Much of the free agent information in this article is sourced from FanGraphs, as well as Jon Becker's free agent matrices, which you can check out here.
There wasn't much buzz around the Nationals leading up to the non-tender deadline last Friday, but there certainly was once it hit, as it was announced that All-Star closer Kyle Finnegan had not been tendered a contract for the 2025 MLB season. Bennett covered it shortly after it happened, and dove into how the organization mishandled Finnegan's situation in opting to not find a trade suitor for him at the trade deadline in July. The fact of the matter is that after the cut of Finnegan and the deadline trade of Hunter Harvey, the Nationals are sorely missing veteran presence in the bullpen; Derek Law (34) is the only player on the relief staff with more than 2 years of service time.
Mike Rizzo is going to add to this bullpen, but the question of whether or not the organization views itself as ready to compete for a wild card spot in 2025 will determine where they shop on the relief market and whether they intend to acquire big-name relief arms. Either way, it's worth evaluating the options the team has.
LHP Tanner Scott (MIA, SD): 72 G; 34 SD/9 MD; 16.3 K-BB%; 1.75 ERA/2.92 FIP
I'm a big Tanner Scott fan, but I'd be lying if I said there weren't reasons not to be. Scott wasn't a huge high-leverage player until 2023, going 35-32 on shutdowns and meltdowns from 2021 to 2022 across the Orioles and Marlins. There were reasons to like him even then, though, as the strikeout stuff has always been effervescent; his career K% is a couple ticks below 30. He limited both walks and home runs much more than before in 2023, and parlayed that into an All-Star appearance last year despite his walk rate about doubling. His 1.75 ERA from last year probably isn't the most sustainable, fueled partially by a .247 BABIP, but he'll still be an excellent addition to any bullpen if his next few years resemble his last two. I'm not sure he's the best fit for the Nationals, though--the team already has two highly promising lefties in Robert Garcia and Jose A. Ferrer, and while I doubt most fans would complain about adding several top bullpen arms, knowing the way the Lerners are likely to operate financially, I'd rather the front office allocate more of that budget towards the righties in the free agent class.
RHP Jeff Hoffman (PHI): 68 G; 34 SD/8 MD; 27.5 K-BB%; 2.17 ERA/2.52 FIP
After spending his whole career with Colorado and Cincinnati, Hoffman was designated for assignment after 2022, picked up by the Twins on a non-roster deal, released again, and quickly jumped to the Phillies where he broke out in a big way, posting very similar (and elite) numbers across 2023 and 2024, becoming an All-Star for the first time in the latter season after moving to a de facto high leverage role. His hard-hit rate exploded and ground ball rate slipped year over year, but it still only resulted in an 0.8 HR/9 in traditionally homer-friendly Citizens Bank Park. The main question is whether or not Hoffman will sign as a starting pitcher; he came up as one, but hasn't been a full-time starter in the majors since 2019, when he made 15 starts with the Reds. Matt Gelb at The Athletic reported earlier this month that several teams pursuing him are doing so as a starter, though. That might be where the Nationals come in: after Trevor Williams made a successful transition to starter in 2024 (despite questionable results in '23), that might make Washington an attractive place to follow up for Hoffman--if the price is right, of course.
RHP Carlos Estévez (LAA, PHI): 54 G; 24 SD/8 MD; 17.9 K-BB%; 2.45 ERA/3.24 FIP
Estévez, who will be 32 next season, is coming off what many would consider to the best season of his career. His strikeout rates largely returned to his norms from his last two years in Colorado after spiking in 2023, but he matched that by lowering his walk and home run rates to the lowest of his career at 1.96 and 0.82 respectively, serving as the closer for Anaheim and Philadelphia. Estévez is someone I've always been a little bearish on, though, because a lot of his performance is going to come down to batted ball luck. He doesn't get a ton of chases out of the zone, has a bottom 5% groundball rate, and allows a bunch of hard contact. Following his last two seasons, I imagine he'll find a two- or three-year deal with a team aggressively looking to fill a late-inning role, but I'm not sure Washington is the right fit.
RHP Clay Holmes (NYY): 67 G; 29 SD/14 MD; 17.0 K-BB%; 3.14 ERA/3.02 FIP
I'll start by saying that Clay Holmes has a career 1.35 ERA and 8 shutdowns against 2 meltdowns in the postseason since joining the Yankees in 2021. Even for someone who prioritizes advanced metrics as much as I do, that kind of postseason and high-stress experience is invaluable to a team as young as the 2025 Nationals. That being said, it was a tough season for Clay Holmes, even with an All-Star nod, especially as he got slammed to the tune of a 6.00 ERA in his final 9 appearances for a Yankees team that was dragged kicking and screaming into the playoffs by Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. Still, there were bright spots--his April was among the best months for any reliever this season, making 14 appearances without allowing an earned run. His groundball rate is one of if not the best in the league (although that doesn't say much for a team as shaky up the middle as the Nationals are), and his strikeout and hard hit rates still very much play. All this is to say that there is very much upside in a hypothetical Clay Holmes signing. I wouldn't complain if it happened.
RHP Blake Treinen (LAD): 50 G; 22 SD/6 MD; 24.5 K-BB%; 1.93 ERA/3.00 FIP
Well, he's been a National before, hasn't he? The 36-year-old Treinen was someone Dave Roberts leaned on heavily to survive the gauntlet of the National League bracket last postseason, and he responded with a 2.19 ERA and 1.46 FIP in 12.1 innings. Still, the facts are what they are: Treinen is 36 years old, missed all of 2023 with labrum and rotator cuff surgery, and then suffered cracked ribs and a bruised lung on a comebacker in Spring Training last year. His body's probably a little worse for wear, and relievers at this age don't tend to get more than one-year deals; the Nationals would probably prefer some stability if they're going to make a high-profile signing... but it's unclear exactly how high-profile a hypothetical Treinen signing would actually be. Still, there's a lot of red on that Savant page...
RHP Kirby Yates (TEX): 61 G; 39 SD/5 MD; 24.1 K-BB%; 1.17 ERA/2.50 FIP
Look, I know I just criticized Blake Treinen for being 36 and I know that Yates is 37, but the fact of the matter is that Yates just had one of the best seasons of his entire career, and easily his best since his outrageous 2019 with San Diego. Until the final stretch of the season, he was on pace for a SD/MD ratio that rivaled even Emmanuel Clase, and he still didn't finish with too poor a number. He struggles with walks, and doesn't have great extension or velocity, but he features a deceptive enough arm angle with really excellent movement on the fastball that pairs well with his splitter. There's probably some regression due on his minuscule 0.44 HR/9 rate; his 5.9% HR/FB ratio is not a lock to repeat itself, but Yates is someone that might genuinely command a multi-year deal.
RHP Kenley Jansen (BOS): 54 G; 32 SD/7 MD; 19.3 K-BB%; 3.29 ERA/3.00 FIP
Big guy still going strong. Jansen, who will be 37 this upcoming season, was surprisingly reliable for a Red Sox team who were anything but this past season. After seemingly toying with his arm angle a bit in 2023, he returned to a more over-the-top slot last season and became about as much of a one-pitch pitcher as he was in his prime in 2018. That returned solid results, even if the underlying metrics doubt his future success. Jansen doesn't feel like a prime fit for the Nationals, but could provide a solid veteran presence if Rizzo opts to go that route.
RHP David Robertson (TEX): 68 G; 39 SD/11 MD; 24.3 K-BB%; 3.00 ERA/2.65 FIP
Say what you will about the 2024 Rangers, but the back end of the bullpen was lights out. At 39 years old, Robertson continued to bolster an all-time great relief career by striking out 99 of the 296 batters he faced as the setup man for Kirby Yates. His cutter showed elite vertical break (2nd among qualified relieves behind only Jansen), and his more seldom-used slider showed sharp bite to go along with his curve. That added up to a 96th percentile strikeout rate for D-Rob, who also effectively limited hard contact. Robertson feels like a top name in this free agent class, even if at 40 years old he'll be one of the oldest players in Major League Baseball in 2025.
LHP Aroldis Chapman (PIT): 68 G; 35 SD/11 MD; 22.3 K-BB%; 3.79 ERA/3.04 FIP
I'll keep this one brief by getting on my soapbox for a moment: I do not want the Nationals to sign Aroldis Chapman. I do not care if he can touch 104 MPH at age 37, or if he was probably better in 2024 than his ERA would suggest. Chapman has massive character issues, and now more than ever the Nationals clubhouse needs accountability. That starts with setting positive examples for younger players, something that is not particularly in Chapman's repertoire.
LHP A.J. Minter (ATL): 39 G; 10 SD/7 MD; 17.9 K-BB%; 2.62 ERA/4.45 FIP
Minter is a lot younger than some of these other veteran relief arms at 31 years old, so he figures to probably find a multi-year deal somewhere, even if it's less expensive than he would have commanded after his excellent 2022 season. He missed time in 2024 with a hip injury that required mid-season surgery, but is projected to be ready for Spring Training for whatever team signs him. The point I made regarding Tanner Scott and the lefty situation on the Nationals stands, although after a shaky first half and a nonexistent second half, Minter is probably a little more of a project than most other players on this list.
RHP Tommy Kahnle (NYY): 50 G; 12 SD/8 MD; 15.1 K-BB%; 2.11 ERA/4.01 FIP
Kahnle is a little confusing to place a value on, but even with the discrepancy between his ERA and FIP, forgive me for saying there's still a lot of red on that Savant page. His obsessive changeup usage produced one of the best groundball rates in baseball with tons of soft contact to back that up. The changeup was really all he had going, though, and the 56-in-a-row spree he went on in the postseason probably won't be consistently repeatable going forward. I wouldn't object to Kahnle joining the Nationals, regardless of how his 2025 goes, though.
RHP Andrew Kittredge (STL): 74 G; 37 SD/10 MD; 16.4 K-BB%; 2.80 ERA/3.96 FIP
Kittredge had a tough May, but that slightly skewed his final numbers: his 0.75 ERA in April and 1.20 ERA in September were more indicative of how strong he was out of the St. Louis bullpen last season. He certainly is not a closer type, as his career wOBA is drastically lower in medium-leverage situations than in high-leverage, but he would provide solid reinforcements for a Nationals bullpen that needs to be reconstructed from almost the ground up. At 35 years old this upcoming season, it's up in the air if Kittredge commands a two-year deal in this market; if the Nats can lock him in on one or get a club option on a second year, it would be a major boon to the team's depth.
RHP Yimi García (TOR, SEA): 39 G; 17 SD/5 MD; 24.2 K-BB%; 3.46 ERA/3.73 FIP
There were two Yimi Garcías in 2024: the Yimi García who posted a 16-2 SD-MD record with the Blue Jays and earned a trade to the contending Mariners, and the Yimi García who put up an ERA of 6.00 in 10 games with Seattle and melted down more times there than he did in almost three times the games with Toronto. Don't get me wrong, I am a firm believer that Yimi García is good, but it's going to be critical to know which Yimi García whatever team signs him is getting. He had one of the most dominant fastballs in the league in 2022, and where some of his secondaries lack in movement he makes up for by mixing in five of them. The sweeper was outright bad when he went to Seattle, though, and the curveball doesn't have a ton of bite. García is absolutely someone worth pursuing, but get ready to spin the wheel of flyball luck if you sign him.
RHP Lucas Sims (CIN, BOS): 58 G; 18 SD/12 MD; 8.8 K-BB%; 4.38 ERA/5.23 FIP
I'm still a fan of Lucas Sims after his dominant 2023 campaign with Cincinnati, but I'd be remiss to not admit that his 2024 gives me some pause. He toyed with a splitter that he threw twice last year and added a solid cutter that was actually his most valuable pitch by Statcast run value, but his sweeper got hit harder and his four-seamer got smashed. He's someone I'd like the team to take a look at and see if they can tinker with his arsenal to unlock some form of 2023 Sims again.
RHP Scott Barlow (CLE): 63 G; 18 SD/10 MD; 15.4 K-BB%; 4.25 ERA/4.02 FIP
Barlow had a brutal go of it in Cleveland, but I believe that deep down inside, the old Scott Barlow still exists. The Scott Barlow that can hit the strike zone and not walk 12% of the batters he faces. When he's in the zone, he's great: the stuff plays, he induces a lot of ground balls and weak contact when he's not getting whiffs, the works. It's imperative that wherever he goes, he is able to find a way to throw strikes, because he sure isn't getting chases. I won't pretend to know what that's going to take, but that's why I'm not on the coaching staff while Sean Doolittle and Jim Hickey are.
RHP Kyle Finnegan (WSH): 65 G; 28 SD/10 MD; 13.3 K-BB%; 3.68 ERA/4.25 FIP
Surprise! Finnegan's non-tendering doesn't necessarily mean his time as a National is done; he made $5.1 million in 2024, and was projected to make about $8.5 million in 2025 as a 33-year-old right-hander with questionable peripherals. It is entirely possible that the Nationals re-negotiate a cheaper deal with Finnegan for 2025 and potentially beyond, albeit maybe with the expectation that the closer role is far from a guarantee, especially if a higher-profile signing is made ahead of him. Even with his disastrous second half after a lack of a trade, the Nationals know what they had in Finnegan; they spent five years rostering him, anyway. I wouldn't count out a reunion, but success in 2025 wherever he lands is going to require some work; he's been about the same pitcher for the last three years, and that home run rate is not viable for how many baserunners he allows.
These are just a few of the free agent options available. Other guys like Jordan Romano (TOR), Caleb Ferguson (NYY, HOU), and a possible reunion with Dylan Floro (WSH, AZD) intrigue me, but admittedly it is 1:15 AM as I'm writing this and I'd like to get some sleep tonight. If you have any other thoughts, questions, or remarks, feel free to direct them to our Twitter @DistrictOnDeck, or engage with me directly on my Bluesky @theottspot.bsky.social. I'd love to hear from you all and possibly debate names that could be suiting up in the curly W next year.