How many games do you think the Nats will win in 2024?
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Two and a half years into the full-on organizational reboot the club kicked off at the trade deadline in 2021, Davey Martinez said at the Winter Meetings this past December he thought the club was close to once again playing competitive baseball after years of building and development.
“We saw a lot of growth last year,” he said.
“Especially in our younger players.”
Now, Martinez told reporters, looking toward the 2024 campaign, it’s time to take the next step.
“I want them to be hungry and be ready.
“We’re close. We really are. These guys, they feel like they can do some special things. Our core young guys have — towards the end of the year, they started getting it. So I want ‘em to build off of that and be ready to go in Spring Training.”
Asked what he meant when he said the club was close, Martinez said they were almost there in his own assessment.
“We still got some pieces that we need to add,” he explained. “When I say that, we still got a lot of young kids that are coming up that could possibly help us, the Brady Houses, the [James] Wood[s], even [Robert] Hassell [III], [Trey] Lipscomb, which I saw playing in the fall league.
“Those guys are coming. The future’s bright here, it really is. I’m excited about it.”
“We think that — I feel that — we took a step in the right direction last year,” GM Mike Rizzo said when he too spoke at the Winter Meetings.
“And we’re going to try to facilitate another roster that allows us to take another step forward and get into action with a terrific division that we have to deal with. We understand the challenges in front of us, and I think that we’re a capable group, and I think you’ve seen in the past that we’ve done it, and I think that we’re going to be able to do it in the future.”
Are they ready to win now? Not likely. At least in terms of postseason contention.
Will they take another step forward in the third full season of the reboot?
How many games will the 2024 Nationals win? We asked, you answered…
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