The Nationals finished the 2023 season with a 71-91 record that left them as one of the worst teams in the National League, even as it represented a substantial improvement over the club’s 107-loss 2022 campaign. While the club has sat out the top of the free agent market during the recent seasons of their rebuild, it seems that may not be the case this offseason as the club looks to upgrade at the infield corners and at DH, per TalkNats. The club has already been linked to a reunion with third baseman Jeimer Candelario, who was posting career-best numbers with the Nats prior to being dealt to the Cubs at the trade deadline. The report suggests that the club has interest in first baseman Rhys Hoskins and outfield/DH slugger Jorge Soler in addition to Candelario. The report goes on to indicate that Washington has been “very active” in the starting pitching market to this point in the offseason, though it does not connect any specific names to the club.
The rumored targets make sense for the Nationals. The club has a major hole at third base given that former top prospect Carter Kieboom has failed to establish himself the big league level. Kieboom’s .207/.266/.368 slash line (70 wRC+) in 2023 was largely in line with his career numbers of .199/.297/.301 (65 wRC+), and Candelario or another third base addition would almost certainly represent a significant upgrade over the 26-year-old. Meanwhile, an addition at first base or DH could help the club improve an offense that currently figures to use journeyman Joey Meneses at one position without an established starter at the other.
As for the rotation, the club has several interesting young arms such as Josiah Gray and MacKenzie Gore that they figure to prioritize developing, with veterans such as Patrick Corbin and Trevor Williams who can reliably eat innings. That being said, the Nationals’ starting staff posted a combined 5.02 ERA last season, the sixth-worst figure in the majors. What’s more, the club’s 5.30 FIP in the rotation was better than only the lowly Rockies, while their starting staff combined for just 4.9 fWAR, better than only Colorado and Oakland. That leaves plenty of room for improvement if the club decides to add even a lower-level free agent such as Matthew Boyd or Frankie Montas to its rotation, to say nothing of a more impactful addition.
More from around MLB’s East divisions…
- While the Mets have reportedly shifted their focus away from superstar free agent Shohei Ohtani, Jon Heyman of the New York Post suggests that the club is still looking at potential impact additions this offseason. They’ve long been connected to top-of-the-market arm Yoshinobu Yamamoto as they explore potential rotation upgrades, and Heyman adds that the Mets are looking into “nearly every available frontline starter” in addition to Yamamoto, including southpaws Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, and Eduardo Rodriguez. While Heyman notes the club is unlikely to land a rental arm such as Tyler Glasnow or Shane Bieber on the trade market, he does suggest the club’s interest in rotation upgrades extends to White Sox starter Dylan Cease, who is under team control for the next two seasons and has seen plenty of trade buzz this offseason. Rotation upgrades make plenty of sense for New York after the club shipped out veteran aces Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer at the trade deadline over the summer, leaving Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana, and newly-signed righty Luis Severino as the club’s only rotation locks entering 2024.
- The Rays have interest in a reunion with right-hander Cooper Criswell even after non-tendering him last month, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Criswell, 27, made his big league debut as a member of the Angels in 2021 with a one-game cup of coffee that lasted just 1 1/3 innings. He spent the past two seasons as a member of the Rays, with a 5.45 ERA and 5.00 FIP in 36 1/3 innings of work across 11 appearances. While those numbers are certainly nothing to write home about, Criswell’s ability to go multiple innings and 46.8% career groundball rate at the big league level could make him a worthwhile depth addition for a Rays club that relied on 40 different pitchers throughout the 2023 campaign.
in the coming days or weeks ohtani will be awarded to the Toronto Blue Jays and they will go on to win the 2024 World Series
i forgot he wont be pitchin’ this year
Neither will Matthew Boyd, but that didn’t stop the writer from saying he would help the DC staff. Fairs fair.
@VinceColeman Your take is as bad as your spelling.
(Oh)ver was his spin on Ohtani.
Im a jays fan, id love but just dont see it. Ive been saying i want 1 of the rookies to be the 3b and backup SS, they need a big time OF addition amd a legit DH type aswell as ading a 2b. The Schneider gets plenty of ABs as the back up IF and ideally the 2b they bring in can take over 3b if the rookie cant handle the job.
I thin Eloy Jeminez could be had at a good price aswell as Nick Castellanos could be had for about free if you pay 10mil per year or so for him. There the DH types id like to see
Far less overrated than Mike Trout! C’mon haters…fire away!!
Michael Drake: Teams like the Mariners and Mets have dropped out of the race to sign Ohtani. Several others can’t afford him. It’s not going to happen, but it would be interesting if all 30 teams decided his price is too high and no one signs him, at least not for what people expect he wants, like $50+m/year. If he cuts corners, he may be able to survive on $30m/year. He’s down to four or five teams that we know of that are still interested.
This is the dumbest hypothetical I’ve seen in a while
I’m not convinced the Mariners are out on Ohtani. I think there’s a little gamesmanship going on here Ohtani just makes so much sense for Seattle. They have a ton of payroll room to sign him they can probably do it and stay under 200 million.
If Ohtani does get away I wonder if they pivot and sign Snell who is making no secret of the fact he wants to play for Seattle. If they sign him they would be able to to trade Gilbert who would be in huge demand. If they decided to move him they could probably get Kjerstad, Mayo and lesser prospect or similar return. It might make sense to go that route if they can’t sign Ohtani or trade for Soto.
Is everyone forgetting that without his twice-TJ’ed arm Ohtani is ‘merely’ a 4-5 win DH? That’s half a win to a win worse than Soto, who’s glorified DH at this point in his career, and no one is talking about paying Soto $50m a year.
Any team would be a fool to guarantee Ohtani $50m a year for close to a decade, say, meaning the deal is going to be extremely complicated: What if Ohtani can pitch, but he’s bad? what if, like most 2xTJ pitchers, he doesn’t have anything like his former durability, such as it was. What if he can’t play much at all even as a DH and you’re on the hook for $50m a year for 6-7 years?
Any would-be contender is then paying $75m–100m a year (assuming penalties) for a guy who’s going to leave a lot of unsold jerseys on the rack.
@JackStrawb
I leery of Ohtani too in what will be massive overpay. I don’t think he will age well and his foot speed declined in 2023, averaging below 28 feet per second. His gait was more lumbered. His arm is twice proven to implode, and I don’t trust the sustainability of his straight-armed Japanese style swing, how long before it gets exploited as he ages.
And if or when he gives up pitching, he’ll have little defensive experience in the majors, otherwise will soley be DH.
Juan Soto has such a pretty, rhythmic and smooth swing and follow-through. It’s beautiful.. I’d rather pony up for him at 26 when becomes free agent next off season.
JackStrawb, “what you’ve just said… is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point, in your rambling, incoherent response, were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”
@Holden Bases I see you’ve cornered the market on “Idiot” in addition to offering
1) nothing beyond theft
2) not a single coherent point.
You must be 12 years old. Shoo, fly.
@LongTimeFan1 Agree on Ohtani and that’s a great point about his fps.
I still wouldn’t sign Soto, though. He’s a fine player but he’s half what peak Trout and Betts were worth on the field, and he’ll be making close to their AAV, on a deal probably 12 years long.
Soto also very much appears to have maxed out his skill set while declining in the field, making him a 3.9 fWAR, 5.5 fWAR DH in 2022-2023 who tried faking the corner OF spots because he had the leverage to do so.
Soto for Bryce Harper’s deal? Absolutely. (Far) less upside but greater durability with less downside, and with the proviso that he’s primarily the DH. By the time you get to year 8 or so, as his decline seriously sets in, inflation will have turned that $25m a year (I get someone will offer far more—he’s one of those guys 30 FOs seem to contemporaneously overrate) into something far more palatable.
That would mean potentially cutting cable!
How would jays fans feel if signing ohtami means letting vlad go?
@Michael Drake
Ohtani’s returning to Japan.
Just one guy is going to win a WS
Corbin’s salary at $35,4 for next season has got to be the league’s worst. Plus he has bonuses for CY and MVP.. what universe were these people living in?
1 – Strasburg.
2 – They probably figured it worked with Max. Even the GM has tried to disassociate himself from long-term pitcher signings.
Hubert, Corbin’s contract was backloaded with 2024 being the heaviest hit at $35 million. It was a 6 year contract that with 20/20 vision obviously didn’t age at all well. Especially looking at that balloon payment for this year. And $10 million of that 35 is deferred until January, 2026. It obviously looked doable upon signing.
The same one where Patrick Corbin was a key piece of the Nats WS win. I don’t know any Nats fans that would trade 2019 for being competitive but losing in 2020-2023.
If you bother to look at the stats he was coming off an amazing season in 2018 then signed the current deal had another awesome year in 2019 along with help wash to a title..then the wheels fell off…hindsight is 20/20 but at the time it was a good deal
Thanks, Poolhall. That’s the point I was trying to make in response to Hubie. His focus was on next year’s salary for Corbin which on the face of it is a tough pill. But he was an in demand quality lefty when he was a FA and it was money well spent, 2024 be damned.
Wouldn’t DeGrom at $40MM be worst since he won’t even pitch most of next season? At least Corbin can soak up a ton of innings for a non-competitive team.
Talknats really? Might as well get some info from wrestlezone too
Talknats actually has some pretty good stuff.
Surprised there’s not been more trade buzz with Nats & Lane Thomas…. He’s definitely someone I wish the reds would target….
I’ll be interested to see if sanity has anything to do with a new Ohtani deal; won’t pitch in 2024, so that year he should be a tad over $35m; risk that he recovers enough to pitch 100+,innings in 2025 is considerable, so that year should be under $45m; club should have a joint out clause after 3 years just in case. I’d offer $150m over 4 years
Are you able to write coherently? Are you just trying to patch together the nonsense you’ve heard in way that makes sense for you? Hey, buddy. There’s help for people like you. G’night, Lennie.
One more off-season before the Nats start to spend again…bring Soto and a big arm home next off-season
@LFGMets
You’re finally buying in. Let the professionals do their job, and cheer for whoever wears the blue and orange. It’s called being a fan, and it’s supposed to be fun. Maybe your favorite reliever, Drew Smith will win the CY Young award?