Washington: Pitcher List projects no top free agents to Nationals

The writers at Pitcher List predicted where some of the top free agents would land this offseason. They couldn’t get a majority sending anyone to the Washington Nationals.

This time of year is one of the most exciting times for all baseball fans. The air is thick with free agency talk and potential trades, and for a fan there is nothing better than the speculation surrounding what their favorite team may do (until they actually do it, that is better). It is also fun to see what others predict as well. For the Washington Nationals, the staff at Pitcher List wasn’t too keen on them acquiring the best talent this offseason.

We have already looked at the MLB Trade Rumors Top 50 free agent list. They had two players going the way of the Nationals, in Marcell Ozuna and Taijuan Walker. Both of these are understandable fits for the Nats lineup. A power hitting outfielder, to replace the hole left by Adam Eaton, and a reliable starting pitcher, to put at the backend of the rotation.

The writers at Pitcher List took a look at the Top 15 free agents and voted on where they thought said players would wind up. Not a one of them wound up going to the Nationals.

Sure, the Nationals received a few tally marks out of the deal. 10% of the writers felt the aforementioned Ozuna could end up in Washington, while 3% of those polled felt Corey Kluber would sign in the nation’s capital.

The player with the biggest percentage was Michael Brantley, with one out of every four writers thinking the Nationals were the best fit for the 33 year-old outfielder.

Obviously, these suggestions are just for fun and don’t mean anything. I put stock in them as much as I do the Nationals trading for embattled catcher Gary Sanchez (hey Nats, trade for embattled catcher Gary Sanchez, please).

This offseason is even more unpredictable than the previous ones, with a global pandemic laying in the balance and owners reportedly hemorrhaging money due to lost gate receipts. When the dust settles and the contracts have been signed, my money says the Nats do end up with a big name or two.

Until then though, we’ll continue to read other people’s projections and make speculations of our own.