Free agency is a very interesting time of year. Players are seemingly in a carousel of movement in order to find a home, and front offices at times make rash decisions that are not always in the team's best interest. This offseason, with a lot of money off the books the Nationals chose to take a reserved approach. As per usual over the last couple years, they chose to take chances on many 1-year fliers that I mentioned in my spring training articles.
It is hard to grade those decisions in the moment as you have to get a good sample size to see if these moves made sense. While it is still the beginning of the season, let's get a very early look at some of my favorite Nationals offseason moves.
Kyle Finnegan
Starting off with a resigning (Yes, it still counts). Kyle Finnegan has been exactly what he was expected to be, lights out. Having him at the end of the bullpen has made up for some of the holes in other parts of the bullpen. He has saved 5 games for the Nats which is tied for 3rd in the league. He also has a 1.35 ERA which is amongst the top in the majors. Finnegan while not new to D.C., will probably go down as their best pitching signing of the offseason.
While many Nationals fans had mixed opinions about Finnegan, the reality is that the current Nationals bullpen would be absolutely lost without him. The team has been unable to get enough games to him in the 9th for save opportunities thus far, but that is much more of a poor reflection on the front office than Finnegan himself. He is the rock of the bullpen right now, and hopefully the guys in front of him can get him some more opportunities.
Nathaniel Lowe
In terms of position players, Nathaniel Lowe has been the breath of fresh air needed at first base for the Nationals. Although fans may have wanted GM Mike Rizzo to go after more high profile names such as Christian Walker or Pete Alonso to fix the massive hole at first base, Lowe has gotten the job done. With him and Josh Bell being signed the thought process was that at least one work work out, and Lowe for sure has in the early going. His splits of .250/.339/.500 is a major upgrade from previous players at the position, and his defense has been pretty solid so far as well.
This is before even mentioning his locker room presence, as the fiery veteran in a very young clubhouse. Lowe has been invaluable to the organization and if this continues I would expect an extension for him at the end of this season. Hopefully, the team can get him some more RBI opportunities, as his 16 RBIs entering today's game leads the team so far.
While I do understand that this offseason wasn't about the flashy names, I believe the future is bright for the Nationals. With more money coming off the books at the end of 2025 along with the plethora of one-year deals, any free agent that didn't work out they will not be tied too. This gives the Nats flexibility to be big spenders in at the end of 2025. Time will tell if the team chooses to start spending big bucks, but we can only hope for now.