Nationals latest roster move puts a bow on disastrous offseason from Mike Rizzo

The Nationals are fully embracing a new way of thinking.
Washington Nationals v San Francisco Giants
Washington Nationals v San Francisco Giants | Lachlan Cunningham/GettyImages

Before the Washington Nationals won their series opener against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night, the team announced a roster move that would have seemed completely unfathomable about 8 months ago. Flashback to around Christmas time of 2024, and the Nationals had seemingly solved their long-time issue at first base with trade for Nathaniel Lowe, but his time with the organization has now come to an end.

It was a shocking decision, and one that sent waves throughout the fanbase with a lot of mixed reactions. While the decision to DFA Lowe in order to reinstate Dylan Crews was somewhat surprising, you can't say that it's one that doesn't make a lot of sense. Lowe has fallen off dramatically from his previous track record that included a Silver Slugger Award and a Gold Glove, and had been the 2nd-worst player on the team by WAR, trailing only Keibert Ruiz.

Sure, it is not completely Lowe's fault, as former GM Mike Rizzo asked him to completely change his approach and sell out for power to be a 30-homer guy, something he had never done in his career. It was a foolish move in hindsight for the organization to ask Lowe and fellow offseason addition Josh Bell to be hitters that they weren't, but unlike Bell, who has been much more productive since reverting back to his old ways, Lowe was never able to recover his previous form.

One difference from the Rizzo era to the Mike DeBartolo era with the front office is that if a player is not producing, he will not sit on his hands and be content with watching poor play. Lowe had become a liability defensively, and him not being the on-base machine that was expected from him offensively had made him a liability in the lineup as well.

While many had already begun to speculate whether or not Lowe would be non-tendered this offseason as the team's highest-paid player, the decision has now been made for him, and his time in Washington is over. Rizzo was notorious for not being able to admit mistakes during this rebuild, especially with decisions such as retaining the coaching staff and botching the Max Scherzer & Trea Turner deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

DeBartolo is not like Rizzo, and his savviness in utilizing the waiver wire to take chances on guys like PJ Poulin, who has already shown his legitimate upside out of the bullpen is a breath of fresh air that this organization had sorely been lacking. It remains to be seen if DeBartolo will end up being the GM beyond the rest of 2025, but he has completely embraced the youth movement by giving the young kids a chance to play as much as possible.

While Jacob Young still stands to take playing time away from Daylen Lile and Robert Hassell III despite offering nothing from an offensive standpoint, the team has made a very tough decision with the DFA of Lowe to give young guys more of an opportunity.

Young did earn a start in center field last night with James Wood sliding over to DH and Lile and Crews flanking him in the outfield, but he should stand to lose playing time over the rest of the season. The bottom line is that the Nationals chose to keep all of their young outfielders on the roster rather than demoting anyone to the minors, and that alone shows a clear shift in philosophy.

The 2024 offseason from Mike Rizzo was a true disaster, with the only remaining players in the organization now being Trevor Williams, Shinnosuke Ogasawara, Paul DeJong, and Bell, who all are not guaranteed a spot on the 2026 team. For a GM who was given over $50 million to use by ownership, the team saw almost 20% of that budget walk out the door on Thursday with Lowe's departure. That mismanagement of resources, combined with some pretty brutal draft history is a huge reason why Rizzo is no longer with the organization.

Hopefully, the Nationals will learn from their mistakes and realize that a guy in Lowe who was a reliable and consistent contributor throughout his career was ruined by this coaching staff and the unrealistic expectations of their former GM, and will be better off in the future by realizing an important lesson. Only time will tell, but for now, the DFA of Lowe was a step in the right direction for the long-term future of this organization.


What do you think of the Nathaniel Lowe DFA decision? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.

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