The Boston Red Sox entered the 2025-26 offseason with a long to-do list, made up of mostly on-field priorities. But Boston also hoped to name a general manager to serve under chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, which still hasn't happened.
The Sox's main target was an assistant GM and longtime front office employee, Paul Toboni. Instead of sticking around and accepting a promotion in Boston, Toboni took an even bigger one a few hundred miles away, becoming the Washington Nationals' president of baseball operations.
Washington is in the throes of a rebuild and it's had a relatively quiet offseason, which includes a rare prospect-for-prospect trade with the Red Sox. But on January 22, Toboni made his first massive trade with the Nats, and it has "Red Sox" written all over it.
The Nationals sent their ace, MacKenzie Gore, to the Texas Rangers in exchange for five prospects who all immediately entered Washington's top 30 (MLB Pipeline). The most notable among them is Gavin Fien, now the Nats' No. 5 prospect, in whom the Red Sox were interested in the 2025 Draft, but the Rangers had a higher first-round pick.
Nationals' MacKenzie Gore trade feels like it may have been Red Sox inspired
Toboni was a key member of the Sox's scouting department for years and it's funny to see him trade for a former Red Sox target as the headliner in his first major move as Washington's PBO. Boston hasn't been afraid of a massive trade like the Gore deal in recent years — the Chris Sale, Mookie Betts and Garrett Crochet trades are just a few examples — and Toboni must've learned well from Chaim Bloom and Breslow's example.
The Nats also aren't one to shy away from an organization-changing trade, even before Toboni. They traded their two final years of Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres at the 2022 trade deadline. Washington's return included CJ Abrams and James Wood, two staples of their roster in the last few seasons, and Gore.
The Red Sox's search for a GM has fallen out of focus behind their many offseason moves (and misses on key players). Toboni is already showing his boldness in his first massive trade with the Nationals, and he got quite the return for his efforts. Now, Boston can only imagine how its offseason would've gone if it was able to keep Toboni as its GM alongside Breslow.