The Washington Nationals are back at it again in free agency. Since the offseason began, the Nationals have been in the news seemingly every couple day at this point due to the number of things they had to check off their list before their team can take the field for the 2026 season.
On that list included hiring an entirely new front office after the unit as a whole was completely gutted heading into the offseason after an abysmal. Paul Toboni and his new unit are set to lead the club into the future, and they have been extremely hard at work since taking over.
They hired Blake Butera to be the youngest manager in the big leagues heading into next season, and are currently close to completing the team's coaching staff, which was also almost completely gutted outside of Sean Doolittle, who was chosen to come back. While we are still waiting for a couple roles to be filled, Toboni and company have now turned their attention over to the player acquisition side of things, and have made yet another smaller signing.
After signing righty Tyler Baum over the weekend and making a couple signings before that, all of the minor-league deal variety, the Nationals have now signed Leandro Pineda, a 23-year-old former international free agent who will be coming over from the NL East rival Philadelphia Phillies. While he has only played above A-ball for one season, he once was a slightly touted prospect.
Before the 2025 season, Pineda was listed as the #15 prospect in the Phillies' organization by FanGraphs, but his first full season in AA was underwhelming following a promising short sample size at the end of the 2024 season. That was part of the reason why he found himself being available this year, and Toboni was happy to take a chance on Pineda.
He has the versatility to play multiple outfield spots as well as first base, but he spent the majority of this past season playing right field. Pineda slashed .211/.320/.364 slash line, good for a .684 OPS to go along with 9 homers and 37 RBIs in 105 games. It was a step back from his 2024 season in which he had a .744 OPS and 11 homers in 95 games, including swatting 3 homers in 12 games with an OPS above .900 to end that year while getting his feet wet in Double-A. Time will tell if he can capitalize on his upside, but it's an intriguing dart throw, nonetheless.
What do you think of the Nationals' latest signing? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.