Sources – Nationals bringing in Paul Toboni to lead operations

The Washington Nationals are finalizing a deal to name Paul Toboni their new head of baseball operations, sources told ESPN, tabbing the Boston Red Sox assistant general manager to turn around a team barreling toward its fifth last-place finish in six seasons.

Toboni, 35, is widely regarded as one of the best young executives in baseball after rising from intern to key decision-maker in Boston’s front office.

Though Toboni’s background is in scouting — he moved from intern to area scout, then ascended to assistant scouting director and scouting director — he took on a larger portfolio as vice president of scouting and player development before being named assistant GM for Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow.

The Nationals fired GM Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez in July, six years after their surprise run to a World Series title. Rizzo was replaced on an interim basis by assistant GM Mike DeBartolo, who was in the mix for the permanent job along with Arizona assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye and Cleveland assistant GM Matt Forman.

Toboni, who played collegiate ball at Cal, will inherit a team that at 64-94 is struggling to keep pace in a competitive National League East division that features financial leviathans in Philadelphia and New York as well as a solid Atlanta Braves core and an ascendant Miami Marlins team. The Nationals have a handful of talented young players — chief among them outfielder James Wood, shortstop CJ Abrams and left-hander MacKenzie Gore — but the team’s middling farm system doesn’t foretell a quick turnaround.

The drastic improvement of Boston’s farm system came under Toboni, who was in charge of the draft when they selected outfielder Roman Anthony, shortstop Marcelo Mayer, infielder Kristian Campbell, left-handers Payton Tolle and Connelly Early as well as the prospects sent to the Chicago White Sox in a trade for ace Garrett Crochet.