The Washington Nationals have been hard at work this offseason in attempting to rebuild their roster ahead of the 2026 season. While nobody will be expecting this club to be any sort of contending team or anything this year, there should be reasonable expectations that the club will at least be better this upcoming season.
If you watched a game at all during this season, you could tell that the Nationals were a team that was lacking severely in terms of the fundamentals, whether it was subpar defense, baserunning, or plate discipline. However, another aspect of the club's ultimate demise is that the Nationals had the worst bullpen in the big leagues, and it was statistically one of the worst bullpens in MLB history.
With that being known, there has been a lot of turnover within the bullpen since the end of last season, with the club acquiring guys like Paxton Schultz and others already, and perhaps some future signings that might give the club a fighting chance to be able to hold a lead?
After having lost All-Star Kyle Finnegan at the trade deadline last year and projected closer of the future Jose A. Ferrer to a trade this offseason, the Nationals are extremely thin in their bullpen. This is obviously cause for concern for a club that needs all the help it can get to improve upon their results from the last couple of seasons.
One of last year's arms, righty Sauryn Lao, had already been known as heading overseas to Japan to try to rebuild some of his value, and will be hoping to come back to the states in a couple years after spending some time over there. However, where it got strange was that the Nationals had taken their time in officially releasing him or making any sort of comment about his situation.
But as of now, with righty Paxton Schultz coming into the fold as well, Lao was officially released to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, which Schultz would later end up taking back on Friday. With this move becoming official, Lao will be headed to Japan and Schultz will move down to the Nation's Capital from our neighbor to the north in Canada. All of a sudden, the Nationals are a center for international travel.
How do you think Sauryn Lao will fare overseas in Japan? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.