Opening Day is quickly approaching for the Washington Nationals, but they have not yet finalized their roster. We take a shot at predicting who will break camp with the team.
After a long, uneventful offseason for the Washington Nationals, Opening Day is finally on the horizon. The Nats have had a productive spring training, but everyone is ready for the games to finally mean something.
Only two games remain on the Nats’ exhibition schedule, so it is time for them to begin finalizing their roster. Most of the roster has been determined for a while, but there are a few spots up for grabs.
On Saturday, the Nats made their largest round of roster moves of the spring. Some uncertainty remains, but most of the main roster questions have now been answered.
Among the Nats’ many moves were optioning Austin Adams, Pedro Severino, and Andrew Stevenson to Triple-A. Tim Collins, Chris Dominguez, Edwin Jackson, Spencer Kieboom, Tommy Milone, Moises Sierra, and Chris Smith were also reassigned to minor league camp.
Finally, Reid Brignac and Ryan Raburn were released. Raburn’s career is likely over, as he made it clear he intended to retire if he did not make the team, but Brignac could be resigned on a minor league deal.
If the Nats did not release Brignac, they would owe him a $100,000 retention fee because of his extensive service time. Now that he has been released, the team can potentially bring him back on a minor league deal to keep him in the organization.
The Nats did the same thing with Matt Albers last year, which ended up paying huge dividends. If Brignac remains in the organization, he could make an impact with his tremendous versatility.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at what the Opening Day roster may look like.