At long last, the Washington Nationals have finally signed a player in free agency to a big league contract. After going almost the entire offseason having inked just 1 player to a major league deal previously, the Nationals have struck again as spring training began to kick into gear.
As mentioned, the Nationals had inked lefty Foster Griffin to a deal earlier this season, and as of yesterday he had been the only player brought in by the club on an actual contract. Of course, it's not as if the team had done nothing, as there might not be a club around the league that has made more moves in total.
While the weight of those moves is not quite as severe due to an overall lack of aggression with key free agent moves, the Nationals basically had to rebuild their veteran depth across the upper levels of their minor leagues on the player personnell side. Of course, the coaching staffs of each of their minor league teams also underwent a lot of change, and the organization as a whole should look a lot different.
The Nationals have also been active on the waiver wire and trade market, swinging deals for Harry Ford from the Mariners and Andre Granillo from the Cardinals. Also, they obviously swung a deal to ship out MacKenzie Gore to the Rangers, which should help serve the team for years to come.
But on Wednesday afternoon, the Nationals brought in 37-year-old righty Miles Mikolas on a 1-year deal worth $2.25M plus incentives that could net him some extra money. Nationals fans should be pretty familiar with him by now, as he has pitched very well against the franchise over the course of his career.
Throughout his MLB career, Mikolas has a 72-75 record to go with a 4.24 ERA and 1.216 WHIP in 241 games, making 213 starts, and will join the Nationals after a very successful run in St. Louis with the Cardinals. He was an All-Star in 2018 and 2022, but has not been as effective over the last couple seasons as he begins to get up there in age.
Mikolas is a fun story, as he went to Japan for multiple years following an unsuccessful big league stint with the Texas Rangers in 2014, and came back in 2018 with the Cardinals and completely reinvented himself into an MLB All-Star. However, he is coming off a season in which he posted just an 8-11 record, 4.84 ERA, and 1.318 WHIP, making him likely nothing more than an innings eater.
It is likely that if Mikolas can turn back the clock he will be dealt at the trade deadline, as he will likely want to chase a ring at this later stage of his career. His rotation spot will be interesting, as he now factors into an equation that also includes incumbent arms like Cade Cavalli, Josiah Gray, Jake Irvin, Brad Lord, and fellow newcomer Foster Griffin, among other arms.
While it may not be the Max Scherzer reunion many Nationals fans were hoping for, Paul Toboni has signed another big league arm, and it will be interesting to see how the rotation shakes out.
What do you think about the Nationals signing veteran righty Miles Mikolas? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.