Notes and quotes on the Nationals’ latest offseason moves…
Washington’s Nationals avoided arbitration with reliever Mason Thompson, signing the right-hander to a one-year deal, and at the non-tender deadline last night, the ballclub announced they had tendered contracts, “to all unsigned 40-man roster players,” with, “…the exception of Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey.”
Finnegan, 33, and Rainey, 31, are now free agents.
The Nationals’ 40-Man roster now stands at 36.
The Nationals have tendered contracts to all unsigned 40-man roster players with the exception of Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey.
Finnegan and Rainey are now free agents.
The 40-man roster is now at 36.
— Nationals Communications (@NationalsComms) November 23, 2024
Finnegan was oft-discussed as a potential trade candidate this past July, but the club did not receive any offers they felt met their demands for the reliever, with one year (plus) of team control at that point.
“It had to be market value,” Rizzo said of the type of return he was looking for in any deal:
“That’s what we were shooting for. This guy pitches at the back of a baseball game. He’s proven that he can handle the closer’s role. I don’t think we were asking for anything extravagant, but we did want market value for a closer that has another year of control.”
“At the end of the day we didn’t get a deal that we were comfortable with,” Rizzo added, “… and we didn’t have to move the player and we really like having him at the back of the bullpen.”
Finnegan, one of the Nationals’ two All-Stars in 2024, posted a 2.45 ERA, 3.99 FIP, 13 walks, 42 Ks, and .191/.255/.340 line against in 41 games and 40 1⁄3 innings pitched in the first half of the season, but in the second half, he struggled, with a 5.79 ERA, a 4.71 FIP, 11 BBs, 18 Ks, and a .337/.404/.490 line against in 24 games and 23 1⁄3 IP.
Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images
The closer and the club avoided arbitration last offseason, agreeing on a 1-year/$5.1M deal for 2024, and he was projected (by MLBTraderumors.com) to be due to earn $8.6M for ‘25.
Rainey was projected to get $1.9M for 2025, after earning $1.5M as he worked to build back up from Tommy John surgery which cost the hard-throwing righty most of 2023.
He struggled at the start of the season, and his velocity didn’t return to pre-TJS levels, but the reliever “pitched to a 2.84 ERA (12 ER/38.0 IP) with 35 strikeouts and a .182 [opponents’ batting average] in 37 games from May 21 through the end of the season,” as the Nationals noted in their Season in Review.
Arbitration-eligible players Luis García Jr., MacKenzie Gore, Josiah Gray, Derek Law, and Riley Adams were all tendered contracts ahead of last night’s deadline.