I’m not the first one to notice this, but the Nats management has basically gotten fed up with the lack of productivity of its veterans and 1yr/FA/trade bait players, and has made a slew of moves that have turned this team into what has to be the youngest in the majors right now. Gone/demoted are Robles, Senzel, Rosario, and Meneses. In are Yepez, Lipscomb, Young, and Wood, and they seem like they’re here to stay. Next up is probably Gallo and his .174 BA and probably Corbin once we get a healthy guy off the DL, and god knows why Nunez is still here (he’s got ONE HIT all year). Winker and Thomas produce, but they’re more valuable for who they can bring back in trade versus what they give a sub .500 team in 2024. but i digress.
Here’s our current optimal lineup, with age as of this writing and salary (thanks to the Big Board and Cots for the figures). I’m assuming that a lot of these guys are at the MLB minimum, which is $740k for this year
- C: Ruiz, 25, $6.3M
- 1B: Yepez, 26, $740k
- 2B: Garcia, 24, 1.9M
- SS: Abrams, 23, 752k
- 3B: Lipscomb, 24, 740k
- LF: Wood, 21, 740k
- CF: Young, 24, 740k
- RF: Thomas, 28, $5.4M
- DH: Winker, 30, $2M
That’s an average of exactly 25yrs for the lineup. Four guys at or near the league minimum, total payroll for these nine is just $19.3M, or an average of $2.1 each. Thomas’ salary will eventually be replaced by Crews’ MLB min salary, and maybe an eventual addition of House makes it lower too.
How about the rotation? Here’s our current rotation
- Corbin, 34, $35M
- Gore, 25, $749k
- Parker, 24, $740k
- Irvin, 27, $745k
- Herz, 23, $740k
From an optimal 2024 stand point, we’re replacing Corbin and Herz with:
- Williams, 32, $7M
- Gray, 26, $757k
At least until Williams is traded, by which point cross fingers you replace his $7M with:
- Cavalli, 25, $740k.
Imagine having your entire rotation be at MLB minimum and an average age of 24. That’d be amazing.
What’s really amazing about it is the financial flexibility it gives the team to buy talent at positions where it makes the most sense, when they need it. Do we think Yepez is the long term solution at 1B? Probably not, not when you can get a big bopper on the FA market for $10M. What if Grey or Cavalli doesn’t come back? We’ll need a starter but can afford to get one. Or, you wait for the likes of Morales (1B) and maybe someone like Pinckney (corner of/DH) to come up and home-grow those guys too.
This team is getting to be fun to watch again. Its “our guys” up there now. A slew of these players were drafted and developed by us (Garcia, Lipscomb, Young, Parker, Irvin, Cavalli). A slew more were prospects we specifically added in trade, setting ourselves up for this exact moment (Ruiz, Abrams, Wood, Gore, and Grey). that’s what the last few years have been about, and more is on the way (Crews, Hassell, Lile maybe, Morales, etc. Susana just got promoted, Sykora looks great so far).
It’s beginning to look good for this team and its future for sure.