The Washington Nationals made a splash last week by hiring the youngest coach in the Major Leagues since 1972, 33-year-old Blake Butera. Brand new President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni is making his mark on the MLB offseason. David Pearson from the Boston Red Sox and Justin Horowitz from the Pittsburgh Pirates have been hired as Assistant GM's. Mike DeBartolo was also kept on the staff as an assistant GM. Toboni is assembling a team with a background of scouting. It's clear the goal is form Washington into an organization that takes pride in scouting and player development.
What's the next move for Toboni and the Washington Nationals? Assembling the rest of the coaching staff should be priority number one. Butera will need some experienced coaches around him. A bench coach with prior coaching experience would be smart, as he's typically the manager's right-hand man. It can also be used as an opportunity to find a former player interested in coaching. Ryan Zimmermann as the Nats bench coach would be awesome, but it's unlikely. The Nats can't miss on the hitting and pitching coaching hires. Coaches that don't emphasize hitting the ball into the ground would be preferred.
Free agency is right around the corner for the Nats. Josh Bell, Paul DeJong, and Derek Law were posted as free agents on Sunday night. With FA looming, Toboni and his staff have to determine what type of roster the Nats will field in 2026. There have been rumors surrounding MacKenzie Gore and CJ Abrams as trade candidates. The Nats roster would certainly change if those two were moved, more so than it already would. Toboni likely would form his free agency moves around the trades of Gore and Abrams. It would make sense for those trades to happen early on in free agency, if they were to happen.
Say Gore and Abrams don't get traded. What's the plan after that? It's yet to be determined what type of financial flexibility Toboni will be provided with this offseason. We as fans won't know until after free agency is over, as it's usually reflected in the team's moves. It would shock me to see the Nats go after a big-name free agent like Alex Bregman. Washington doesn't have a history of prioritizing hitters in free agency. A pitcher like Dylan Cease would make sense for the Nats. He's coming off a season in which he struggled to the tune of a 4.55 ERA. Hopefully that bad season is enough for his price range to drop into Washington's hands. Cease has started at least 32 games for the past five seasons, recording 200 strikeouts in each one. If Toboni has the flexibility to go after a big-name free agent, Dylan Cease should be the player.
The more realistic options for the Nats include Zach Littell, Merrill Kelly, and Zach Eflin. All three of these starting pitchers are serviceable and could eat up innings for the Nats. I anticipate the Nats signing more pitchers than hitters this offseason due to having more options in-house at the plate. Players like Daylen Lile and Robert Hassell III needed more opportunities, while Jake Irvin and Mitchell Parker deserved less. Irvin and Parker had to keep pitching due to a lack of depth. Taking fliers on a few starting pitchers in free agency would be smart for the Nats.
So what's next for the Washington Nationals? First should be assembling a coaching staff to support the youngest coach in the Major Leagues. Next, important roster decsions need to be made. Should MacKenzie Gore and CJ Abrams be traded? Then, the roster for 2026 can start to be assembled. If Gore and Abrams are traded, the strategy for free agency and the rest of the offseason could be much different.