Will the Washington Nationals commit to improving the team in free agency this offseason? It's the million, or multi-million dollar question for the Washington Nationals. The team has holes to fill at numerous positions, and depending on how much the organization plans on spending this offseason will likely determine the level of success for the club going into 2025.
We know that Mark Lerner has said that General Manager Mike Rizzo will "have the financial resources he needs this offseason." which is a similar answer to what he gave after the conclusion of the 2022 season as well. However, the main difference between this year and last year heading into the offseason is that many of the stars of tomorrow that have been developing on the farm, and the team should be much better off heading into the future.
The team already has a lot of pieces in place for next season. You'd have to think that most of the infield is covered, minus first base. Luis Garcia Jr. and CJ Abrams are going to be your starting second baseman and shortstop going into Opening Day 2025, and it appears that José Tena will have the inside track to being the starter at the hot corner, at least until Brady House is ready. Behind the dish you have some combination of Keibert Ruiz, Drew Millas, and Riley Adams likely making up the catchers. Whether all of these names inspire a ton of confidence in you or not, the reality is that they are all going to be the guys next year, and their continued developments on both sides of the ball will be crucial for this team to be competitive again.
At first base, we put out a piece over the weekend outlining the free agent market at the position, and the Nationals could stand to significantly improve the position with a signing of someone like Christian Walker, Pete Alonso, Josh Bell, Paul Goldschmidt, etc. to at least get opportunities along with current Nats Juan Yepez and Andres Chaparro.
The outfield is at least mostly set, as James Wood, Jacob Young, and Dylan Crews will likely be your starters from left to right. At the very minimum, the 3 of them provide a lot of athleticism and should all be plus defenders, with Wood being the only real question mark defensively. Now, should the Nationals add a big time outfield bat, such as a Juan Soto, Anthony Santander, or even Teoscar Hernández, perhaps Crews gets moved to center field and Young takes on a 4th outfielder role, but only time will tell.
In terms of starting pitching, the rotation of the future is mostly set, as the Nationals have an abundance of young pitching talent in arms like MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker, and DJ Herz all set to be members of the rotation. Additionally, the long-awaited return of former top pitching prospect Cade Cavalli should happen next season as well. In theory that's already 5 arms capable of making up that rotation, but the team should be looking to bring in a veteran starter to serve as the anchor of the staff. Names like Corbin Burnes, Jack Flaherty, and perhaps even Max Fried from the rival Braves could be some potential targets to keep an eye on.
The bullpen could perhaps use an arm or two as well, maybe even a late-inning arm to help bridge the gap to Kyle Finnegan in the 9th. There are always an abundance of reliever arms available every offseason, and the Nats would be wise to bring in at least 1 or 2 arms to supplement the unit.
Do you think the Nationals will actually spend money this offseason? If so, for who? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.