The Washington Nationals have reportedly added a new piece to the front office after bringing on Jason Sinnarajah as the new president of business operations under president of baseball operations Paul Toboni.
Sinnarajah joins the organization after serving as the senior vice president and chief operating officer of the Kansas City Royals since 2023 where he oversaw the business analytics, ticket operations, technology and stadium operations departments. He also focused on the team’s relationships with the stadium food vendors where in 2024, Sinnarajah led efforts to revamp the Royals’ concession experience throughout the stadium.
“During nine innings, inevitably, nobody just sits in their seats,” Royals Chief Operating Officer Jason Sinnarajah said at the time. “They go for a beer, or they get some food, you bring your kids or families or a date. So, we want to be able to offer different items that cater to everybody’s tastes.”
Advertisement
Prior to his tenure with the Royals, Sinnarajah worked as the senior vice president of business administration for the Buffalo Bills for four years beginning in 2020 where he oversaw ticket and premium sales, stadium operations and strategy among other things. He also worked on efforts for the Bills while previously working with the Cleveland Guardians strategy and analytics team in the mid-2010s.
This will also be a new structure for the Nationals, per Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post, with Sinnarajah expected to report to president of baseball operations Paul Toboni and Chris Zaber, who was hired as chief revenue officer in August, reporting to Sinnarajah.
“The Lerners used an executive search firm and cast a net that covered different sports — including the NBA. Interviewed finalists in person. To some people on the outside, the hiring process seemed odd — not because the Nats didn’t need a person to lead biz ops, but because in August, they hired a chief revenue officer, Chris Zaber, from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sinnarajah doesn’t get to hire one of his key reports.”
While certainly an intriguing dynamic, especially with uncertainty around the future of the Nationals’ broadcasting rights with the MASN contract set to expire in February, it marks another pivotal hire for a Nationals organization going through a complete rebuild through the front office.
Advertisement
The Nationals previously hired Ani Kilmabi, former assistant general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, to become the new manager under Toboni and alongside manager Blake Butera.
“Kind of the calculus behind what made Ani such a great fit. I think it starts with the person. I know, I’ve said that a lot, but he’s got a great sense of humor,” Toboni said of Kilambi. “He likes to laugh. He can keep things light. He fits culturally with what we’re doing. But then also, Ani has a great ability I think to challenge and push us forward, but also not antagonize folks in the process. And I think that’s really important. Listen, Ani is really smart…I think there are a lot of really intelligent folks that struggle creating influence because they lack humility, or maybe they fail to see the other side of an argument. But Ani is a great listener and someone that I think will do a great job relationship-building, building trust in really all corners of the operation and that will lead to really trustworthy relationships which will eventually lead to great collaboration. So, I could probably go on for much longer.”