Insider Predicts Nationals Will Be Busy Ahead of Trade Deadline
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The 2026 MLB season hasn't begun yet, but that's not stopping predictions from coming in regarding how the Washington Nationals are going to perform this year.
While there's no doubt that this new era for the franchise has created excitement both inside and outside the organization, the fact of the matter is the Nationals are still a ways away from competing at the upper levels of Major League Baseball. Because of that, this season is going to be an extended evaluation period as this regime assesses what needs to be done for this rebuild.
Jeff Passan of ESPN already stated he wouldn't be surprised if Washington is the worst team in the majors this year, and the insider added that he believes the front office will be busy looking to flip their big league players ahead of the trade deadline.
Nationals Will Likely Eye More High-Upside Prospects
"It's bad enough to fumble a rebuild as Washington did. To do it again would be malpractice, and so [Paul] Toboni is putting together this team meticulously, looking for a combination of prospects with high upside -- he used to be Boston's scouting director -- and big leaguers who could get flipped at the trade deadline," wrote Passan.
President of baseball operations Paul Toboni made three trades this winter, and all of them were focused on adding high-upside pieces. By acquiring star catching prospect Harry Ford, right-handed pitcher Luis Perales -- who has elite stuff -- and five top 30 prospects from the Texas Rangers in exchange for MacKenzie Gore, it's clear what the goal of Toboni has been since taking over.
Former interim general manager and current assistant GM Mike DeBartolo did an excellent job of flipping attractive trade chips ahead of the deadline last year to add more talent to their farm system, which will now be something Toboni is tasked with doing during his first season in charge.
Plenty of Pitchers Could Be Moved
When looking at this roster, the most likely pool of candidates who will be moved are pitchers. Zack Littell is the obvious one who stands out, as he could be a huge piece for contenders coming down the stretch if he pitches like he has the past couple of years. Other bullpen arms like Cionel Perez, Ken Waldichuk and Drew Smith could also be attractive if they make the team and perform well.
Last season, the Nationals traded six players ahead of the deadline. Four of them were pitchers. DeBartolo was able to get a good return for virtually everyone he moved, and that should be expected once again this year.
How aggressive Toboni is going to be isn't clear, as he could decide to really shake things up depending on who he places on the trade block. But if he wants to take a more conservative approach, he should have plenty of ammo when it comes to shipping out parts of this pitching staff.
Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai