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The Washington Nationals Hot Stove lunch is coming up on Saturday, January 31st for season plan holders. With no Winterfest again this year, this is the only chance for fans to hear directly from team upper management on the team direction heading into the 2026 season. <\/p>\n
Everyone wants to know, how much is the team payroll budget and how much will actually be spent? What assurances did the new staff receive that ownership will approve higher budgets, and who will be our starting nine on opening day?<\/p>\n
But those questions aren\u2019t going to be answered. And they probably do not actually know who their Opening Day starters will be. <\/p>\n
Below are some questions that might have a chance of getting a real response. In the past, the Hot Stove events have had three different basic formats that shifted over time: <\/p>\n
1) Originally direct fan questions, <\/p>\n
2) Then fans submitted questions ahead of time to be pre-screened and read by the moderator (e.g. Kolko), and <\/p>\n
3) In later years there were no fan questions, team management spoke with no fan input. <\/p>\n
At this point, plan holders have not been asked to submit questions, so it appears that maybe there is a chance to go back to a true Q&A forum. This could result in a dozen versions of demanding to know when is this team going to start spending again, which won\u2019t get a useful response and the guys on the stage won\u2019t be making that decision anyway. <\/p>\n
Below are a set of suggested questions for plan holders with the aim of eliciting actual informative responses. So far only President of Baseball Operations, Paul Toboni, and manager, Blake Butera are confirmed to be attending, but just in case, this includes questions for GM Anirudh Kilambi and President of Business Operations, Jason Sinnarajah. <\/p>\n
For Toboni: Often when new leadership joins a team, they bring in staff from their prior organization, instead you have brought in guys from about \u2154 of the league. Was hiring front office and coaching staff from so many other teams a deliberate strategy or did you just hire the best available and it worked out that way?<\/p>\n
How much of your management structure did you have in mind as you were interviewing for the job and how much are you adapting from experiences brought in by your new staff? <\/p>\n
What\u2019s the most surprising idea from around the league that you have heard so far?<\/p>\n
This team used deferred money contracts to build a World Series winner, but have been heavily criticized in the media for this practice, meanwhile the Dodgers are signing deferred money contracts in very large amounts. What is your opinion of creative contract structures?<\/p>\n
In a recent interview, you mentioned that great seasons by guys like James Wood<\/a>, Dylan Crews<\/a>, Cade Cavalli<\/a>, Daylen Lile<\/a>, CJ Abrams<\/a>, etc. could lead the team to accelerate the rebuild. About how many games out of a Wild Card spot at the All Star Break would you envision being a buyer?<\/p>\n On a recent TalkNats podcast, two of the Nats greats, Tyler Clippard<\/a> and Drew Storen<\/a>, discussed how the team grew very tight knit during the 2009-2011 rebuild, does building through adversity help to harden the team?<\/p>\n On that same podcast, Clippard and Storen mentioned how the team took a leap forward after drafting Strasburg and Harper. Building through \u21161 overall picks worked for this team in the not so distant past \u2014 and the Nats are eligible for the \u21161 pick again in 2027, is there any thought about being in the hunt for that pick?<\/p>\n A great man once said, \u201cChaos is a ladder\u201d, in DC we saw that during the NFL strike seasons in the 80s, are you working on a plan to better navigate the upcoming CBA negotiations better than the other 29 teams?<\/p>\n Is the team payroll budget going to be reviewed and agreed upon with ownership season-by-season, or is there a multi-season framework in which you are working? <\/p>\n Is money saved in 2026 added to the 2027 budget?<\/p>\n Mike DeBartolo is one of the few holdovers from the prior front office, he was trusted to make the \u21161 overall draft pick for Eli Willits<\/a>, one of the most impactful decisions that can be made by a GM. What is his role moving forward?<\/p>\n How do you deal with agents if you feel that they aren\u2019t negotiating in good faith?<\/p>\n For Kilambi: Shortly before you were hired, on Dec. 8, Paul Toboni said, \u201cHopefully, we surprise some people, and we\u2019re set to win a higher number of games going into 2027.\u201d and then on 12\/9 Blake Butera said \u201cif the early work is really good, these guys are developing their individual skills, I think that sets us up for 2027 being awesome.\u201d Was it your understanding when you were hired that the team is or isn\u2019t looking to be competitive until 2027?<\/p>\n You have the title of GM, in the past here, the GM was also the President of Baseball Operations, 100% of all roster decisions went through one person, moving forward how much control do you have over the 40-man roster and how much will you need to have approved?<\/p>\n With coaches and GM staff coming in from about 20 other teams and even internationally, are you having them contribute to scouting reports based on that same information from their previous organizations?<\/p>\n Any thoughts on creating a \u201cNationals Way\u201d, a set way of doing things to be taught to all upcoming players in the organization? <\/p>\n How do you compare having players follow a set approach for hitting vs a customized approach for each individual player?<\/p>\n Years ago, there used to be occasional Q&A sessions like this one here before games in the ballpark, but in recent years there has not been as much direct communication from management with the fans, any thoughts on taking direct fan questions versus communicating via the media?<\/p>\n When Jayson Werth<\/a> came to DC from Philly he famously stated that \u201cI hate the Phillies too\u201d, will you make the same statement?<\/p>\n For Butera: Many DC fans credit Jayson Werth<\/a>\u2018s veteran leadership for bringing a winning culture to DC. Is this something you are looking to add to the roster or do you think that the coaches can fill this role?<\/p>\n In every interview you\u2019ve had since being hired, you\u2019ve been questioned about your age and lack of MLB level experience. Do you feel any urgency to walk into the Spring Training clubhouse and establish your standing as a leader and not a peer?<\/p>\n You talked specifically about your players running a Hard-90 and getting maximum effort from the players, will there be punitive actions taken for players not hustling on the base paths or making mental errors?<\/p>\n With your background in the Tampa organization, fans are wondering how much of the Rays non-traditional starter usage will be employed here. Is there consideration for having an opener?<\/p>\n Would you consider splitting up games into smaller inning segments than the standard starter trying to go as deep as he can each game and possibly using tandem starters?<\/p>\n In a recent TalkNats podcast, Tyler Clippard<\/a> and Drew Storen<\/a> spoke of how Davey Johnson<\/a> was willing to lose games in order to stick to his game plan for relief pitcher usage, and he still set a Nationals record of 98 wins in a season. Do you see yourself giving your top relievers planned nights off while holding slim leads late in games?<\/p>\n You\u2019ve got coaches coming in from around the league, colleges, and baseball labs like Driveline, what made the Nats such an attractive place for coaches and how does that translate to making DC attractive for free agents?<\/p>\n For Sinnarajah: Fan events in the community have disappeared over the past 5-10 years while the team from Baltimore is holding promotional events right here inside the DC Beltway. No more Winter Caravan, no mascots handing out prizes at locations around town, no more away game watch parties, do you envision bringing any of these back?<\/p>\n Much of this team\u2019s marketing remains in place from when the Nats were making the playoffs on a regular basis, how do you envision bringing back fans over the next year or so while the team is still struggling (And please don\u2019t say bus in visiting fans as a strategy)?<\/p>\n Any thoughts about providing increased access to the blogger community as with prevalent here through the 2017 season?<\/p>\n Is there any consideration underway to restoring the post-game broadcast booth back next to the Red Porch?<\/p>\n The Nats Fantasy Camp down in Florida sounds like an amazing experience, any thought about hosting a shortened one-day version here at Nats Park during road trips?<\/p>\n The Nationals have a great partnership with local youth leagues, but not as much with the local youth softball leagues, any thought to balancing it out with the girls a little more?<\/p>\n The Nats have restrictions on bringing in water, even when the weather hits 90+ degrees, isn\u2019t the health of your fan base more important than profiting from selling water?<\/p>\n The ballpark can be really noisy, not the fans, all of the constant pumped up loudspeaker noise. Any chance we can get quiet nights on Mondays?<\/p>\n