The clock ticks closer and closer to pitchers and catchers reporting, and taking a quick look around the NL East, you see teams with a pulse. The New York Mets are re-tooling, Braves in the hunt for another division crown, and the Phillies as aggressive as ever behind Dave Dombrowski. Now pivot and look in at our nation's capital. What do we see? Waiver claims, minor league deals for "familiar faces" and the departure of the only pitcher who looked like an ace, getting back a stash of prospects.
It has become time to call this for what it truly is: The Nationals' refusal to act this offseason is not "patience", it is straight up disappointing to most fans. If Paul Toboni thinks he can cruise right into 2026 on the back of waiver wire scraps like George Soriano and Richard Lovelady, he is sadly in for a rude awakening when the performance on the field is worse than last year.
Last year, despite the seemingly never-ending struggles, there was a sense of leadership in the Nats dugout. We saw what veteran presences like Josh Bell could do for a young locker room, providing a floor when the dog days of August hit. But this winter, Toboni has effectively gutted the veteran leadership that this team once had.
By failing to bring in any proven winners or clubhouse anchors, the Nationals are leaving their precious assets of James Wood, Dylan Crews, CJ Abrams, and Daylen Lile out to dry. We are asking a group of twenty-somethings to navigate one of the most grueling divisions in baseball with a 33-year-old manager and zero veteran presence in the lineup.
Wood and Crews are generational talents, but they aren't robots. When the inevitable slumps come, like the ones they both endured last season, who is going to be the one to pull them aside? A coach that doesn't have a ton of big-league experience with a laptop? Or a veteran who has 'been there and done that'?
The Harry Ford trade was a great long-term move, and the MacKenzie Gore blockbuster brought back a 'farm-altering' haul that will certainly benefit the team in the future, but what does that do for the fans showing up to Nationals Park in 2026? Absolutely nothing.
The Nationals as of February 2nd, 2026, are operating with the lowest urgency of any team in baseball. They are seemingly content to kick the can to 2027 and beyond, effectively wasting another year of CJ Abrams and the rest of the youngsters' prime as well as the cheap, pre-arbitration years of their young outfield. By not signing a legitimate front-line starter to replace Gore so far or a veteran bat to help protect Wood, the front office is essentially waving the white flag before pitchers and catchers even report.
The 2026 season was originally supposed to be a year to take the next step, but now it's looking like a retreat. You cannot build a winning culture on potential alone; you need actual Major League talent to help bridge the gap.
If the Nationals don't make a move of real weight before the roster is finalized, the demise of the 2026 season won't be a mystery, it will be a self-inflicted wound. Paul Toboni needs to stop playing it safe and start playing to win or prepare to explain to the fanbase why another year of their lives is wasted 'building the future'.