The Washington Nationals hired Devin Pearson as assistant general manager, pulling Boston's director of amateur scouting six weeks after Mike Rizzo's departure ended a sixteen-year run. Pearson worked under new Nationals president of baseball operations James Click in Boston's front office, a link that explains the timeline.
Click arrived in Washington on December 3rd. Pearson's hire is his first external addition. The Nationals finished 71-91 in 2024, fourth in the NL East, with a farm system ranked 22nd by Baseball America entering the winter. Boston's amateur pipeline produced outfielder Roman Anthony and shortstop Marcelo Mayer under Pearson's tenure, both consensus top-15 prospects industry-wide. Anthony signed for $2.5 million in 2020. Mayer went fourth overall in 2021 at $6.7 million. Neither has reached Triple-A yet, but both project as lineup anchors by 2026.
The assistant GM title suggests Pearson will oversee more than June draft prep. Washington holds the fifth overall pick in 2025 with a draft pool near $14 million. The international window opens January 15th with a bonus pool around $6.3 million. Pearson's Boston track record tilts toward college bats and projectable high school arms, which aligns with Washington's current void. The Nationals have one position player ranked in Baseball America's organizational top-ten prospects. The rest are pitchers, most acquired via trade.
Click's Boston exit followed a single season as chief baseball officer, a role that reported to Chaim Bloom, who was dismissed in September 2023. Click then worked as a consultant. His hiring in Washington came with a five-year deal, terms not disclosed but estimated north of $3 million annually based on comparable president contracts. Pearson's compensation is not public. Assistant GM salaries in smaller markets range $400,000 to $800,000, sometimes higher with performance incentives tied to playoff advancement or draft success.
The timing matters for June prep. Most teams finalize board rankings by April, which gives Pearson four months to integrate Washington's existing amateur staff. The Nationals employed eleven full-time area scouts as of October, per industry directories. Boston ran thirteen under Pearson. Washington's scouting budget was reduced roughly 12% in 2023 after missing the playoffs for a fourth straight year, a cut that trimmed video coordinators and part-time evaluators but left area scouts intact.
Pearson's Boston tenure included the 2022 draft, which landed second baseman Mikey Romero at pick 24 for $2.9 million. Romero hit .287 with 18 home runs across two A-ball levels in 2024. The Nationals' equivalent pick that year, outfielder Elijah Green at fifth overall, hit .229 with 19 home runs in Single-A. Green signed for $4.9 million. Both are twenty years old. The delta illustrates Washington's development infrastructure gap, not just scouting accuracy.
Click has not named a general manager. The AGM structure suggests he may operate without one, distributing traditional GM duties across multiple assistants. Pearson joins senior vice president and general counsel Joe Kahn, who handles contracts, and vice president of baseball operations Sam Mondry-Cohen, who oversees analytics. This mirrors Click's Houston setup from 2020, where he ran the front office with three co-equal assistants below him until his dismissal in 2023.
The next visible hire is likely a pro scouting director. Washington's vice president of pro scouting, Kris Kline, remains in place but has focused on major-league free agents. The team spent $140 million on pitching last winter, most of it deferred. The 2025 payroll sits near $180 million with arbitration filings due January 10th. Washington has six arbitration-eligible players, led by outfielder Lane Thomas, projected at $8 million by MLB Trade Rumors. Thomas is a trade candidate. His agent has been spotted at the winter meetings in Nashville.
Pearson's January 15th international deadline is the more immediate test. Washington has not signed a top-20 international prospect since outfielder Cristhian Vaquero in 2021 for $4.9 million. Vaquero is now in Double-A, hitting .251 with power questions. Boston signed Dominican shortstop Nazzan Zanetello for $2.1 million in January 2024 under Pearson's watch. Zanetello has not debuted stateside yet, but the deal signals willingness to deploy pool money early in the window when discount opportunities appear.
The Nationals open spring training February 12th in West Palm Beach. Pearson will be in camp. His first draft board is due to Click by April 30th, a deadline most teams observe internally even without league mandate.
The takeaway
Pearson brings Boston's amateur hit rate to a Nationals system ranked 22nd, with immediate tests in international signing and the fifth overall pick.
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