Nationals, Paul Toboni Going All In on Minor League Development With New Camp

The Washington Nationals continue to do some exciting things under the leadership of Paul Toboni.

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When the Washington Nationals hired Paul Toboni away from the Boston Red Sox to become their new president of baseball operations, one of the things that became clear when it came to how he wanted to run things was improving the development of their minor league farm system.

In fact, he said he wanted the Nationals to become a "scouting and player development monster," and his first front office hires were a reflection of that when he decided to pluck away some of the best up-and-coming executives whose expertise is in that aspect of the game.

Now, Washington and Toboni are going even more all in with this approach.

Nationals Creating Supplemental Training Camp for Minor Leaguers Ahead of Spring Training

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"The Nationals are expected to have around 60 minor leaguers participate in a supplemental training camp at the team's facility in West Palm Beach, Florida, starting Jan. 20 and running through the beginning of minor league spring training," reported Andrew Golden of The Washington Post (subscription required).

According to the insider, this is just the first step in what the Nationals want to do when it comes to establishing cutting edge minor league development. Golden added that Washington will ideally host more camps in the future where more players can attend.

"Something we want to establish as just part of what we do is the offseason is just as important as the season," assistant general manager Devin Pearson, who oversees the team's player development operation, said. "Especially on the (player development) side, there's a lot of training and development that happens in the offseason, so we want to take advantage of that."

It's Still Unclear Which Nationals Minor Leaguers Will Attend This Camp

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While it's known around 60 minor leaguers will be at this camp, the total list for who will be in attendance isn't clear. However, according to Golden, sources have told the insider that 2025 draft picks Miguel Sime Jr. and Coy James, 2024 second-round pick Luke Dickerson and international signing Angel Feliz will participate.

Getting those types of players into an early regimen that's targeted for their specific needs is a great way to start off their careers or to get them going on the right track. With a new regime in place, laying the groundwork for success right now is important for everyone in the organization.

Eli Willits singles....Luke Dickerson drives him in!

FUTUREEEEE!!!!! pic.twitter.com/A8mXDGN0qU

— Fredericksburg Nationals (@FXBGNats) August 24, 2025

It should also be pointed out that the minor leaguers who won't be at this camp won't be left out to dry. While the Nationals have invited players this time around "on a case-by-case basis," Golden also reported that the team established remote training programs for those who won't be in attendance.

The insider added that Washington has "been in touch with all of their minor leaguers this offseason," which is impressive considering there are restrictions from the league regarding how teams can communicate with their minor leaguers throughout the winter.

These Types of Camps Will Benefit Future of Nationals Baseball

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What's clear from Golden's reporting is that Toboni and his front office view creating this type of infrastructure as a necessity to get this minor league system to where they want it to be in the future. According to Golden, this has been met with the full on backing from the ownership group.

The insider reported there is some "surprise that Toboni has been given flexibility to execute his vision without financial road blocks," which has long been a criticism of the Nationals when it comes to them being viewed as an outdated franchise.

So for the upstart executive to get this type of thing done in his first offseason in charge, that bodes well for the future in Washington when it comes to creating that player development monster he and his front office aim to have.

How all of this plays out in the immediate future will be seen. But this is the latest exciting thing being done by a new front office that is trying to push this organization forward into a new era.