The Washington Nationals’ youth movement is rolling full steam ahead. They’re hiring 31-year-old Philadelphia Phillies assistant general manager Ani Kilambi as the team’s new general manager, as reported Wednesday by ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The Phillies hired Kilambi from the Tampa Bay Rays’ highly respected front office when he was just 27 years old. Kilambi went on to oversee the Phillies’ research and development department.
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Now he’ll team up with 35-year-old Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni to help 33-year-old manager Blake Butera turn around an organization that won the World Series in 2019 but hasn’t made the playoffs — or won more than 71 games — in a season since.
Washington finished last in the NL East this past season with a lowly record of 66-96. In July, the Nationals moved on from general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez.
One silver lining this season was the continued emergence of outfielder James Wood, who made his first All-Star team in his second season at just 22 years old. He raked 31 home runs and 94 RBI. He could be a pillar in the Nationals’ lineup for years to come, and so could shortstop CJ Abrams, another return from the Juan Soto trade in 2022. Abrams, 25, was an All-Star in 2024 and bumped his OPS up to .748 in 2025.
Wood and Abrams are at the forefront of a collection of young talent Washington has at its disposal. That pool features also 2025 No. 1 overall pick Eli Willits, though he’s only 18, so it could be a few years before he’s called up to the majors.
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The point is the Nats have plenty of youngsters. That’s relatively true about their front office and managerial leadership, too. In that way, Kilambi will fit right in.
He started with the Rays in 2015, even before he graduated from UC Berkeley with a double major in statistics and operations research and management science, and he spent seven seasons in Tampa.
The Rays have developed a reputation as a leader in the analytics space over the years. They’re known for getting the most of out of the least on a tight budget. Kilambi, according to MLB.com, received credit from team executives for helping construct a powerful bullpen made up of a hodgepodge of relievers who played a significant part in the Rays’ 2020 AL pennant run.
Kilambi was then tasked with applying his skill set to a Phillies organization that, despite a much higher payroll, was lagging in the analytics department. It had made up some ground by the time Kilambi arrived, but his job was to grow the Phillies’ R&D department even more, as well as improve its data use.
His latest challenge will be his biggest yet.
