Offseason In Review: Washington Nationals

The Nationals made a few acquisitions, most notably with a trade for their new first baseman. They eschewed any investments longer than two years. They’re probably still a season away from pulling out of the rebuild. If they take a step forward from last season’s 71 wins, they should be positioned for a much more aggressive winter going into 2026.

Major League Signings

• RHP Trevor Williams: Two years, $14MM
• RHP Michael Soroka: One year, $9MM
• DH Josh Bell: One year, $6MM
• RHP Kyle Finnegan: One year, $6MM ($4MM deferred)
• LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara: Two years, $3.5MM (plus $700K posting fee)
• RHP Jorge López: One year, $3MM
• RHP Lucas Sims: One year, $3MM
• 3B Amed Rosario: One year, $2MM
• 3B Paul DeJong: One year, $1MM

2025 spending: $38.5MM ($4MM deferred)
Total spending: $47.5MM

Option Decisions

• Declined $8MM mutual option on 1B Joey Gallo in favor of $2.5MM buyout

Trades and Claims

• Selected RHP Evan Reifert from Rays in Rule 5 draft
• Acquired 1B Nathaniel Lowe from Rangers for LHP Robert Garcia

Notable Minor League Signings

• Franchy Cordero, Andrew Knizner, Konnor Pilkington, Colin Poche, Patrick Weigel

Extensions

• None

Notable Losses

• Patrick Corbin, Robert Garcia, Joey Gallo, Tanner Rainey (non-tendered), Joey Meneses (outrighted), Ildemaro Vargas (outrighted), Amos Willingham (via waivers), Michael Rucker (outrighted), Thaddeus Ward (via waivers), Joe La Sorsa (released)

The Nationals finished 71-91 last season, their second straight year landing 20 games under .500. Still, they feel closer to contention than they did 12 months ago. Top outfield prospects James Wood and Dylan Crews made it to the big leagues. The middle infield tandem of CJ Abrams and Luis García Jr. each took steps forward, even if Abrams’ season ended with an unceremonious disciplinary demotion. Center fielder Jacob Young had a nice season headlined by Gold Glove-caliber defense. A controllable rotation group of MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz pitched reasonably well.

One can start to see the light at the end of the five-year rebuild. Yet the Nationals entered the offseason with a handful of huge holes. GM Mike Rizzo said in September that the front office was looking to add one or two middle-of-the-order bats. The Nats got very little from their corner infield or designated hitter positions, making those obvious target areas. They’re still lacking a true top-of-the-rotation starter, nor did they have much in the way of middle relief depth.

They didn’t fix all of it. There was never much hope of ownership allowing the front office to jump back in on Juan Soto. They seemingly didn’t look at the top of the rotation market, uninterested in making a $200MM+ investment for Corbin Burnes or Max Fried. While they technically did add two middle-of-the-order hitters, they weren’t on significant free agent splashes. The Nationals showed some interest in Christian Walker and made sense as an on-paper fit for Pete Alonso, but they ended up taking a volume approach to free agency.