A Look Back: Handing out Grades for the Nationals 2024 Offseason Signings

After years of relatively nothing in the offseason, Mike Rizzo and the Nationals did, well basically nothing. Since the 2020 season, Trevor Williams is the only free agent acquisition to be signed to a long-term deal, with the Nationals signing only a few players to 1-year deals this past offseason.

Only Dylan Floro, Joey Gallo, and Nick Senzel were signed to major league deals, while they also selected Nasim Nunez in the Rule 5 draft. Jacob Barnes, Matt Barnes, Derek Law, Jesse Winker, and Eddie Rosario all signed minor league deals and ended up on the roster at some point during this season, and the most notable loss from last season was Dom Smith… I guess?

With expectations low, the Nationals somehow find themselves in the wild card hunt due to the National League being historically weak. As I wrote last week, Kyle Fiinnegann and others will be hot commodities on the trade market with only a few teams truly out of the race.

Now, let's take a look at the Nationals additions, assigning a grade based on their production and expectations.

Dylan Floro

Signed to a 1-year 2.25 million dollar deal in December, Floro has put up fantastic numbers in a Nationals uniform, bouncing back from a rough, albeit fairly unlucky, 2023.  Floro has a 1.57 ERA, with 26 strikeouts and 9 walks in 34 1/3 innings with 0 home runs allowed. Floro’s FIP sits at 2.42, with a WHIP hovering around 1 at 1.019. It will remain to be seen if Washington can get anything valuable for him at the deadline, but his signing overall has been a great success.

Grade: A

Joey Gallo

Coming off a few rough seasons Gallo seemed to have figured it out to start the season, getting off to a blazing start with his offensive statistic seemingly in line with all-star level Gallo. After that great start, Gallo slowed down dramatically, currently sitting at a .164/.285/.321 slashline for a 77 wRC+ which would be a career low, while striking out at a 43% rate which would be a career high. On the bright side, I would take my twin sister playing first base over Dom Smith, and Gallo has been great defensively. This signing has overall been disappointing but we should have seen it coming, and his IL stints have made it even worse.

Grade: C

Nick Senzel

A former top draft pick and prospect, Senzel never put it together in Cincinnati, bouncing around between center field, second base, and third base. He has always had success vs lefties over his career and was signed to be the everyday third baseman in DC. Through 51 games, Senzel currently has a 108 wRC+ which would be a career-high, with a slash line of .219/.335/.388. He is a streaky hitter, and outside of a torrid stretch in Miami including a stretch with 5 hits that were all home runs, Senzel has been average at best. Expectations were low, and Senzel is fine but does not provide much value, especially defensively.

Grade: B-

Nasim Nunez

This is a weird one. If I am being honest, I do not even know what to say. Nunez seems like a nice guy, but it would be nice if we could see him on the field more. Remarkably, he has been on the roster the entire season but has collected only 11 plate appearances in a total of 17 games. Nunez drew his first walk on June 19th and has flashed some potential defensively and running the bases, but we knew that he probably would not be able to hit after being a below-average hitter in Double-A the past two seasons.

Grade: NA

Jacob Barnes

The 34-year-old righty was the only player on this list that did not make the Opening Day roster, getting called up on April 23rd after 7 scoreless innings in Rochester. Barnes has appeared in 23 major league games sporting a 4.13 ERA and 3.69 FIP, flashing a fastball that can reach up to 98. Pitching mostly in mop-up work, he got off to a great start before struggling as of late, but is semi-valuable being able to pitch multiple innings. Barnes is an average reliever at best.

Grade: B

Matt Barnes

I wish I could wipe this one out of my memory. Having a successful career with the Boston Red Sox, it was easy to make a mockery of my friends who were Sox fans after Barnes started to diminish before I realized the pain of him ending up with my team. Originally signed to a minor league deal, Barnes made the roster after being signed later in Spring Trainning and ended up appearing in 14 games before being DFA’d. Barnes had a 6.75 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 13 innings and is currently a free agent after rejecting an assignment when he cleared waivers. I hated the signing in the first place, and it turned out to be even worse.

Grade: F

Derek Law

Law was coming off a successful stint in Cincinnati after some decent years bouncing around between the Giants, Blue Jays, Twins, and Tigers before then, settling on a minor league deal in Washington. Law has been utilized as a swingman in earlier innings, throwing 45 innings in 35 games. Law has a 3.20 ERA with 42 strikeouts and 13 walks, with a 3.37 FIP. His slider and cutter are both above-average pitches, and the underlying numbers suggest Law has been even better than the numbers say.

Grade: A-

Jesse Winker

Coming off a couple of awful seasons, especially last year in Milwaukee, it seemed like no one wanted to touch Jesse Winker with a 10-foot poll in the offseason. All of his offensive numbers had diminished, paired with bad base running and bad defense, it was hard to not blame them. Winker was signed late in the offseason and got off to a terrific start, and after getting cold, Winker is now blazing hot again. He has 8 home runs, a wRC+ of over 130, and 11 stolen bases after having only 3 in his career before this season. Winker’s fWAR is tied with CJ Abrams for second on the team behind Jacob Young, and his wRC+ is the best by a mile. Winker has been the best hitter on the team without question and should net us a decent prospect at the deadline if we sell high.

Grade: A+

Eddie Rosario

Known for his streakiness, Rosario started the season off as one of the worst hitters in all of baseball, before winning Player of the Week in the second week of May when he had a 1.733 OPS. Somehow Rosario started the season as our everyday center fielder, and ever since has seen his playing time dwindling, now relegated to a platoon DH role. Rosario is an awful hitter and an awful defender. He is averaging a career-low in almost every offensive category and is one of the worst players in baseball by an fWAR perspective at -0.9. When we get healthy, especially when James Wood gets called up, I am praying that Rosario is the first one to go.

Grade: F

In total, the Nationals 2023 offseason report card looks like this: A+ (1), A (1), A- (1), B (1), B- (1), C (1), F (2), NA (1).

Winker and Floro were home runs, with Derek Law, Nick Senzel, and Jacob Barnes also being semi-valuable. In total, as of June 19th, the 9 additions have netted Washington: 1.9 fWAR, with Joey Gallo being the largest contract at $5 million.

The Nationals should be primed to spend entering this offseason, especially with Corbin off the books, but time will tell. When looking back on this past offseason for the expectations I had, it has turned out to be mildly successful.