTDM3016621476
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