Washington Nationals: A theoretical week as GM this offseason

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(Photo: Rob Carr of Getty Images) /

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

Designated for Assignment

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.

Next. 5 Biggest Storylines to follow this offseason. dark

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?

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