WASHINGTON — Ani Kilambi is joining the Nationals as their new general manager, a person with knowledge of the move told The Associated Press on Wednesday, making the 31-year-old who had been with the Philadelphia Phillies the latest young face to join president of baseball operations Paul Toboni in Washington.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because Kilambi’s hiring had not yet been announced.
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The news was first reported by ESPN.
Kilambi is an assistant general manager for the Phillies and has been with the club since 2021.
Before that, he played with the Tampa Bay Rays for over five years.
Kilambi takes over the position held for more than a decade and a half by Mike Rizzo, who became general manager at Washington in 2009 and added the title of president of baseball operations in 2013. Rizzo was fired in July during the Nationals’ sixth straight losing season. Manager Dave Martinez was also fired at this time.
Rizzo and Martinez were in charge in 2019 when the Nationals won the World Series, but the team hasn’t had a winning year since. Washington went 66-96 in 2025, placing it 14th out of 15 National League clubs.
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Mike DeBartolo took over as interim general manager after Rizzo’s firing and oversaw the selection of 17-year-old high school shortstop Eli Willits with the No. 1 pick in the Major League Baseball amateur draft in July.
Toboni, 35, was then hired in late September to manage the Nationals; he had been assistant general manager of the Boston Red Sox. He brought in manager Blake Butera, who at age 33 became the youngest skipper in the majors since the 1970s.
There’s a lot of work to be done to turn around the Nationals, who need a lot of talent and depth as they try to rebuild their major league roster and pipeline of minor league prospects.
Toboni’s first move in free agency occurred Monday, when Washington agreed to terms with left-handed pitcher Foster Griffin on a one-year, $5.5 million contract, pending the successful completion of a physical. Griffin has played in Japan for the past three seasons.
