For the Washington Nationals front office, age is just a number – and that theme of renewal is now setting the stage for the team’s upcoming 2026 season.
“Been asked a few times on that,” Paul Toboni, the Nationals’ president of baseball operations, told InsideNoVa of the organization’s youthful leadership. “To me, it’s kind of just like it’s happened that way. Did we go into it like wanting it to turn out that way? Not necessarily – we’ve just been focused on going after the best individuals in whatever capacity that we identify them fitting well in. And it just turned out that, yeah, we have a few more younger folks than older. But certainly we weren’t going in with that intention.”
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., hosted the Nationals’ new leadership corps on Thursday alongside U.S. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va.-10th District, and other Northern Virginia lawmakers at the Library of Congress to celebrate the team’s impact on the commonwealth and its fans.
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., speaks during an event with Washington Nationals leadership on Jan. 15, 2026.
Representing the Nationals at the event – which also featured an assortment of baseball cards and memorabilia provided by the Library of Congress – were Toboni, 35; Anirudh Kilambi, 31, the team’s general manager; and new manager Blake Butera, 33.
All three were hired late last year and are the youngest occupants of their respective positions across all of Major League Baseball.
Kaine described himself as a baseball “fanatic” but lamented the frequent disappointment of being a Kansas City Royals fan, as a childhood native of the Midwestern town.
Kaine addressed baseball’s prominent role in the commonwealth, citing his oldest son’s name, Nat, as a testament to the senator’s knowledge of the local “Natitude” fandom “long before you guys” in a lighthearted remark.
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“We have a great minor league history, including the Fred Nats now in Fredericksburg,” Kaine said, “[and] a beautiful summer college league in the Shenandoah Valley … When you moved from Montreal into D.C., you’re our team. 61% of Nats fans are Virginians.”
U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va. 8th District, speaks during a Jan. 15, 2026, event with Washington Nationals leadership at the Library of Congress as U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., looks on.
Also in attendance at the event were fellow Northern Virginia lawmakers, U.S. Reps. Don Beyer, D-Va. 8th District, and James Walkinshaw, D-Va. 11th District, as well as former U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, a Republican who represented Fairfax County until 2008.
Subramanyam spoke to the need for additional youth fields in the 10th District to meet high demand.
“Virginia is baseball-crazy,” Subramanyam told InsideNoVa following the event. “We love the Nationals. I think so many kids grow up watching the Nationals and playing themselves. And now in Virginia, we have so many Little Leaguers, softball and baseball. So the Nats have been a leader in Virginia, and Virginia has been its biggest fan. So we’re going to continue to strengthen the relationship and support them all the way.”
U.S. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va.-10th District, delivers remarks on Jan. 15, 2026, at the Library of Congress, as U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., looks on.
Subramanyam’s 10th District includes all of Loudoun County – making up more than half its voters – along with all of Fauquier and Rappahannock counties and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park. It also includes the western half of Prince William County and about 15,000 voters in the Clifton and Union Mill areas of southern Fairfax County.
Following the event, InsideNoVa caught up with members of Nationals staff to discuss offseason preparation for spring training in just over a month.
Anirudh Kilambi, Washington Nationals general manager, looks on during an event at the Library of Congress on Jan. 15, 2026.
While Toboni and Kilambi wouldn’t disclose any strategic ambitions when asked about the potential for a new free agent first baseman signing and other roster moves, the pair expressed gratitude regarding the event.
“It’s always an honor to hear from congresspeople, from fans throughout the area, how much Nats baseball means to them,” Kilambi told InsideNoVa. “It’s just an incredible opportunity for us to get to engage with the nation’s history while generating excitement for this season of Nats baseball.”
Sean Doolittle, the Nationals’ assistant pitching coach, remained on the team’s coaching staff despite the July 2025 firing of long-tenured former manager Dave Martinez and former general manager Mike Rizzo.
Sean Doolittle, Washington Nationals assistant pitching coach, converses with U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., after Doolittle signed a bat for him.
Doolittle was nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award in 2016 while with the Oakland Athletics and then in 2020 with Washington. The prize is Major League Baseball’s most prestigious individual award, recognizing player efforts in community service and philanthropy.
The former relief pitcher and closer told InsideNoVa that, although based in D.C., the staff always has the commonwealth’s support top of mind.
“I went to college at UVA,” he said. “I know what the Nats mean to Virginia, having done a lot of community work in Northern Virginia with the public libraries, for example. We always get massive turnouts, can feel the support. And so, you know, we’re based in D.C., but we’re also Virginia’s team.”
A glimpse at the Library of Congress’ Washington Senators baseball card collection.
An authentic Babe Ruth baseball card belonging to the Library of Congress, originally sold by Big League Chewing Gum.