Nationals Reportedly Make Multiple Changes to Their Minor League Coaching Staffs

This offseason was shaping up to be a big one for the Washington Nationals, and things are already taking place.

Per Kyle Williams of The Baltimore Banner, the Nationals have informed multiple minor league coaches that their contracts won't be renewed for 2027. That list reportedly includes Triple-A pitching coach Fernando Nieve, Double-A manager Delino DeShields, Double-A pitching coach Rigo Beltran and Dominican Summer League hitting coach Rafael Ozuna, among others.

On the surface, these decisions might be a shock. Washington had a successful year down on the farm, as their Triple-A affiliate won the International League before coming up short in extra innings during the Triple-A championship game. Multiple prospects flourished. The pipeline had one of the biggest rises across Major League Baseball. And it seemed like everyone was pulling in the right direction together for the first time in a while.

But these changes make it clear that president of baseball operations Paul Toboni is not done building this organization in the way that he seems fit. And he'll now try to revamp his farm system even more this winter.

Paul Toboni Continues to Put His Imprint on the Nationals

Red Washington Nationals hat on top of a brown mitt | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Beyond the changes that were listed above, Washington is also set to part ways with Dave Jauss, the senior advisor to player development, outfield/baserunning coordinator Chris Prieto, infield coordinator Jason Wood and Single-A strength and conditioning coach Jordan Chen.

Moving on from DeShields as the Double-A manager shouldn't be too much of a surprise, though. Harrisburg went 33-32 in the second half of the year to go 67-67 for the full season. Not bringing back DeShields -- who was hired by the previous regime in 2023 -- will allow Toboni to hire one of his own guys to that role, which projects to be an important one based on how many of their top prospects could be playing at that level next year.

As for the decision to not bring back Beltran, that is an interesting one. Harrisburg had the lowest ERA (4.09) in the Eastern League and allowed the lowest batting average (.229). However, they didn't have a lot of success with strikeouts, as they only recorded 1,247 K's across 1,165 innings pitched. Still, the on-field effectiveness makes the Beltran decision a questionable one, even if there is a replacement in mind.

Nieve falls into a similar category. Rochester's staff had an ERA of 4.39, which was third-lowest in the International League. They were also tied for the fourth-lowest batting average against (.238). But the staff had 1,299 strikeouts to 611 walks over 1,286 1/3 innings pitched, which put them around the middle of the pack in both categories. Add in the fact that manager Blake Butera felt the pitchers they called up weren't prepared for what the big league club was asking them to do, and it makes sense why there was a change.

Plus, Toboni is probably searching for more out of his pitching operation at every level, especially after the year they had in the majors. So bringing in some new coaches will be the first attempt to right the ship.

Those are just my assessments, though. It wasn't announced at this time why those moves were made. So I'm unclear exactly why they moved on from Jauss, Preto, Wood and Chen beyond just the standard reasoning of Toboni wanting to bring in people who he's more familiar with.

Now, as a crucial offseason is set to get underway, it appears like it's going to be an even busier one for the Nationals' decision makers.

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