The Washington Nationals' offseason so far has been a bit of an interesting one to follow. After effectively cleaning house within the organization starting back in July of 2025 when they fired longtime General Manager Mike Rizzo and skipper Dave Martinez, the dawn of a new era was upon the franchise.
As the Nationals moved into the offseason, they brought in an entirely new front office set to modernize the organization led by their new President of Baseball Operations, Paul Toboni. He brought in some very smart baseball minds around him to help turn the organization into a powerhouse, and the early returns have been encouraging.
They have navigated some interesting debacles like dealing 2025 All-Star lefty MacKenzie Gore for a haul of prospects, a deal that helped replenish the Nationals' farm system and already looks like a solid deal for the team. Another area they will look to be strategic in is on the free agency front, an area in which the franchise has been very non-committal for a while now.
They made one of their best early moves of their regime over the weekend with the signing of righty Zack Littell, a guy who has been a steady and reliable starter over the last couple seasons. He has become a very good pitcher, and the Nationals will hopefully be able to see similar results before he is likely shipped out at the deadline.
But one underrated part of the signing is that they were somehow able to keep a few pitcher-needy teams from upgrading their current crop of pitchers, one of them being their National League East rival Atlanta Braves. You might remember the Braves being decimated by injuries last season, and 2026 is looking like more of the same so far.
Already this year they have lost promising righty Spencer Schwellenbach until at least the summer, fellow young righty Hurston Waldrep until the summer as well, and AJ Smith-Shawver is still recovering from Tommy John Surgery. Additionally, star Braves pitcher Spencer Strider's velocity has not fully returned yet, meaning he might not be the same guy he was before injuries.
All of these injuries mean that the Braves would have been a likely candidate to poach Littell to stabilize the middle of their rotation, however, they ended up not making the move, which could cost them in the long run. The Nationals' signing of Littell was a good one, but it picked up extra meaning when looking at it through this alternative lens as well.
What did you think of the Nationals managing to keep the Braves from going after Zack Littell? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.