Aug 1, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; The sun sets behind the Liberty Bell at Citizens Bank Park. (Grace Del Pizzo/On Pattison)
The Phillies employ their fare share of former Washington Nationals stars currently. Now, as the Nationals look to find their next core of players, they have decided to drain the brain of the Phillies a bit.
According to Robert Murray of FanSided, the Nationals are hiring Phillies assistant general manager Anirudh Kilambi as their next GM:
Sources: The Washington Nationals are hiring Anirudh Kilambi as general manager. Kilambi, 31, was the Phillies’ assistant general manager and now joins Paul Toboni in leading the Nationals’ front office.
Of course, in most front offices these days, the general manager is the No. 2 voice, with the president of baseball operations serving as the chief decision maker. That will be the case in D.C. as well, with Kilambi set to be the right-hand man for new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, who was hired away from the Boston Red Sox to fill the position in September. The two will have to rebuild a roster that's thin on talent — particularly in terms of pitching — and do so without the financial resources that the Nationals were spending when the late Ted Lerner was in charge. Mark Lerner is now in charge, and while he said in February of 2019 that he was no longer considering selling the Nationals, there's still a perspective in the sport that he would like to do that for the right price. In the meantime, the Nationals have been stuck in a holding pattern, unable to make many long-term commitments financially.
While Kilambi will not have the same resources at his disposal that he did with the Phillies, his new role is a continuation of one of baseball's most rapid ascents in recent years. The Phillies hired him away from the Tampa Bay Rays in November of 2021 to be an assistant general manager at just 27 years old. Kilambi had been in charge of research and development for the Phillies, a role that has taken on great importance in a sport that has become increasingly data driven over the last quarter century.
For as well thought of as Kilambi is in Philadelphia, he didn't have the same opportunity to move into a higher role in the front office of the Phillies right now. Dombrowski, 69, is under contract through the 2027 season. Preston Mattingly was promoted from assistant general manager for player development to general manager last November. Mattingly would seem to be the clear front-runner to succeed Dombrowski, though there's no indication that the likely future Hall of Fame executive is planning to retire any time soon.
It's not immediately clear how/when the Phillies plan to backfill the position of Kilambi.
