Washington Nationals: More pitching will come in quantity not quality

Aside from the pursuit of Bryce Harper, the Washington Nationals finals need is to stock up on more starting and relief pitching this offseason.

While the rest of the Washington Nationals offseason is likely to be centered on Bryce Harper, they do have a little more to do on the pitching front. However, don’t expect the team to invest heavily in more arms.

Jamal Collier, the Nats beat writer for MLB.com, recently hosted a mailbag in which someone asked about a potential addition of a starting pitcher. But the response isn’t necessarily what some Nationals fans may expect.

“It doesn’t look like the Nationals are going to sign another starter to any sort of guaranteed deal,” Collier said in response to the question. “I expect the Nationals to invite a few veterans to camp on Minor League deals with big league invites to compete for jobs.”

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While this was presumed to be the case given the high level of investment in the team already this offseason, it seems as though the team thinks the same. That could still change if the right pitcher falls to an absolute bargain rate, but as things currently stand, adding another arm is unlikely.

According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the Nationals have just under $11 million to spend under the luxury tax threshold. Multiple reports state that the Nats are only willing to go over the luxury tax for Bryce Harper, so there’s not a case of delegating the Harper-money anywhere else, he’s a completely different entity at this point.

So if we take Harper out of the equation for a bit, assuming the Nationals want to stay under the luxury tax, they will likely want some breathing room for player incentives, any mid-season trades or a potential Anthony Rendon extension. So adding any other highly paid pitchers is unwise in that scenario.

But the Nationals still need to add more pitching depth in the rotation and the bullpen. After all, Mike Rizzo believes in the philosophy of pitching being king. So rather than adding one more quality arm, the team’s best bet is to add several fliers on minor league contracts in the hope that a few work and are able to contribute in 2019.

They’ve already begun that process with the acquisition of Henderson Alvarez, who fits that mold perfectly. But there are other options out there such as James Shields, Miguel Gonzalez, Xavier Cedeno or Dan Jennings that could be brought in to compete for a job.

In recent seasons, the Nationals have had a fair amount of successful minor league free agent signings that have made an impact in the big leagues. Names like Jeremy Hellickson, Justin Miller, Matt Albers, and Edwin Jackson have all come through that same process in the last two seasons, so now it’s time to find the next crop and it’s possible that someone sticks.

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Unfortunately, for the Washington Nationals, there just isn’t the budget to make a big free agent splash for one last pitcher. Therefore, it’s time for Rizzo and the front office to get to work and find more possible gems that can compete to win a roster spot in Spring Training.

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