Washington Nationals: A theoretical week as GM this offseason

With the Washington Nationals huge offseason coming up this winter, we thought it’d be fun to put together a step-by-step plan to get the team back on top.

The Washington Nationals offseason is just over three weeks old now after failing to make the playoffs in 2018. The front office is going to have a huge offseason ahead, with many key free agents and big roster decisions to make as they look to get back on top in 2019.

Mike Rizzo has been the main architect in turning this team from a perennial sub-.500 team to playoff contenders more often than not. And while he didn’t have his finest season at the helm in 2018, you would back him to do all he can get this ballclub back on track.

However, most baseball fans dream of taking the reins themselves and making the major decisions. It’s why games such as Out of the Park Baseball are so popular, and one that I’m a huge fan of.

So, with no baseball to watch, I let my mind wander, pulled out Google Sheets and my calculator to put together my ideal roster. It took some sweat, tears and plenty of coffee to figure out, but it finally got there.

With plenty of holes to address on this Nats roster, it seemed appropriate to sort it into seven day’s worth of moves. While in reality this will be dragged out over several weeks, for simplicities sake, it’s narrowed down to make the seven steps clear.

I’m also far from a contract whizz, so some of the free agent contracts will be somewhat simplified to get the relevant annual average. Some of these may have deferred money or salary being different in each year, but the annual average is roughly what you’d expect, as that’s what counts against the luxury tax.

So let’s get this started with by far and away the biggest move of the Nats offseason.

Day 1 – Re-Sign Harper

The biggest question of the Washington Nationals winter is the future Bryce Harper, and it’s not even close. Therefore it makes sense to address this issue on my first day as General Manager.

Regardless of whether the front office decides whether to sign Harper or not, it’s the decision that simply has to be made first. Now, it’s time to sign the next face of the franchise to the long-term deal that he so richly deserves to stay in D.C. for the foreseeable future, if not his career.

The whole process starts with the wining and dining of Harper and his agent Scott Boras in Las Vegas, and we get a sense of how much it will take to get a deal done. Boras starts off with his opening gambit demanding a flat 15-year deal with a $40 million annual average value. I proceeded to almost choke on my lobster.

It’s understandable that something on that scale would get the deal done, the long-term security at a high annual average. That would be $600 million guaranteed, and if he were to regress at any point, he wouldn’t need to worry about performance again.

But we both know that the contract proposed is far too much to get us to cough up that much. We decline and Boras suspiciously nips to the men’s room. He returns and tries to play things cools before we offer up a 10-year deal with a $30 million AAV, and opt-outs early on in the deal to allow him to get out if he rebounds to the MVP form both sides know is in there.

They decline but say they’re moderately interested. Sadly, I can’t disclose the rest of the details of the negotiations, as what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But in the end, we worked out the deal below, beating out the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies for his signature.

Contract Signed: Bryce Harper signs a 12-year, $420 million deal with opt-outs after the third, fourth and seventh season.

Day 2 – Bring in a pair of starting pitchers

Now that we’ve managed to get the talisman back in a Washington Nationals uniform, we’ve made a huge signal of intent. It’s time to start filling in the rest of the gaps on the team, knowing exactly what budget we have.

The starting rotation was probably the primary reason the team didn’t make the playoffs last season. Gio Gonzalez couldn’t follow up his bounceback 2017, Tanner Roark was lobbing up meatballs for stretches, and when injuries struck, young arms couldn’t step up.

On the second day as GM, the phone rings early in the morning. Brian Cashman, GM of the New York Yankees. He saw how our rotation struggled last year and wants to offer us Sonny Gray, who he is desperate to get a fresh start for.

He wants to do a straight swap, Gray for Wilmer Difo. On the face of it, the deal makes sense. The Yankees want some middle infield insurance with Didi Gregorius set to miss a chunk of 2019, and the Nats get a high-upside starter.

But with Difo’s cheap contract, we ask for more. Cashman says he’ll throw in Ben Heller, a reliever who has been injury plagued and he can’t fit him in their loaded bullpen. I pull the trigger on the deal and the backend of the rotation feels much better.

Trade Completed: Washington Nationals receive Sonny Gray and Ben Heller, New York Yankees receive Wilmer Difo

Although we’ve secured a great fourth option in the rotation, it still leaves the rotation a little vulnerable at the top end. Max Scherzer is stranded alone if Stephen Strasburg gets injured, so a left-hander makes a lot of sense to be the new Gio Gonzalez.

After a hard fight to try and persuade Patrick Corbin away from the same Yankees we just got off the phone to, he feels he has to join his boyhood club. So I turn my attention to next best lefty on the market, Dallas Keuchel.

Uh oh, that means we have to go through with more long negotiations with Scott Boras. He’s been trying his hardest to get Keuchel $28 million per year, and even took his Cy Young Award from 2015 on his visits with teams, but had little success.

So we get a groveling Boras coming back to the well again. Thankfully, we have the need and if we can bring him down a little bit, there’s a deal to be had. He tries the same ploy with us as he had with other teams, asking for a four-year, $112 million deal. We counter with an extra year and lower the annual average down to $20 per year, and give him an opt out early and the negotiations are over surprisingly quickly.

Contract Signed: Dallas Keuchel signs a five-year deal, $100 million, with an opt-out after the second season.

Day 3 – Trade for Realmuto

Jerry Dipoto eat your heart out. I’m not done bringing marquee players to the Washington Nationals this winter. Next up on the conveyor belt for me to take down is the offensive void behind the plate at catcher.

After waking up on Wednesday feeling great after the first two days of work, I notice a tweet from Ken Rosenthal. “Sources tell The Athletic that J.T. Realmuto and the #Marlins reach a standstill in extension talks. The catcher has requested a trade from the team”.

I double check that I haven’t been duped by a fake account and that the blue tick is there. It is, so I pick up the phone and utilize my speed dial and give long-time friend Derek Jeter a call to inquire about the catcher. They know they need to deal him now before his trade value craters.

After initially telling Mike Rizzo in the summer that it would take Victor Robles, Carter Kieboom and more, the failed extension talks have changed things. Victor Robles is off the table, but he still fancies him some Kieboom, seeing a lot of himself in the young shortstop.

Jeter then asks for Luis Garcia, the next best prospect in the system, but we can’t do that and let two big middle infield prospects leave in one go. But we can offer up a high-upside starter who has the makings of an ace if he can stay on the straight and narrow in Seth Romero.

Jeter brings up Daniel Johnson, a former minor league player of the year, and I try to hide the grin on my face as everything falls into place. We add in Raudy Read as a nice young catcher the Marlins can bring through, and suddenly we have a package resembling the Marcell Ozuna deal, but with even more talent.

We shake hands on the deal, and we have our catcher for the next two years. I breathe a huge sigh of relief and appear to finally be getting the hang of this General manager thing.

Trade Completed: Miami Marlins receive Carter Kieboom, Seth Romero, Daniel Johnson, and Raudy Read. Washington Nationals bring in J.T. Realmuto.

Day 4 – Time to shed the spare pieces

No rest for the wicked as Washington Nationals GM these days, my work isn’t done by any means. I decide to switch things up a little bit and see if we can bring in something for some players left without a clear role.

As soon as we completed the Bryce Harper contract, Cleveland Indians GM Mike Chernoff had been texting me non-stop, like the ex who just never got over you. His outfield situation is still iffy, and he would love to bring Adam Eaton back to the AL Central.

We take a look at the Indians roster, but after addressing the rotation the only players I’m interested in won’t have a spot with us. So we look for prospects, and anyone who knows me knows how much I love my prospects.

There’s one, in particular, I have my eye on in this deal, Nolan Jones. The third baseman is only in High-A but had a huge year in 2018 with 19 home runs and an OPS of .871 across two levels.

We also get Nick Sandlin in the deal, an electric reliever down in Double-A as we look to build a bullpen of the future. It’s not close to the package the Nats gave up for Eaton, but it’s certainly a useful pair of prospects for the Nats for essentially their fourth outfielder.

Trade Completed: Cleveland Indians receive Adam Eaton. Washington Nationals receive Nolan Jones and Nick Sandlin

However, we’re not done dealing outfielders there. After a poor season in 2018, it’s probably time to let Michael A. Taylor loose and hand over the backup outfield job to Andrew Stevenson who impressed in his pinch-hitting appearances late in the season.

Unfortunately, after trading away Eaton, teams know that we’re just looking to shed the dead weight and there aren’t many takers. We’re just about to give up hope until the Giants called. Clearly, they weren’t too bitter about losing out on Bryce Harper after thinking they had a legitimate shot because he posted something about the bay area on Instagram back in 2015.

At first, they only offer up international bonus pool money. Please, that stuff went out of fashion a few days ago after Victor Victor Mesa signed with the Marlins. Thankfully, again, my sad prospect side comes out.

Delving into the Giants farm system, I identify an outfielder called Aaron Bond whose batting stats look similar to Taylor, with 14 homers and 11 steals in 73 games in 2018 down in Short Season A Ball. We also ask for Garrett Cave, a pitcher drafted in 2017 who flashed some upside with more than a strikeout per inning last year, but Bond is the big piece in this deal.

Trade Completed: San Francisco Giants receive Michael A. Taylor. Washington Nationals get Aaron Bond and Garrett Cave.

Day 6 – Reworking Zimmerman’s current deal

Now after a long five days, we’ve got the most important areas of the Washington Nationals addressed ahead of 2019. So now we’re playing with house money with the other moves that we make this week.

After another productive but injury-plagued season, it’s time to ensure that Ryan Zimmerman can remain a National for life. We can do so by trimming some annual value off of his contract too and giving us room for those final roster tweaks.

The first face of the franchise is due $18 million in 2019 and has a $2 million buyout on his $18 million option in 2020. His current annual average is also a restricting $16.67 million, which is way above where it should be, despite his stature.

So I ring up Zimm and get some intern in marketing to whip up a compilation of all his walk-off home runs, and big moments in his career. Surely, he can’t leave that and he wants to retire as a Nat after seeing that emotional video.

Then after we’ve used all the tissued for our tears, it’s time to talk extension. As you’d expect, Zimmerman is fairly humble and knows that he’s not quite worth the annual average he currently gets, so we get down to business with his agent Brodie Van Wagenen.

In the end, we’re able to bring the annual average all the way down below $10 million, signing him up for the next three years. We also include a mutual option just in case he continues to defy Father Time with a late-career renaissance. This contract should see Zimmerman retire as a National one way or the other. Just as it should be.

Contract Signed: Ryan Zimmerman signs a 3-year $30 million deal with a fourth-year mutual option for $8 million.

Day 7 – Bring in the last two veterans

One of the major criticisms of the Washington Nationals in 2018 was that, at times, they lacked some veteran leadership in the clubhouse. So while the second base situation, as things stand, is ok with Howie Kendrick the starter, bringing in veteran Brian Dozier makes a ton of sense.

Fresh off a World Series loss to the Boston Red Sox in six games, Dozier is a free agent for the first time in his career. But it couldn’t have come at a much worse time for him as he seemed to have his worst offensive season since his rookie season in 2012.

Now feels like the perfect time to pounce. He and Kendrick can share the load at second base, all while adding a valuable dugout presence after he was somewhat of a leader in the Minnesota Twins clubhouse.

He’s getting desperate for a World Series ring as he pushes on in his career and feels that D.C. might be the place to do it. We initially put a simple one-year $10 million offer on the table, as we look to have him fill the gap until Luis Garcia is ready.

However, he wants to invest into the city, and asks for a three-year $24 million deal so he can truly commit. In the end, he settles for a two-year pact that has a player option for a third year. He picks up the mantle from Adam Eaton as the team’s gritty, determined, energetic player.

Contract Signed: Brian Dozier signs a 2-year, $14 million deal with a player option for $7 million

All of this ends up leaving one spot left on the bench to fill. While we secured Ryan Zimmerman on the previous day, we could definitely do with a bit more insurance at first base in the likely scenario he has to miss time again.

Midseason, the Philadelphia Phillies managed to grab Justin Bour from the Miami Marlins for virtual peanuts. But with Carlos Santana on the roster, they can’t afford to keep both for the whole of the 2019 season.

You may remember when the Phillies dealt the Nats Howie Kendrick in a similar deal, so this isn’t unprecedented. Matt Klentak gets nervous on the phone when we speak, he knows my reputation at this point and is scared of getting fleeced too.

He panics and asks for McKenzie Mills. Mills was the player the Nats sent to the Phillies in that Kendrick deal. He’s flustered. I tell him we don’t have Mills, but we can send him Luis Reyes, who was down in the Arizona Fall League and the trade is done. My week as Nats GM concludes with a bargain basement bench bat.

Trade Completed: Philadelphia Phillies receive Luis Reyes. Washington Nationals get Justin Bour.

The Final Roster Summary

While this was a pretty fun way to tell the story of my proposed plan for the Washington Nationals, I did so with a serious outcome. It’s possible to completely change the look and feel of the entire roster while staying under the luxury tax threshold.

During the entire process, I tried to keep track of the finances of the contracts taken on and signed during the process. The calculations use MLB Trade Rumors Arbitration Predictions for each arb-eligible player, and pre-arb players have the minimum salary against them, though they could earn a little more than that.

There’s going to be some variation in those pre-arb and arbitration deals, so I’ve made sure to leave some nice breathing room.

There a few final notes to clear up on players that might be missing from this. I thought I’d list them below into a couple of categories, either optioned back to the minors, or DFA’d completely because they’re out of options.

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Optioned to the Minor Leagues

• Austen Williams
• Kyle McGowin
• Austin Voth
• Adrian Sanchez
• Jefry Rodriguez
• Jimmy Cordero

Designated for Assignment

• Sammy Solis
• Trevor Gott
• Matt Reynolds

If I’m being critical of myself, the bench seems a bit unbalanced, with not much speed, and nobody natural on the left side of the infield. But, if the Nationals need to grab someone who can fill in, they still have Adrian Sanchez lurking at Triple-A to fill in temporarily. While not ideal, he’s impressed lately and can do the job.

The lineup didn’t need a huge amount of improving from where it was at last season. But some of the trades and free agents sure up what is now a deep lineup 1-8 and can go toe-to-toe with anyone in the National League.

The rotation was definitely the single biggest hole on the team coming into the offseason. But now, after the reinforcements, it’s arguably back to one of the best in the league. You also have Tanner Roark and Joe Ross duking it out for the fifth spot, with the loser waiting in the bullpen as a depth option.

The farm system also comes out a little depleted after we lose Carter Kieboom and two of the top three pitching prospects. But some of that is replenished from the Eaton and Taylor trades early on in the process, especially with Nolan Jones who is a fantastic acquisition.

Let us know on Twitter and in the comment below what you think of this radical seven step idea to completely transform the Washington Nationals. What would you have done differently? What did we do well?