The stars are aligning for the Nationals to sign Pete Alonso

As of Thursday, December 19th, you can cross the Washington Nationals off the list of MLB teams that had yet to sign a player to a legitimate contract for the 2025 season, as they brought in former Atlanta Braves star righty Michael Soroka on a 1-year, $9 million deal to likely serve as a starting pitcher.

However, with some recent buzz by some well-known figures in the baseball world, it appears as if the stars could potentially be aligning for the Nationals to make their next signing their big one of the offseason. There truly is no better time for the Nationals to go all-in and sign free agent first baseman Pete Alonso.

For starters, Jeff Passan of ESPN had some interesting comments concerning both the first base position and the market of Pete Alonso thus far through the offseason. As of now, Passan said that the first base market is "cold," and honestly this could be great news for Nationals fans like myself who are hopeful that the team will bring in a significant addition at the position. Passan went on to say during the same appearance that, regarding the market for Alonso, "teams are hesitant to give him a long-term deal." which is somewhat understandable given the fact that his power is his main asset, and he doesn't provide a lot on the defensive side. Given that he is coming off somewhat of a down year by his standards, there are likely some teams that are going to fear regression, but that's not something that the Nationals can fear right now.

Seeing how the Nationals have already been reported by MLB Network as being interested in Alonso and having their two likeliest competitors for his services in the New York Yankees and New York Mets both making significant moves in the past couple weeks, the Nationals have a perfect opportunity to throw their hat in the ring to secure Alonso's services.

The Yankees traded for Cody Bellinger this week, and as we wrote about when the deal happened, he could be the answer they were seeking at first base, given that his power should play in Yankee Stadium, and that they already have top prospect Jasson Dominguez waiting in the wings to take over the vacated outfield spot left by Juan Soto, who signed with the New York Mets. As for those Mets, arguably the Nationals' biggest obstacle in being able to sign Alonso to a deal, well, they just shelled out $765 million for Soto, and perhaps they wouldn't want to shell out another $100 million or more to bring back Alonso as well.

Of course, all we can really go off of right now is pure optimism and speculation, but there truly is no better time for the Nationals to step up to the plate and knock it out of the park with a big signing in Alonso who would be sure to generate a ton of interest from the fanbase.

Do you agree with me that the time is now for the Nationals to sign Pete Alonso? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.