This wasn't how the Nationals hoped their rebuild would play out. When now-former GM Mike Rizzo traded Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to the Dodgers back in 2021, the hope was that dismantling a stacked roster could lead to an accelerated turnaround. In the span of just over a calendar year, Washington traded Scherzer, Turner and Juan Soto, in addition to short-term veterans like Kyle Schwarber, Jon Lester, Brad Hand, Yan Gomes, Daniel Hudson, Josh Harrison, Josh Bell, Jeimer Candelario, Dylan Floro and Hunter Harvey.
It obviously takes years to fully evaluate the extent of any given trade, but it's more than fair to say the slate of moves largely hasn't panned out. Rizzo's return for Soto/Bell has been terrific, with the Nats netting James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, CJ Abrams, Robert Hassell III and Jarlin Susana. The first four are current big leaguers -- the first three are stars or close to it -- and Susana is now a consensus top-100 pitching prospect. The trade of Lester brought back Lane Thomas, who was a solid regular for a few years before being traded to Cleveland last summer in a deal that netted the Nats current big league infielder Jose Tena and left-hander Alex Clemmey -- currently their No. 3 prospect at Baseball America. It's a nice return for one-plus seasons of Thomas.
The rest of the Nationals' haul, however, hasn't really panned out. Washington doesn't have any above-average regulars to show for the rest of that slate of trades. If they'd focused squarely on low-level minor leaguers who were still bubbling up to the top of a stacked farm system, that'd be one thing .... but it's not the case. Washington's farm system ranks 21st in the majors, per Baseball America, and that's after benefiting from the No. 1 pick in this summer's draft. ESPN's Kiley McDaniel ranks their farm 22nd. The MLB.com team ranks them 23rd. For a last place team that's been rebuilding for more than four years, that's not sufficient.
Let's dive into what the Nats received from that group of trades, what critical decisions lie ahead in the offseason, and how boldly they could act in order to turn things around.
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They executed one of the greatest baseball trades in history; now what?
Now, they start dealing those pieces for lesser returns in true Nats fashion.
“Since 2020, the Nats have only graduated two other draftees who’ve produced at least one WAR. Jacob Young, a glove-first center fielder whose value is derived entirely from his defense, and righty Brad Lord, who’s soaked up innings in a swing role this year. Top picks Brady House and Daylen Lile have reached the show but have yet to produce.”
That is unbelievably bad. How did Rizzo last this long?
Didn’t he trade Soto for Abrams, Gore, and Wood? Acquire Turner for Myers? Not resign Rendon? Scherzer’s best years? Sign Murphy?
It’s easy to point out the bad – most GMs have plenty of them to show, but let’s not forget the good deals they’ve made as well. He has a ring to show for it.
He didn’t even give up Myers. He gave up Steven Sousa and Travis Ott.
Sousa and Ott were better than Myers I’d we’re being honest.
Yeah, I thought Myers was a pass through because Turner was the ‘player to be named later.’ I could be wrong. Some time ago.
So basically his only good moves were trading with AJ Preller lol
I get your overall point, but he doesn’t get credit for not re-signing Rendon when the reason was so that he could instead throw a bunch of money at Strasburg (one of the worst contracts in MLB history)
This ownership group doesn’t care about baseball, or doesn’t know how to.
Which they should, because the old man did.
Rizzo was a dinosaur though.
Old Man Lerner outspent his resources because he knew he wasn’t going to be around a long time. It was pretty much an open secret that the Nats operated at a loss at least 1-2 years before they won the WS.
Financially, the problem for the Nats was MASN and COVID. The MASN deal Bud Selig did with Peter Angelos was a crime, and hamstrung how much the bigger market Nats earned for years. The *next* season after a team wins the WS is usually the year they rake in the $$. Unfortunately for the Nats, COVID hit and took away most of that expected revenue. When they won the WS, it was with one of the oldest rosters in MLB and a pretty barren farm system. Rizzo had traded many of the best prospects like Giolito away for pieces like OF Adam Eaton. So by 2021, it was time to retool.
Then you get another whammy of Strasburg’s career ending injury/surgery, and Harper and Soto rejecting offers to stay. The one guy they traded, who in hindsight really didn’t “need” to go was Trea Turner. Rizzo knew he couldn’t pay Harper, Turner and Soto. He chose Soto, and ended up “losing” all of them. Trea Turner *wanted* to stay, and was stunned he got traded. I’ll never understand why Rizzo thought Kieber Ruiz and Josiah Gray were worth what he gave up. Including Turner in that deal was just stupid.
Eh, MASN deal wasn’t a crime. Cut a team’s territory in half and the team taking the hit is absolutely deserving of compensation.
Agreed, that Baltimore deserved compensation, but forever?!?! Strategically, I don’t see that part as even making sense ftom Selig/MLB’s point of view. Multiple owners later commented that Selig rushed that deal through and never even allowed them to read it, and they would have opposed it if he had. It didn’t make sense from MLB’s perspective.
Remember, that deal wouldn’t have *ever* given the Nats the majority of their broadcasting rights. It didn’t include any out clauses at all. That’s why MLB spent years offering Angelos everything they could to undo it. Not being a stupid man, and knowing he had a small market team, Angelos said no.
The thing that doesn’t actually make sense now is why Rubenstein did what he did, because according to the terms of the deal, he didn’t have to do it. The fact he did is going to cost the Orioles millions in future revenue.
Rubenstein bought the O’s to park his cash. If money was his primary interest, he’d be more active in his private equity firm and do less Bloomberg TV show hosting and charitable work.
Naval — As far as MASN goes, as I recall at the time of the deal/relocation, MLB was so boxed in with what to do with the Expos (they really dropped the ball with how Montreal imploded, and had other off-ramps/buyers but acted slowly letting the group become a vagabond franchise because of their ineptitude) that DC became the magic solution to their dire needs. They just needed Angelos to ‘adjust’ (since ‘sign off’ always upsets folks…no matter how de-jury correct it is/was) the Orioles rights agreements.
So, Angelos himself drafted MASN (his firm), and gave it to MLB. Reporting indicated Selig, desperate to get out from multi year fiasco of the Expos, decided to accept the MASN deal without concessions. Signed on the dotted line. All to avoid a Peter Angelos protracted legal Armageddon.
And then…Rubenstein does the most illogical thing an owner could do. Baffling. Angelos is missed already in Baltimore. Just a reminder to all fans that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the franchise sale.
As for your Nats, I’m stunned at how poorly they have drafted for decades. Harper and Straus excluded (they were consensus #1 picks, Haper more so than Straus). Where did all the draft talent go? Seems the Nats need a Mike Elias type who overhauls the whole FO/player development/analytics/International recruitment systems. It kinda seemed like the ’25 draft was a long term play (and an interesting draft strategy…it’ll be fascinating to see how such a strategy plays out and if other teams start to emulate similarly).
It wasn’t necessarily illogical to resolve disputes over the MASN deal. The details haven’t come out, but with the dramatic fall in value of RSN’s, it’s likely the Nats bought him out by exchanging all the money the O’s still owed them, plus foregoing future claims. That basically reduced even further the great price Rubenstein paid for the O’s.
Plus, it generated good will with former O’s fans like me, who detested the stranglehold of the MASN deal. I now follow them more again while remaining a Nats fan first and foremost.
1) “Orioles territory”. It is not like the Orioles owned the DC market since 1901. Senators left DC in 1971. The Orioles were squatters.
2) The DC/DMV market is the better market in terms of money to be made. It is far bigger and more affluent. Treating the DC market like a Baltimore suburb is bad business for MLB. Baseball was leaving money on the table.
More broadly, to have a static, never changing territory boundaries over the course of decades is suboptimal. Markets can and do change.
Ha. Squatters? That’s a ridiculous argument. Americans now are vastly more mobile and drive longer distances more often than in the 50s, 60s, and 70s when the Senators were around.
But at least you admit the DC market is the better part of the O’s territory.
NotAngel — Oh boy. First, the Senators were from 1901-1960. And yes, before 1901 there was a Baltimore Orioles franchise. (Furthermore, DC itself didn’t exist until after the Revolution. Baltimore pre-dates the Union). The Wizards were in Baltimore before DC. Capitals too. In every single way, for hundreds of years, Baltimore is the original and DC’s been in it’s shadow since birth. (Even Caps fans yell “O” during the national anthem…a song made in Baltimore, by a Baltimorean, about an event that DC didn’t even witness/exist during). ((Baltimore was even invaded/occupied by the US military before DC too)).
DC is the more affluent area…which is why taking it from the Orioles requires compensation. Even the government has to pay fair market value for Emment Domain. But go on thinking that taking from others pockets is justified. DC’s been doing that it’s whole existence.
What did we learn here? That DC is the metropolitan Napoleon complex in full tilt. Everything it has/is came from Maryland. Your welcome, and please, be respectful of your betters. DC may be the Capital, but it’ll never B’more. 😁
The nut of the disagreement is the notion that a market without a team in its boundaries is part of the territory of a team in the adjacent market … And because of htis, adding a new team to this market now requires compensation of the team in the adjacent market. I find that absurd.
If Angelos wanted the DC market, he should have moved the Orioles to that market.
This from a team that hasn’t even been to a World Series in 42 years. I wouldn’t hold the Orioles up as being one of the best run teams in MLB. Although, to be fair, they were masterful at the most recent draft.
Small point, the National Anthem was written during the War of 1812, and DC definitely existed then. The Brits sacked it and burned the original White House, forcing the Octagon House to be the temporary residence. DC was founded in 1790. FSK wrote the anthem in Sept 1814.
The nation’s capital is in the shadow of Baltimore. That’s a bit of a stretch, but historically speaking, ok, I see your points. When were the Caps ever the Baltimore Caps? They used to play in Landover which is part of Maryland but is a suburb of DC, not Baltimore. I am not versed in the history of the Caps, so maybe you know something about their history that I don’t.
No one cares what you find absurd, Not Angel. “Markets” without teams are part of a larger market. You can disagree all you want, it doesn’t change the fact that you’re wrong. Virginia and DC were both Birdland.
920 – Annapolis was actually the first capital of the US post-Revolution, and Annapolis lived in Baltimore’s shadow pretty much from then on, and Baltimore was a more economically important place than DC until… the 20th century. So, just saying, I can see the argument. DC’s modern position on a pedestal is a relatively recent development.
Never knew Annapolis was a capital of the US, but sure enough, for almost a year it was. Thanks for the information, brother.
Yes indeed, nobody one cares what anybody thinks. Were all strangers.
“You can disagree all you want, it doesn’t change the fact that you’re wrong”
You free to your opinion as I am free to mine. But we are expressing opinions not facts.
No, I expressed fact. You expressed opinion. A market “without a team” is indeed part of someone else’s market. The end. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
“A market “without a team” is indeed part of someone else’s market.”
Do tell me which team has the Las Vegas’ market?
Interesting and grim read for this Nats fan. It could be right but I think it’s assessments of Crews, House and Lile, and possibly of Gray and Lord are either premature or overly negative.
It is a bummer to learn that the farm system rankings have slipped again though and as much as I would hate it, Gore might have to traded to help replenish it.
The assessment of Gray is correct, and it’s something the Dodgers knew when he was traded. Gray was, and is, a human gopher ball who walks too many guys too. When they were both in the rotation before Gray’s injury, the only guy who was worse was Corbin.
When Gray was traded, I recall reading that the hope was getting him out of Chavez Ravine would help. In 2022 before the trade 67% of his fly balls were outs. That improved to 60% after the trade. In 2023, 73% of his outs were fly balls. He’s a fly ball pitcher, and that’s going to lead to HRs. That’s just who he is.
What’s potentially worse for Gray though is that he *knows* it. Instead of perfecting a couple pitches to plus plus, and a 3rd to at least servicable, the man had/has eight pitches. Before the 2024 season, I recall either Martinez, Rizzo or Doolittle as saying something to the effect of they were pleased he hadn’t tinkered with or added more. It’s almost like Gray’s trying to find a new, elusive, “perfect ” pitch he can throw for strikes and not give up HR rather than just get better with what he’s got.
In 2023, most of his metrics were concerning. He gave up 80 BB, 14 more than the year before for a 4.5 BB/9; 143 Ks, 9 fewer than the year before, for a low 8.1 K/9 and hitters hit a whopping .251 off him in 159 IP. The only good thing he did was only give up 22 gopher balls,
If you’re getting hit to the tune of a .251 average, walking 4.5 per 9 and striking out 8 per 9 IP, your ERA ought to be much worse than 3.91. He’s 27 now. He’ll be 28 before spring training. The liklihood is that Gray simply is who he is, a 4th or 5th SP. The assessment of him is most definitely not “premautre,” and I’d argue it’s not overly negative either.
Brad Lord’s overall having a decent 3rd full year as a pro, but I’m seeing warning signs. In particular, the more exposure he gets to MLB batters the worse it gets. He’s “young” in that this is his first full year above AA, but he’s 25. They drafted him out of South Florida in the 18th round in 2022. He’s still not walking a lot of guys, but he’s become more homer prone than he’s ever been in his life. The Nats have to hope this is just him “playing out the string” at the end of an awful, horrible, terrible, not-fun season as a team.
Other than the kid’s family and his significant other, absolutely *nobody* is a bigger Brady House fan than I am, so I am admittedly biased. I saw the kid play on an absolutely truly miserable April day in Delmarva in either 22 or 23. Even the kid’s outs were loud, as I guess probably should be common at that level for a #1 pick, but I just loved the kid. IMO he gets criticized because he got drafted in 2021. But they took him out of HS, so he’s only 22. He’s still a year younger than Crews, and arguably playing in the SEC, Crews got better development than playing in the minors for the Nats. The jury on him is still out.
I’ve posted about Crews before. He’s definitely not going to be the “generational” talent Rizzo thought he was getting, and honestly the much better pick in that draft was Langford at #4. So the Nats aren’t going to have a feared Wood/Crews duo. He might be good enough to hit .250 like Langford but his pitch selection/plate discipline is abysmal. Unless that improves, Crews isn’t going to get on base enough to take advantage of his speed. Hopefully Crews’s work ethic will help him improve that pitch recognition this offseaaon, because if it doesn’t, it’s a “bust” as a #1 pick.
One thing the next GM/PBO’s going to have to be better at than Rizzo is drafting pitching at the top of the draft. Overall, Rizzo was pretty bad at it. Rizzo’s 1st round pitchers: Strasburg, Storen, Alex Mayer, Giolito, Fedde, Dane Dunning, Seth Romero, Mason Denaburg, Rutledge and Cavalli.
Of course he’s also responsible for one of the worst 1st round picks ever: #6 pick OF Elijah Green.
I’m not going to bother with Ruiz. That was a terrible, awful contract they’re stuck with. Given that the Lerners are either cheap, or simply don’t have the $$ to be in the same division with the Mets and Phillies, I wouldn’t be shocked if the two highest paid Nats next year are Strasburg and Ruiz.
The biggest miss was Elijah Green. Taking him top five when he has strikeout numbers that would make Adam Dunn blush set the franchise back. Rizzo always went for the high ceiling guys. I can already say he is a bust.
The Nats need help at the Infield corners, at least one veteran arm in the rotation and a backend bullpen arm or two and they may be at least a fringe Wild Card team
Nats used to buy pitching, grow batters
They haven’t invested any dollars to build around their new core yet. Maybe they don’t think the new core is up to the task?
The Nats can’t spend like the Mets or Phillies. Even after Rubenstein gave them their full broadcasting rights, their TV deal didn’t allow for it. The next deal, whether it’s with MASN or Monumental Sports, isn’t likely to allow for big spending either. Ownership has alienated Strasburg, potentially forever, because the Lerners asked him to take less in a retirement settlement that they contractually owed him. The reality is, compared to other ownership groups, the Nats don’t have a lot of $$. So they have to spend intelligently and strategically.
Rizzo (correctly) told ownership that the best way to rebuild is by rebuilding the farm system. By 2021, the farm system was barren. Rizzo had traded the few prospects who had “worked out” like Giolito for MLB talent because the Nats were in “win now” mode. When Strasburg got injured and Harper walked, it was time to tear it all down and rebuild from the ground up.
In the middle of that ground up rebuild, Rizzo almost got fired because it wasn’t going well. Most of his hand picked front office guys got fired, in favor of analytics guys. The Nats were one of the last teams to invest in analytucs because Rizzo’s an old school scout. IMO, ever since then there’s probably been an internal conflict between the analytics guys and Rizzo.
IMO, before this season Rizzo told ownership to hold off on spending one more offseason. He convinced ownership that the Bell and Lowe signings were “enough” to keep the team hanging around contention and they’d either “go big” at the deadline or before the 2026 season. Turns out, Rizzo was wrong on Bell and Lowe. The analytics guys IMO probably used that as “ammo” to convince ownership Rizzo was wrong about everything…so he got fired.
Given how bad Rizzo’s been at drafting pitching, combined with a wasted 1st round pick in OF Elijah Green, other than Wood and Gore I think it’s hard to argue the Nats core was/is as good as Rizzo sold them to be.
I see the Nats as sadly in the same situation the White Sox found themselves in a few years ago. The rebuild didn’t work, and ownership doesn’t have/won’t spend the $$$$$ it’s going to take to make it work. So it’s time to blow it up and start over.
Nats aren’t blowing up their core rn.
Why not, so Gore can walk and they get a draft pick? One thing not written about too is the fact we’re almost certainly losing games in 2027, if not the season.
They don’t have the pitching to win anything, and ownership is not going to spend $200 million to buy it. They have a #1 SP thats it
. Sykora’s out for at least a year with TJ. As everybody saw with Cavalli, that’s *not* a guaranteed 1 year and bounce back. Even it it is, he’s not pitching *anywhere* until late 2026.Susana’s control is still a bit iffy, and he’s never pitched in MLB.
The sad fact is, as constructed, they’re going to lose 100 games next year too. Rizzo’s rebuild failed. The quicker they admit it increases the return on trades.
They still have the bats like James Wood, and CJ Abrams play they drafted a SS in the first round this past draft. The Nats fanbase have a slightly different opinion on this rebuild rather than other teams from another fanbase.
Aiden — NavalHistorian is a pretty massive Nationals fan. He/she is one of the 3-4 Nats fans on here that gets it. (Well, for a Nats fan. 😁) Naval might be a bit dower (Nats season would do that) but the assement isn’t far-fetched, if anything it’s ahead of the curve.
…and your drafted SS was the wrong HS SS to draft #1. (and years from the Show)
Ok
Who is the #1 SP? Definitely not Gore. He is a #4 on a good team, maybe a #3 on a non-contending team.
Even Susana was hurt earlier this year and left last night’s game with an apparent injury.
Originally, I was *really* angry about that #1 pick, but upon further reflection, I begrudgingly get it. As I’ve written, I don’t think the rebuild’s salvagable because unlike other teams, I don’t think they can (or would) spend their way into fixing it.
Abrams is under team control through the 2028 season. MLB teams are a lot more okay with bigger SS than they used to be, but House (even if he’s as good as I hope) isn’t a SS anymore. He’s grown into a a 3B. After Gore gets traded or walks as a UFA, the next guy they’re either going to have to trade or see leave for nothing more than a draft pick is Abrams. IMO, they’re clearly hoping Eli Willits is ready by Opening Day 2029 and can be the next “core” guy they build around.
With the exception of Seth Hernandez, I think most of the top pitchers in this year’s draft were college guys. If you’re probably looking at another multiyear rebuild, why not go underslot with Willits and be able to use that $ to entice guys you get later in the draft to skip college and NIL $? Even if a college kid”s the next Scherzer, he isn’t going to get you to the playoffs by himself.
Gore’s not sticking around for more losing, so he’s gone sometime before 2028. Say the the college kid they coukd have taken completely worked out. Once Gore’s gone by mid to late 2027, they’ve still only got 1 legit SP.
The Nats essentially got nothing fom their 1st round picks from 2014-2019. (Fedde, Kieboom, Dunning, Romero, Denaburg and Rutledge,) Cavalli’s 27 and a huge question mark. Elijah Green’s a bust. Sykora and Susana are both injured. As a fan, my heart *hates* this. But my head just doesn’t see how they’re going to fix this mess anytime soon because they can’t rebuild the same way the Astros and O’s did it. Being awful isn’t as big of a benefit anymore.
I will *gladly* eat these words if ownership actually spends some money. Unfortunately, I just don’t see evidence they’re going to do it.
Lastly, I completely understand what MLB and the MLBPA were trying to accomplish with the new draft rules. Unfortunately, I don’t think they’re necessarily going to accomplish what they were intended to do,. Baseball is *really* difficult, and most draft picks don’t achieve 100% of what the analysts/scouts hope they’ll achieve. MLB and the MLBPA can’t force ownership to spend money to “fill in the gaps” if their draft picks “only” become good and not great.
Even during their competitive years they didn’t develop much talent. Most of their good players were trades or free agents.
Like I said, Zimm, Harper, Soto, Rendon, Turner, Robles — and even Strasburg were all in house
They went out and added Scherzer and Corbin.
They won without Harper.
But trading Giolito for Eaton was an awful trade, even they did win that year with Eaton on the team.
Giolito for Eaton wasn’t as bad a trade as it looks now.
1) Eaton was badly underpaid. He negotiated without an agent. The Nationals needed talent but didn’t have a big budget. Part of the value of that trade for the Nationals was to pick a quality player without the big price tag.
2) Giolito took some time to develop. Can’t recall specifically, but he was one of the worst pitchers in the league for a year or two after the trade. The Nationals were in a competitive window and couldn’t afford starting an insta-loss once every five starts.
Lol you should go back and watch exactly what Eaton did in the WS and rethink that statement… look at his B.A. in that WS series too.
I do believe the nationals are really close to contending but they are in a tough division and need to spend money to fill some holes
I would compare them to the rangers before their spending because they were constantly losing until they signed Corey seager and Marcus semien
Sad, you are saying if the Nationals increase payroll by $100 million in one offseason they could contend for a WC like the Rangers?
What would that look like? $55-60 million for Woodruff and King or Cease. $30 million for 3 relievers including a closer like Suarez. $8 million for a backup catcher. The other $2-7 million on a couple of infielders.
They will have $36-40 million in arbitration raises. so cut that out of the spending budget above. One of King or Cease can’t be signed along with at least one of the relievers and the backup catcher. Can that team still compete? Probably not.
Should they add like the Rangers did? Probably not.
Opinion piece, okay.
They could have done more but they did get good returns from their last rebuild. Some attributes didn’t pan out eg. catcher position), but pitching is everything and that has to be their focus if they want to compete in a challenging MLB world. Hopefully prospects like Suzana?
Susana is in AA struggling with his control. He won’t help the 2026 team improve enough to contend.
Painful and truthful review but poor coaching and development have been pointed out by District on Deck for things like pitch selection and batter preference for ground balls – maybe a new coaching staff can salvage some gems from the current crew – organizations take on the shadow of their leaders and the ownership group is casting a dark shadow
Last year when Abrams was in the Casino at 4 am on game day he was roundly criticized but I could see how he could lose hope and motivation when leadership was not trying to win – maybe a new GM can overcome the ownership group’s indifference.
If the owner is gonna spend, I think they have some good pieces and if they add 2 good hitters(not in the tucker level) and 2 SP + some exp BP arms- lets get it on and support Gore and woods & Co.
Who do they got other than Gore, Wood, and Abrams?
Crews and House haven’t proven themselves yet. We are hopeful, but those chickens haven’t hatched.
Ruiz is a failure. Irvin is nothing special.
You described what they did this past offseason. Added Lowe, Rosario, Bell, DeJong – all guys who have been good hitters in recent memory. They resigned Williams and added Soroka. They got experienced, successful BP arms in Poche, Lopez, and someone else I’m forgetting. And all those pieces underperformed. Every single one.
The Nationals previous rebuild was fueled in large part by back to back first round picks, followed by a top 5 pick. Now with these stupid (in my opinion) draft rules that isn’t possible for Washington. They don’t appear to be tanking, they are just bad. Honestly, I can see trying to sign some players not attached to the QO, but, for a team with the third worst record and not ready to contend, I can’t see giving up a top 50 draft pick for a free agent. Especially, since that player isnt really going to move the needle. A guy who could, like Judge or Ohtani, was never coming here.
It would be really foolish to tank given they are ineligible for the draft lottery as a result of being in the draft lottery last season.
The Nationals are several years and at least 2 top of the rotation starters from being a contender for even a wild card. Both their hitting (23rd inwRC+) and their pitching (29th in ERA and.28th in FIP) is near the bottom of the league. The main reason is a lack of starting pitching. They do not have a single pitcher that has started a game that has an ERA under 4.00
Gore who was thought to be the anchor of the staff for years to come is part of the problem because he is far from being a star. His career 4.19 ERA and his 4.15 ERA in 2025 are both below MLB average. and his career appears to be one of a #4 starter. Decent and because he is left handed he will be around as long as he can stay healthy, just not great. His season ending shoulder issue is just one more in a long line of health problems for Gore. The #3 overall draft pick is an unmitigated disappointment so far in his career.
Abrams is also not a star. He is a solid, above average performer but has never risen to the star level that was expected of him as the #2 ranked prospect in mid-2022. He is good and shows glimpses of very good, he is just not great. As his batting has improved his defense, what was supposed to be his calling card, has fallen to a -7 DRS, -9 OAA, and -7 StatCast FRV. He will be 25 in 2026, so there is still a chance that he might still rise to that star level of 5+ WAR, but I am not holding my breath. A SS that consistently puts up 3-3.5 WAR is something every team needs,, he is just not the star most of us thought he would become.
Wood has incredible skills and could very well develop into a great player but his biggest weakness has risen to the top of the conversation. He leads the majors in strikeouts this season. Never a good sign for a 22 year old. His defense was supposed to be a strength, but in parts of 2 seasons in the majors he has just a -4 DRS, -8 OAA, and -7 StatCast Fielding Run Value. I really like watching him play because on any given pitch he can drive one out of the park, so I am hoping that he can turn it around and start putting up the superstar performance we all thought he would offer.
The others in that trade have not even shown they belong in the majos let alone have star potential. Hassell at 23 has a 62 OPS+ in more than 130 PA and Susana is not on the 40-man. None of the other trades brought anyone who can help the Nationals now.
As sad as it is to say, the Nationals don’t have the prospects coming to compete so they need to start another rebuild. Guys like Abram, Gore, and Garcia that are in or coming into arbitration eligibility need to be traded to start building up the farm.
Either that or the ownership needs to commit to raising the payroll level substantially. A jump of $100 million for 2026-2027 from the $134 million CBT payroll they have this season may not be enough to fix the starting rotation, bullpen, and add another couple of above average bats.
It’s not crazy to say that A’s and White Sox fans have more to look forward to in 2026 than the Nationals fans unless the Lerner family decides to double payroll.
Well said … this is probably the worst Nationals team I’ve seen since they came back in ’05 and its 5 years running now. Constantly behind in games in runs, pitchers count leverage ball strike ratio always negative in counts, and they cannot hit. They’ve consistently rid themselves of star players too and now there are none left. They practically gave schwarber away for nothing too in their purge. Pathetic.Likely new ownership is the only solution…
Could be, but 2006-2010 were really bad. Save for one season of Soriano and the rise of Zim, it was dreadful. Those were the days of Micah Bowie, Jesus Colome and Saul Rivera. This might be the most frustrating Nationals team I can remember.
In 2006-2010 tanking turned into guaranteed top draft picks. In the next draft I don’t think the Nationals will even be in the lottery. Tanking just doesnt help anymore.