A turbulent offseason for the Nationals has seen a number of players depart, and yet, the team has still not signed on a hitter to a major league contract.
It's a puzzling development; the Nats front office is forthcoming about its uncompetitiveness in 2026, but teams without playoff hopes still frequently sign players to one-year deals with the upside of flipping them to a contending team for prospects come the trade deadline if they perform well. In fact, the team has already done that this offseason in the form of Foster Griffin. So with less than two weeks until the first full-squad workout, who's left to fill the rental void on the Nats?
1B Paul Goldschmidt
Goldschmidt of his own admission is ready to play in 2026. We've talked on this site at length about the Nationals first base situation; while the team has endless depth now at the position, there's nobody ready to run away with the everyday job there.
The Nats signed Amed Rosario last year to fill a specific role: build up his value as a short-side platoon bat, get a little production out of him, and flip him to a contender for prospects at the deadline. Goldschmidt, who somehow found over 500 plate appearances with the Yankees in 2025, could fill that role in 2026.
There's a stark difference between his wRC+ against righties (74) and lefties (169) in 2025, and taking a limited playing role while also serving as a veteran presence in the clubhouse could go a long way as the Nats continue to get younger on the field and in the front office. Goldy could hypothetically enter a first base platoon with Luis García Jr.
DH Marcell Ozuna
There isn't much I want to say about Ozuna, and full disclosure, if the team signs him, I may personally step back from covering them until he's departed. After a domestic violence arrest in 2021 and a DUI charge in 2022 which he later pled no contest to, Ozuna has understandably earned a paltry amount of goodwill from many baseball fans, myself included. From an on-field performance perspective alone, however, it is worth a glance.
Ozuna's two years removed from a second straight campaign with the Braves where he hit 39 home runs and posted his highest full-season wRC+ in his career. Now 35, it was a down year for him in 2025; his walk rate jumped up to a career high, but his power output slid, and he posted a 114 wRC+ as a full-time DH in nearly 600 plate appearances.
ZiPS projects a moderate bounceback to the tune of 25 home runs with a 121 wRC+. A number of Nats fans, myself among them, are more than willing to not get that kind of production, however, given the baggage it comes tied to.
OF Mike Tauchman
A recent Foolish Bailey upload opened the eyes of many baseball fans with regard to the skillset of one Mike Tauchman. The "Palatine Pounder" is coming off a third straight season with at least 350 plate appearances and a .325 wOBA or better.
Tauchman gets on base, simply put, and while he's not an elite fielder especially heading into his age-35 season, he's not unplayable by any means. His biggest issue is health; he's failed to reach the 110-game threshold over any of the last three season. Most projection models currently have him pegged as about a league-average hitter.
LF/3B Miguel Andújar
A former top prospect with the Yankees, Andújar came into his own over the last two seasons with the Athletics. He's held water against righties and obliterated lefties in a small sample size in that time and remains a free agent heading into his age-31 season. Projection models are split on him, but Andújar appears to be a prime candidate to fill the aforementioned void left by the departure of Amed Rosario.
We're in the point of the offseason where the remaining bats are likely going to have to be picked off the scrap heap, but sometimes one team's trash is another's treasure. Do you want the Nationals to sign another bat, or do you think the team is set headed into Spring Training? Who would you like to see the team pick up? Sound off on socials, either on Twitter or Bluesky.