Washington Nationals: Top 3 free agents signed in November, ranked
#1 Kurt Suzuki
Rare I would say are the cases of players signed to November contracts who come in and are starters right away. Often times November contracts are minor league pacts and not of the 2 YR/$10M variety. This was the case in November of 2018 when the Nationals brought back an old friend, by signing Kurt Suzuki.
The Matt Wieters/Pedro Severino platoon of 2018 just didn’t do what the Nationals needed, so they set their sights on acquiring a new catcher. Suzuki was a twelve year veteran who the Nats originally acquired in 2012 to bolster the catching corps ahead of the playoff push.
After leaving the Nationals the following year, Suzuki was an All-Star in Minnesota and put together two respectable years with the Atlanta Braves before hitting free agency following the ’18 season.
Suzuki paired with Yan Gomes to form a solid platoon which helped the Nationals win the World Series in 2019. In just 85 games Suzuki hit a career high 17 home runs and drove in 63. A late season injury hampered his productivity and cut into his playoff playing time, though he did hit a memorable go ahead home run off Justin Verlander in the 2nd game of the World Series to break a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning.
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Although the power numbers were down in 2019, Suzuki still hit a respectable .270. While there is a small chance the 37 year-old could return to the Nats this offseason, I look for Washington to go with someone younger and better at throwing potential base stealers out, effectively ending his time in DC.