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MLB NEWS WIRE
New boss in D.C.; Kershaw set to make final home start

By MLB.com staff
09/19/2025

9/15 -- Nationals to hire Toboni to head up front office: Washington is planning to tab Boston's second-in-command in the front office to sit in the big chair for the Nationals, as Paul Toboni will be introduced as their president of baseball operations later this week.

Mike DeBartolo has been the interim general manager since early July, when manager Dave Martinez and then-GM Mike Rizzo were fired just days prior to the All-Star break and the 2025 draft. DeBartolo had been an assistant that played a big role in the draft preparations, so it was a more seamless transition in that regard.

Toboni, despite being just thirty-five, already has a pretty long and successful track record as a talent evaluator from his time with Boston, and will almost assuredly bring people over from the Red Sox to fill out his staff. Players like Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, and Marcelo Mayer all were signed under Toboni's hand as the main draft executive for the Sox.

That said, DeBartolo also seemingly has a leg up on retaining the day-to-day duties, as the ownership group led by Mark Lerner (that hired Toboni) has been squarely in his corner since being named as the interim. He has been with the organization since 2012, starting as an area scout before working his way up the ranks under Rizzo's leadership.

9/16 -- Rangers' Kimbrel to miss remainder of season: Already retiring at the end of the season, reliever Craig Kimbrel has been placed on the injured list with elbow tendinitis and is expected to be out for at least a month, which effectively is the end of his career.

If Kimbrel is truly done playing after this season, he'll go down as one of the best closers the game has seen, ranking fifth all-time in saves with 440. In five appearances (covering seven innings), he's allowed four earned runs on eight hits while striking out six with five walks.

Signed by the Braves prior to this season, he spent just one day on the active roster before being designated off the roster and declined an assignment to Triple-A, effectively making him a free agent. Texas signed him to a minor league deal on June 12th, and pitched to a 4.43 ERA before getting re-called in late August.

9/17 -- Dodgers' Betts removed from game after serious injury: In the second inning of tonight's game with the Phillies, Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts had to be removed from the game after awkwardly landing on his right ankle trying to avoid a slide from Bryson Stott on a double play attempt.

Betts stayed in the game through the end of the inning; but clearly was in some pain as he was moving around the field, and eventually walked off the field with a considerable limp. Veteran Miguel Rojas replaced him from the third inning on, going 0-for-1 with a couple of walks.

"It certainly didn't look too good at the outset, but we won't know much until tomorrow most likely," manager Dave Roberts lamented. "Right now, it's just going to be a day-to-day thing. He's getting looked at by our training staff, and hopefully we can get an update on him tomorrow or the day after that."

9/18 -- Kershaw set to make final Dodger Stadium start: Tomorrow night, Clayton Kershaw will make his final regular season start with the Dodgers, as he announced his retirement earlier in the season.

"Emotions will be pretty high, that's for sure," he said a few days ago when asked about his thoughts on it. "It's pretty rare for guys in this game any more to play their entire career with one team, so I think that I'm almost on a first-name basis with the fans here."

This time at home, he'll face off against the Giants again, as he's coming off a poor start on the road against them at Oracle Park on Sunday in which he allowed five earned runs in 2 1/3 innings. For the season, he has an 8-3 record with a 4.22 ERA in twenty starts.