Could Washington Nationals Be on Similar Rebuilding Path of AL East Contender?

Are the Washington Nationals rebuilding like an AL East contender did?

Sep 28, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals outfielder James Wood (29) triples against the Philadelphia Phillies during the eighth inning at Nationals Park. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Washington Nationals are heading into Spring Training with the hopes of improving in the win column this coming season.

After winning the World Series in 2019, there have been a lot of losses for the Nationals. The team decided to part ways with some key veterans over the years and entered a rebuild.

Luckily, general manager Mike Rizzo has been with the organization for a long time and helped draft and build the team that won their last championship.

Even though the team won just 71 games in 2024, the year felt a bit different.

Seeing some of the top prospects playing at a high level in the Major Leagues is a great way to create excitement for a team that hasn’t won many contests during the past few seasons.

Now, the team will be entering a new campaign with the hopes of imrpoving.

Even though their winter wasn’t full of major splashes, it was a solid approach by adding established players on short-term contracts considering what the plan is for the team in the future.

Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report recently spoke about the outlook for the Nationals in 2025, and even compared them to a neighboring franchise.

“The Nationals are entering 2025 off back-to-back seasons of 91 losses, and not much of an offseason to boot. This said, there is some energy here that is vaguely reminiscent of the Orioles of 2022 and 2023.”

The comparison between Washington and the Baltimore Orioles is a very interesting one.

Both of these teams have been built on a strong core within their lineup. The Nationals are a few years behind the Orioles in their process, but they have some elite talent of their own now.

Shortstop Gunnar Henderson has developed into a perennial MVP candidate already, and that is something Washington will hopes will happen for one of their young stars like CJ Abrams, James Wood or Dylan Crews.

Baltimore will have one of the best lineups in baseball in 2025, and most of that is homegrown talent.

This seems to be the model the Nationals are trying to follow, and it makes a lot of sense why they would take that approach.

Having a lineup filled with talent has resulted in the Orioles winning the most games in the American League the past two years.

While all rebuilds are different, Washington seems to be on a similar path to that of Baltimore from a couple of years ago, a great sign if Rizzo and the organization can put themselves in a same spot as their Parkway neighbors.