The Washington Nationals have been pretty quiet for the most part in free agency so far, but that does not mean that they aren't doing anything. They have made a few player acquisitions along the way, but fans of the club are hoping that the team begins to be a bit more active soon.
Looking back at team history, the Nationals have previously been active in the month of January, with some of their best free agent signings in team history coming in the month. Outside of inking lefty Foster Griffin to a 1-year deal, however, the team has only made minor league acquisitions.
One thing about baseball is that all teams have to make minor league acquisitions as low-cost contracts that can allow guys to serve as minor league depth in a worst-case scenario, and every team must make some signings that fit that bill. Fortunately, for this now former Washington National, he fell into that bucket.
Paul DeJong is now a member of the New York Yankees after inking a minor league deal over the weekend, and hopefully for him he has a chance to make the club as a veteran bench option. For DeJong, who strangely has reverse splits as I noted when the Nationals signed him last offseason, he can provide a steady glove and some legitimate power, something the Yankees lacked in the middle infield last year.
Anthony Volpe struggled for a lot of the year, and trade deadline acquisition Jose Caballero helped to stabilize things at times. Jazz Chisholm is entrenched at second base for the foreseeable future, while Ryan McMahon is not going anywhere for a while at the hot corner as well. Their top infield prospects are still not super close to making the big leagues yet, so it appears as if the Yankees will give DeJong plenty of runway during spring training to see if he can prove himself worthy of making the team.
After having a tumultuous 2025 season for the Nationals in which he was an ultimate professional despite missing a lot of time after a scary hit by pitch to the face, any team could benefit from having a guy like DeJong in their clubhouse. We will be rooting for DeJong in the future and wish the best for him long-term!
Do you think Paul DeJong has a chance to crack the Yankees' Opening Day roster? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.