Nationals Reportedly Hire 31-Year-Old Ani Kilambi as GM Under New Team President

The Washington Nationals continued to finalize the team's new front office for the 2026 season on Wednesday.

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Nationals hired 31-year-old Ani Kilambi as their new general manager on Wednesday. Kilambi previously served as an assistant general manager for the Philadelphia Phillies.

He'll now operate under Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, who was hired by the team on Sept. 24.

Toboni is also just 35 years old. With 32-year-old Blake Butera in the mix as Washington's new manager, the team is clearly embracing a youth movement within its front office and coaching staff.

The Nationals previously fired manager Dave Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo in July after they opened the 2025 season with a 37-53 record.

As for Kilambi, he started his career in the majors as an intern for the Tampa Bay Rays' research and development department in 2015 after graduating from UC-Berkeley with a double major in statistics as well as operations research and management science (via MLB.com's Todd Zolecki).

He remained with Tampa Bay's front office for seven seasons before Philadelphia hired him in Nov. 2021. Kilambi was put in charge of the Phillies' research departments and their use of data throughout the organization.

The Nationals will hope that their new front office can help them start a quick turnaround, as they wrapped up a 66-96 finish in 2025 and have failed to make a postseason appearance throughout the six years since their World Series victory in 2019.