Heading into the 2025 season, the Washington Nationals are going to be relatively unproven at the hot corner. This is no slight to the expected Opening Day starter, José Tena, in any way, but he definitely lacks the experience that a lot of clubs would be comfortable handing a starting job to at the start of a new year.
Tena, who was a part of the Lane Thomas trade at the 2024 deadline, coming from the Cleveland Guardians in a package that included prospects Alex Clemmey and Rafael Ramirez Jr, stepped into the starting role at third base to end last season and performed pretty well, but there are certainly some improvements that need to be made to his game.
He played in just 41 games for the Nationals after being acquired, and posted a .274/.305/.363 slash line for a .668 OPS to go along with 3 homers, 15 RBIs, and 6 stolen bases. While these numbers are not exactly eye-popping by any means, he displayed much more upside than other options we had seen last season including Nick Senzel and Trey Lipscomb, who both had their chance to seize the moment and failed to live up to expectations.
The troubling piece for Tena is that he made 9 errors in just 289.0 innings, and finished with a .897 fielding percentage at the hot corner, which is borderline unplayable considering the rest of the Nationals defense around the infield last year was not exactly great either. The hope is that he will be able to take a step forward defensively similar to what we saw from Luis Garcia Jr. last season, and that he can at least hit for a bit more power as well and raise his OPS.
As for a potential free agent alternative to Tena should the Nationals choose to provide some competition? Enter Paul DeJong, a 31-year-old journeyman infielder who could potentially help out the Nationals in a big way. You might remember DeJong from his days with the St. Louis Cardinals, when he looked to be a rising star in their organization following a 2nd-place NL Rookie of the Year finish in 2017, and an All-Star selection in 2019, but things have not been as smooth since then.
Due to some injuries and just overall regression from DeJong at the plate, he has not come close to matching the success he had in his early days in St. Louis, which is partially the reason for him still being available as Spring Training prepares to kick off in the very near future. Last season, he spent some time in the worst lineup in baseball with the Chicago White Sox, and actually played well enough to be traded for at the deadline, when he was acquired by the Kansas City Royals.
He hit 24 homers last year with a .703 OPS, and it was the most homers he had hit in a single season since that 2019 All-Star campaign. Perhaps the Nationals feel comfortable that Tena has taken the necessary steps forward to really be the guy at the big league level this year, but I think adding a guy like DeJong could at least provide some insurance in case Tena has not made the progress that we were all hoping for. He should be cheap, and is more likely to sign a 1-year deal where he can play every day on a team like the Nationals, where he should have much more talent around him than last year when he was with the lowly White Sox.
Spotrac estimates his value to be just $4.7 million AAV, and seeing how a younger player with a lot higher upside in Yoán Moncada signed with the Angels for just $5 million yesterday, there is a chance that DeJong's value would not even reach the estimated Spotrac figure. Moncada was a guy that we had identified as being a possible pick, but with him off the board and an Alex Bregman signing having basically zero chance of taking place despite pleas from the fanbase, DeJong would be a worthwhile gamble due to his power and solid defense that would help to alleviate some of the pressure from Tena as he transitions to becoming a full-time big leaguer.
Additionally, if he performs well, DeJong could be another 1-year signing that ended up reviving his career, similar to Jesse Winker, Derek Law, Dylan Floro, or Jeimer Candelario, and could be dealt for prospect capital as the club hands over the reigns to Tena or top hitting prospect Brady House, who should hopefully be close to a big league call-up by later on in 2025. To me, this is low-risk, high-reward signing that have unfortunately become a staple of the Nationals over the last few years, but would at least offer a solid floor at the position over the unknown that we have with Tena right now.
Do you think the Nationals should take a stab at Paul DeJong? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.