Mike Rizzo has plenty of work to do, but a few moves would be able to vastly improve Washington’s lineup.
26-34. After winning the World Series in 2019, no one expected Washington to follow it up by posting their first losing record since 2011, but here we are. Juan Soto and Trea Turner were two of the best hitters in baseball during the 2020 season, but they had almost zero help behind them. In a competitive NL East and plenty of long term contracts still on the books, Washington has almost no choice but to keep moving forward. To do so, they will need to bolster their offense and fast. So far, Washington has yet to make a major move and is currently stuck at a crossroads.
Earlier in the season, I detailed my perfect off-season plan, but since then a few players I had highlighted as must adds have signed with new teams since. No worries. There are still plenty of intriguing options left in free agency that would get this lineup back into contention. But what would the perfect Nationals lineup look like for 2021? For this exercise, I decided to keep the Nat’s under the luxury tax and to make it easier, went under the assumption the NL will keep the DH rule intact.