{"id":3846,"date":"2026-07-10T09:37:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T09:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846"},"modified":"2026-07-10T09:37:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T09:37:11","slug":"loverro-if-nationals-new-management-is-for-real-now-is-the-time-to-prove-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846","title":{"rendered":"LOVERRO: If Nationals\u2019 new management is for real, now is the time to prove it"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

OPINION:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eli Willits, the Washington Nationals\u2019 top draft choice from a year ago \u2014 the No. 1 selection in baseball \u2014 will represent the Nationals in Sunday\u2019s All-Star Future Game in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Read more Nationals under-the-radar stars Garcia, Griffin make All-Star push<\/a><\/p>\n

MLB Pipeline has named him the No. 3 prospect in baseball.<\/p>\n

The 18-year-old shortstop has been impressive, recording 77 hits, 12 home runs, 52 RBIs, 70 runs scored and 38 stolen bases in 69 games at two minor league levels in Single-A Fredericksburg and High-A Wilmington.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what Willits hasn\u2019t done \u2014 he hasn\u2019t posted an 8-1 record, a 1.36 ERA, with just 11 hits in 72.2 innings pitched, 108 strikeouts, 10 walks and a 0.688 WHIP.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what 22-year-old Kade Anderson is doing at Double-A Arkansas \u2014 a historic minor league performance to date.<\/p>\n

That is more valuable than whatever Willits is doing on the Nationals\u2019 farm. An ace starter is more valuable than a future star shortstop.<\/p>\n

Anderson won\u2019t be a minor leaguer much longer. The former LSU pitching star, picked No. 3 in last year\u2019s draft, will likely wind up with the major league club that selected him, the Seattle Mariners \u2014 leading the American League West \u2014 to help in the race to the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Stunningly, the Nationals find themselves at the All-Star break very much in the wild card race. If they are still there when the Aug. 3 trading deadline comes around, the team will be expected to seek some pitching help.<\/p>\n

Had they taken Anderson in last year\u2019s draft instead of Willits, all that would require is a phone call to their minor league clubs in Double-A Harrisburg or Triple-A Rochester, where Anderson would be turning in his historic performance.<\/p>\n

That would be far more palatable for Paul Toboni, Washington\u2019s president of baseball operations, than having to surrender prospects from the Nationals\u2019 minor league system to get this pitching help.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t Toboni\u2019s mistake to pick Willits instead of Anderson, a prospect I urged Washington to select before the 2025 draft. At that time, Toboni was an assistant general manager with the Boston Red Sox.<\/p>\n

Read more Carolina Hurricanes owner puts himself, wife, five children first in Stanley Cup engraving<\/a><\/p>\n

The Willits selection was made by interim general manager Mike DeBartolo, who was promoted just a few days before the draft to replace fired GM Mike Rizzo.<\/p>\n

It may seem foolish to call drafting Willits a mistake. Most teams would love to have that kind of mistake in the minor league system. He was their No. 1 player on their board, according to DeBartolo, and was at or near the top of every prospect ranking before the draft. There is no reason to believe he won\u2019t wind up being an All-Star major leaguer.<\/p>\n

But pitchers \u2014 pitchers like Anderson \u2014 are far more coveted.<\/p>\n

Toboni gets his swing at the plate for Washington on Saturday, when the Nationals have the 14th pick in the first round of the draft. The unexpected Nationals\u2019 success on the field this season \u2014 a 48-46 record and the highest scoring offense in baseball \u2014 is primarily the result of Rizzo\u2019s players, seemingly energized by Toboni\u2019s coaching and player development additions.<\/p>\n

We got a glimpse up close of his ability to pick talent when Washington traded pitcher MacKenzie Gore to the Texas Rangers for five prospects \u2014 former No. 1 choice infielder Gavin Fien; another infielder, Devin Fitz-Gerald; pitcher Alejandro Rosario (recovering from Tommy John surgery); first baseman\/outfielder Abimelec Ortiz and outfielder Yeremy Cabrera. Of that group, only Fitz-Gerald has had noteworthy production to date \u2014 13 home runs, 43 RBIs and 13 stolen bases for Single-A Wilmington and Single-A Harrisburg.<\/p>\n

On the other side of the ledger, Gore has struggled with the Rangers \u2014 a 5-8 record with a 4.72 ERA in 19 starts.<\/p>\n

Toboni also made a high-profile deal this winter when he traded left-handed reliever Jose Ferrer to the Seattle Mariners for catching prospect Harry Ford. Ferrer has been outstanding for Seattle \u2014 a 1-1 record with a 2.37 ERA in 42 appearances. Ford has labored with Triple-A Rochester \u2014 three home runs, 19 RBIs and a .212 average in 54 games.<\/p>\n

As enjoyable and exciting as the Nationals\u2019 season and their minor league renewal have been, this is really where it begins for Toboni.<\/p>\n

The cheerleaders tell me he has assembled one of the best player development and scouting teams anyone has ever seen for this draft. We\u2019ve never seen anything like this group of Washington talent evaluators. So big. So beautiful.<\/p>\n

Read more Canada says 8 countries are joining the international defense bank it will host<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 You can hear Thom Loverro on \u201cThe Kevin Sheehan Show\u201d podcast.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As enjoyable and exciting as the Nationals’ season and their minor league renewal have been, this is really where it begins for Paul Toboni.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142,441],"tags":[2309,2308,2310,1392,758],"class_list":["post-3846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-washington-nationals","tag-all-star-future-game","tag-eli-willits","tag-kade-anderson","tag-seattle-mariners","tag-washington-nationals"],"yoast_head":"\nLOVERRO: If Nationals\u2019 new management is for real, now is the time to prove it - Home Buyer Relocation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LOVERRO: If Nationals\u2019 new management is for real, now is the time to prove it - Home Buyer Relocation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As enjoyable and exciting as the Nationals' season and their minor league renewal have been, this is really where it begins for Paul Toboni.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home Buyer Relocation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-10T09:37:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=3846#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=3846\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a\"},\"headline\":\"LOVERRO: If Nationals\u2019 new management is for real, now is the time to prove it\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T09:37:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=3846\"},\"wordCount\":772,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=3846#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/36902b579cb4c6e1907c74fd1d5cd2c7.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"All Star Future Game\",\"Eli Willits\",\"Kade Anderson\",\"Seattle Mariners\",\"Washington Nationals\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\",\"Washington Nationals\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=3846#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=3846\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=3846\",\"name\":\"LOVERRO: If Nationals\u2019 new management is for real, now is the time to prove it - Home Buyer Relocation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=3846#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=3846#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/36902b579cb4c6e1907c74fd1d5cd2c7.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T09:37:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=3846#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=3846\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=3846#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/36902b579cb4c6e1907c74fd1d5cd2c7.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/36902b579cb4c6e1907c74fd1d5cd2c7.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":700},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=3846#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"LOVERRO: If Nationals\u2019 new management is for real, now is the time to prove it\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Home Buyer Relocation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"LOVERRO: If Nationals\u2019 new management is for real, now is the time to prove it - Home Buyer Relocation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"LOVERRO: If Nationals\u2019 new management is for real, now is the time to prove it - Home Buyer Relocation","og_description":"As enjoyable and exciting as the Nationals' season and their minor league renewal have been, this is really where it begins for Paul Toboni.","og_url":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846","og_site_name":"Home Buyer Relocation","article_published_time":"2026-07-10T09:37:11+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a"},"headline":"LOVERRO: If Nationals\u2019 new management is for real, now is the time to prove it","datePublished":"2026-07-10T09:37:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846"},"wordCount":772,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/36902b579cb4c6e1907c74fd1d5cd2c7.jpg","keywords":["All Star Future Game","Eli Willits","Kade Anderson","Seattle Mariners","Washington Nationals"],"articleSection":["Sports","Washington Nationals"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846","url":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846","name":"LOVERRO: If Nationals\u2019 new management is for real, now is the time to prove it - Home Buyer Relocation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/36902b579cb4c6e1907c74fd1d5cd2c7.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-10T09:37:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/36902b579cb4c6e1907c74fd1d5cd2c7.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/36902b579cb4c6e1907c74fd1d5cd2c7.jpg","width":1200,"height":700},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3846#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"LOVERRO: If Nationals\u2019 new management is for real, now is the time to prove it"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/","name":"Home Buyer Relocation","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com"],"url":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}