Surprisingly Quiet Offseason of Washington Nationals Leaves Much To Be Desired
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The Washington Nationals won the World Series in 2019, but since that point, they have been mired in a rebuild which has led to a lot of losing on the field.
The 73 games they won in 2023 and 2024 are the most in a single season since that championship, as things haven’t been going well. But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel with an impressive core that has been put together.
All but two players in the projected starting lineup for the Nationals will be 26 years of age or younger on Opening Day.
Anchoring the lineup, hopefully for years to come, are left fielder James Wood, right fielder Dylan Crews and shortstop CJ Abrams, who are 22, 22 and 24 years old right now.
Second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. is 24 and center fielder Jacob Young is 25. Right now Jose Tena is penciled in as the starting third baseman and he is only 23. Catcher Keibert Ruiz is 26.
In the starting rotation, Trevor Williams, who re-signed with the club on a two-year deal, is the only player who will be older than 28 when Opening Day rolls around.
Washington will see steady improvements throughout 2025 as their youngsters garner more experience. There is even more young talent in the pipeline knocking on the door of the Major Leagues, so things are certainly looking up in the nation’s capital.
Given the strong foundation in place, many people were expecting the Nationals to start spending some money this offseason to move their rebuild forward.
That hasn’t happened to this point, as Williams is the only player they signed to a multi-year deal.
The team did manage to fill one of their biggest needs, addressing first base with the trade acquisition of Nathaniel Lowe. He will be joined on the depth chart by Josh Bell, who is taking over as the everyday designated hitter.
As a result, Washington received an underwhelming mid-offseason grade of “C-” from ESPN’s David Schoenfield.
“There was the possibility the Nationals might be a little bolder this offseason, looking to make a splash as they did years ago with Jayson Werth, but instead it has been kind of underwhelming. Lowe will certainly help at first considering how bad the Nationals were there, but he's not the big power hitter they needed after ranking 29th in the majors in home runs. Bell has been a league-average hitter the past two seasons, which makes a below-average DH.”
The assessment of Lowe and Bell does seem a little harsh since both are major upgrades compared to what the team was running out at those spots in 2024.
Options were limited to upgrade at third base in free agency, as the only player who would have fit the bill was Alex Bregman, but his price tag was well outside of the team’s range.
At this point, adding some more depth to an inexperienced bullpen is all that remains for general manager Mike Rizzo.
The team will be more competitive, but fans who were hoping for a legitimate jump toward being playoff contenders have to be a little disappointed with their offseason haul.
