Former Colorado Rockies assistant GM Jon Weil joins Washington Nationals

Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post was the first to report that former Colorado Rockies assistant general manager Jon Weil, who left the team in June 2021, has joined the Washington Nationals as a special assistant to GM Mike Rizzo.

Weil had spent 16 seasons with the Rockies and had been the assistant GM of player personnel since November 2014. Prior to that, he was the director of professional scouting for the Rockies since 2010.

Jon Weil is joining the Washington Nationals after he resigned from the Colorado Rockies.

Jon Weil has an extensive history in scouting and player development for the Colorado Rockies after he was with the Kansas City Royals as a scout and after he interned with the then-named Florida Marlins in the late 1990s in the player relations and scouting departments.

The Washington Nationals, after the 2020 pandemic season and the 2021 season that was still impacted by the pandemic, made a slew of cuts in their front office and player personnel department. In fact, they had the smallest player development department in 2021.

This offseason, they have been adding to their player development department and adding some names you may find familiar. They added former MLB outfielder Coco Crisp as their outfield and baserunning coordinator and they also added former Dodgers, Cubs, and Cardinals hitting coach Bill Mueller as a quality control coordinator, a position the Nats didn’t have in 2021. Mueller also was the third baseman for the 2004 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox.

Among other additions to their player development department this offseason include former Giants MLB coach Jose Alguacil as their MiLB infielder, 2021 Mets bench coach Dave Jauss as a senior advisor for player development, and former Colorado Rockies coach Tim Doherty as a minor league hitting coach.

As Nick Groke of The Athletic noted on Twitter, Weil was the architect of the Germán Márquez trade in 2016 with the Tampa Bay Rays so Weil, who was considered as a possible interim GM before the Rockies gave the job to Bill Schmidt, could be an asset for the Washington Nationals for years to come.