Nationals Rumors

Nationals’ Travis Sykora To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

By Darragh McDonald | July 28, 2025 at 5:10pm CDT

Nationals announced to reporters today that pitching prospect Travis Sykora will require Tommy John surgery. He will miss the remainder of this season and probably all of 2026 as well. Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com was among those to relay the news.

It’s a brutal development for both Sykora and the Nats. The young righty was a third-round pick in the 2023 draft. Since then, he has raised his prospect stock with some strong results in the minors. Last year, he tossed 85 innings over 20 Single-A starts as a 20-year-old. He had a 2.33 earned run average, 8.2% walk rate and massive 39.2% strikeout rate. This year, he made another 12 starts across multiple levels, getting as high as Double-A. He had thrown 45 1/3 innings with a 1.79 ERA. His 10.1% walk rate was a bit high but he pushed his strikeout rate even higher to 46.7%.

Those numbers have pushed him up prospect boards. Baseball America currently ranks him the #36 prospect in the league, FanGraphs #28 and MLB Pipeline #24. Since he had already climbed to Double-A by the end of June, it was possible to imagine him being a key part of Washington’s roster next year. That won’t happen now. He could perhaps be a factor by 2027, but that will come with concerns about his workload and effectiveness after the long surgery layoff. He’ll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft in December of 2026, so the Nats will have to add him to the 40-man before that to protect him.

The Nats haven’t had a winning season since their 2019 championship campaign. They’ve largely been mired in a rebuild since then. It has been hoped in recent years for them to turn a corner but they haven’t been able to do that. This year’s 43-62 record is the worst in the National League, apart from the lowly Rockies. The struggles became magnified enough that both president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez got fired recently.

The club’s rotation outlook already had plenty of question marks before this. DJ Herz and Trevor Williams required Tommy John surgery this year. Josiah Gray is still recovering from last year’s Tommy John. Michael Soroka is an impending free agent and should be traded this week. MacKenzie Gore has established himself as an ace but he’s only under club control through 2027. Mitchell Parker, Jake Irvin and Brad Lord are back-end types. Cade Cavalli is posting mixed results in the minors.

Getting guys like Sykora and Jarlin Susana up to the big leagues would have been a huge help but now Sykora will be out for over a year. Susana missed a few months due to a sprain of his UCL, though he recently returned to the mound.

Put it all together and it’s less than ideal for the Nats. They clearly recognize changes are required, given the aforementioned firings. In the most recent offseason, they decided not to heavily invest in the team because they decided that they weren’t ready to take the next step. Time will tell if they stay in that lane or want to get more aggressive. Perhaps this news will impact that decision.

Photo courtesy of Henry Huey, Imagn Images

Cubs Interested In Raisel Iglesias, MacKenzie Gore

By Mark Polishuk | July 27, 2025 at 3:58pm CDT

The Cubs are known to be looking far and wide for pitching upgrades at the deadline, with both long-term and short-term arms on the team’s radar. Two more names can be added to Chicago’s pitching search, as The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney writes that Braves closer Raisel Iglesias “is one of several options under consideration” for bullpen help, and the Cubs are also “very interested in” the possibility of trading for Nationals southpaw MacKenzie Gore.

Iglesias is the much more clear-cut trade candidate of the two, as Iglesias is a free agent at season’s end and the struggling Braves are nowhere near the playoff race. While Iglesias has a 5.09 ERA over 40 2/3 innings, his 3.00 SIERA is over two runs lower, and his strikeout/walk/hard-hit ball rates range from strongly above-average to elite. The veteran righty’s ERA reflects Iglesias’ tendency to get hit particularly hard when he does get hit, as 10 of his 23 earned runs allowed this season were contained within just three outings (April 21 against the Giants, June 5 against the Diamondbacks, and July 19 against the Yankees).

It is clear that Iglesias still has plenty left in the tank at age 35, and could be a big help to a team in need of high-leverage relievers. The bullpen isn’t quite as glaring a need as it seemed for the Cubs earlier in the season, yet the relief corps has been shaky over the last month, and adding Iglesias to the mix is an obvious improvement. Daniel Palencia has been a revelation as the Cubs’ closer, but given his lack of a proven track record, Chicago could prefer to have an established closer like Iglesias on hand.

Gore seems like a much more speculative pitcher on the wishlist. Nationals interim GM Mike DeBartolo recently said that his team was planning to retain its young core at the deadline, and made of point of including Gore in that cornerstone group, saying it is “not a focus of mine to move him.” There is seemingly no rush for DeBartolo or the organization to consider trading a pitcher who is arbitration-controlled through the 2027 season, and Mooney notes that an interim general manager like DeBartolo might not get the green light from ownership to pull the trigger on “a monumental decision” like moving a pitcher who has emerged as the ace of Washington’s rotation.

Even if the door may not be completely closed on the possibility of Gore being traded, the Nats’ asking price is unsurprisingly “viewed as sky-high,” Mooney writes. For two-plus years of a frontline starter, it is easy to picture Washington demanding multiple high-level prospects and at least one young player who is close to MLB-ready. As hefty as this ask might be, the Cubs are perhaps one of the few teams that has enough blue-chip minor league depth to make the Nationals at least consider dealing the 26-year-old All-Star.

Owen Caissie, for instance, is the type of elite prospect that would surely be a priority for the Nats in any Gore trade package. The outfielder is crushing Triple-A pitching for the second consecutive season and seems to have little left to prove in the minors, except Chicago’s outfield (and overall lineup) is deep enough that there’s no current place for Caissie to break into the Show. That could change quickly if Kyle Tucker departs in free agency this winter, higlighting Caissie’s importance as a long-term asset in Wrigleyville.

Mooney writes that the Cubs are very likely not going to offer Caissie in a trade for a rental player, and would only be inspired to move him at all if a controllable talent (like Gore) is on the table. In a particularly interesting detail, Mooney reports that Caissie would have been part of a proposed trade between the Cubs and Marlins for Jesus Luzardo this past offseason that was eventually scuttled when Chicago had concerns over Luzardo’s medicals. This provides some context for what it would take for the Cubs to move Caissie, yet his big Triple-A numbers in 2025 have probably made the team even more loath to part with the outfielder.

Yankees Acquire Amed Rosario

By Nick Deeds | July 26, 2025 at 10:57pm CDT

The Yankees are poised to acquire infielder Amed Rosario from the Nationals, per a report from Jack Curry of YES Network. New York will send right-hander Clayton Beeter and outfielder Browm Martinez to the Nationals in exchange for Rosario’s services. Both clubs subsequently announced the deal. Both Rosario and Beeter were already on their club’s 40-man roster, meaning no further roster maneuvering was necessary to complete the transaction.

A former top prospect who spent the first four seasons of his career with the Mets, Rosario returns home to New York but will now suit up for the Bronx down the stretch. The 29-year-old has now been moved at the trade deadline in three consecutive seasons and figures to offer the same value to the Yankees that he offered to the Dodgers and Reds in recent years: a versatile, right-handed bat capable of crushing left-handed pitching. Rosario’s overall slash line of .270/.310/.426 (105 wRC+) this year is solid but not especially exceptional, but a look under the hood reveals an excellent 126 wRC+ in 93 trips to the plate against southpaws this season. That’s par for the course for Rosario, who has posted a 120 wRC+ against lefties for his career across nine seasons in the big leagues.

A Yankees team that ranks as the best offense in baseball against left-handed pitching (120 wRC+) this year may not seem like an obvious candidate for a lefty masher like Rosario, but a great deal of that production comes from Aaron Judge and his absurd 219 wRC+ against left-handed pitching. Even setting aside the fact that Judge is headed for the injured list due to a flexor strain in his elbow, lefty hitters in the lineup like Trent Grisham (78 wRC+), Ben Rice (89 wRC+), and Jazz Chisholm Jr. (76 wRC+) all have below-average numbers against same-handed pitching this year. Rosario has handled every position on the diamond except for first base and catcher during his career, so he should be able to spell a number of those players against lefties as needed.

His most likely platoon partner appears to be fellow deadline acquisition Ryan McMahon, however. McMahon appears ticketed for a regular role as the club’s third baseman, but has an anemic 58 wRC+ against left-handed pitching. Plugging Rosario (who has spent parts of nine seasons at shortstop in addition to 30 career starts at the hot corner) into the lineup at third in McMahon’s place against lefties would afford the Yankees an extremely effective platoon at the position, turning a longtime soft spot in the club’s lineup into a clear strength. The moves to add McMahon and Rosario seem likely to take the Yankees out of the market for further infield help. They had been tied previously to prominent names on the trade market like Eugenio Suarez and Willi Castro, but now seem much more likely to focus their deadline efforts on improving a pitching staff beleaguered by injuries over the final days leading up to the deadline.

As for the Nationals, the club makes its first sell-side trade of the summer and in doing so adds a pair of prospects who could contribute in the future. Clayton Beeter is the bigger name of the two, a top 20 prospect in New York’s system according to MLB Pipeline who has already made five career appearances in the big leagues. A second-round pick by the Dodgers in 2020, Beeter has surrendered eight runs on nine hits and five walks while striking out six across 7 1/3 innings of work in the majors so far but has looked impressive at Triple-A for the Yankees over each of the past two seasons, with a 2.56 ERA over 56 1/3 innings of work at the level since the start of the 2024 campaign.

Beeter has struck out a very impressive 35.1% of opponents at the level this year, although his 17.0% walk rate suggests some serious issues with Beeter’s command. Even so, a controllable relief arm who’s already on the cusp of the big leagues and is capable of throwing multiple innings is an intriguing addition for a Nationals club that has the worst bullpen ERA in the major leagues this year. In addition to Beeter, the Nats have also acquired Martinez. The 18-year-old outfielder signed with the Yankees out of the Dominican Republic and made his pro debut last year. He’s yet to make his stateside debut but has slashed an incredible .404/.507/.632 in 18 games in the Dominican Summer League this year. Browm is surely years away from the majors and is unranked within the Yankees’ system, but could be an exciting prospect for the Nationals if he can continue to prove himself after he begins his stateside career.

Going forward, the Nationals figure to continue listening on a number of other trade candidates on their roster. Right-handers Kyle Finnegan and Michael Soroka are perhaps the most noteworthy potential rentals the club could move, but Josh Bell and Andrew Chafin are also pending free agents. Perhaps the Nationals will listen on some more controllable pieces like first baseman Nathaniel Lowe as well, although it would be a shock to see the club move someone more valuable like prized left-hander MacKenzie Gore.

Yankees Pursuing Righty-Hitting Infielder, Bullpen Help

By Anthony Franco | July 25, 2025 at 8:57pm CDT

The Yankees made one of deadline season’s biggest moves so far, acquiring third baseman Ryan McMahon from Colorado for a pair of pitching prospects. That addressed their most glaring need on the position player side. It nevertheless might not be their only acquisition on the dirt.

Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reports that the Yankees are looking to add an infielder who can hit from the right side. Kirschner specifically adds that New York is interested in switch-hitting Twins utilityman Willi Castro. He also floats Washington’s Amed Rosario as a player whom the front office has liked.

They’re two of a number of potential options. Old friends Thairo Estrada (Rockies) and Isiah Kiner-Falefa (Pirates) are short-term pieces on bad teams. The A’s Luis Urías and Baltimore’s Ramón Urías (Luis’ older brother) should each be available. The Angels could listen on switch-hitting rentals Yoán Moncada and Luis Rengifo.

Castro is the best of that group — and consequently, the one who should draw the most interest from various teams. He entered play tonight with a .257/.346/.429 slash line with 10 homers across 319 plate appearances. Castro has been a slightly above-average hitter in three consecutive seasons. He’d be a particular boost versus left-handed pitching, against whom he’s hitting .284/.341/.519. His .246/.348/.392 slash against righties is closer to average but hardly unplayable.

Minnesota is four games below .500 and five games out of a Wild Card spot. They’re open to offers on rentals. The 28-year-old Castro is playing on a $6.4MM salary for his final arbitration season. He’s not a great defensive player at any spot, but he’s able to move between second base, third base, and the corner outfield positions. He has plenty of shortstop experience as well, though he shouldn’t be playing there regularly.

If Castro fits the superutility mold, Rosario is more of a short-side platoon bat. He hits lefties well, including a .299/.333/.483 showing this season. He makes contact against right-handed pitching but almost never walks and doesn’t hit for power off righties. Rosario was a shortstop earlier in his career but is now mostly limited to second/third base. He’s playing on a $2MM salary and is an impending free agent.

The Yanks will give the majority of playing time between second and third base to Jazz Chisholm Jr. and McMahon. They each hit from the left side. Chisholm is a career .224/.286/.354 hitter against southpaws. McMahon has a lifetime .231/.307/.378 line without the platoon advantage. Oswald Peraza is their right-handed complement for now, but he hasn’t shown he can hit MLB pitching of either handedness. He’s a superior defender to Castro and Rosario but hasn’t provided anything with the bat. Peraza is out of options, so the Yankees would need to expose him to waivers before they could send him to the minors. If they acquire a right-handed hitting infielder, that’d almost certainly squeeze him off the roster.

Kirschner adds that the Yankees — like virtually every contender — are also pursuing bullpen help. He lists Pittsburgh’s David Bednar and the Minnesota trio of Jhoan Durán, Griffin Jax and Danny Coulombe among the presumably dozens of bullpen options whom the Yanks are considering.

Durán and Jax are each questionable to move; the Twins are reportedly demanding multiple top prospects for either controllable late-game weapon. Bednar, who is playing on a $5.9MM salary and arbitration-eligible for one more season, is likely to go but would require a big return in his own right. Coulombe would come with the lowest prospect cost of that group. He’s a rental playing on a $3MM deal. Pittsburgh and Minnesota are surely getting calls from a number of teams on those pitchers (as well as the likes of Dennis Santana and Brock Stewart).

Nationals Select Konnor Pilkington

By Darragh McDonald | July 22, 2025 at 2:00pm CDT

The Nationals announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Konnor Pilkington. Right-hander Mason Thompson has been optioned to Triple-A Rochester as the corresponding active roster move. To open a 40-man spot, outfielder Dylan Crews has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Pilkington, 27, signed a minor league deal with the Nats in the offseason. He has been pitching out of the Red Wings’ bullpen this year, though three of his appearances have technically been starts. Over his 36 games, he has logged 41 2/3 innings with a 2.59 earned run average. His 15.2% walk rate is awful but he’s striking out 28.1% of batters faced and getting grounders on 47.3% of balls in play.

His previous work has been somewhat similar. He tossed 60 big league innings for the Guardians over 2022 and 2023 with a 3.75 ERA, 19.5% strikeout rate, 12.4% walk rate and 39.9% ground ball rate. He tossed 309 2/3 minor league innings from 2021 to 2024 with a 5.58 ERA, 24.3% strikeout rate and 12.9% walk rate. He was largely a starter in his previous seasons. The move to a relief role this year hasn’t helped his control issues but he is getting more strikeouts.

The Nats used six relievers in last night’s game. They’re doing a sort of bullpen game tonight, with Brad Lord starting. Trevor Williams recently required elbow surgery, which opened a rotation gig for Lord, but Lord hasn’t thrown more than 2 1/3 innings in a game since early May. Pilkington gives them a fresh arm capable of working more than an inning.

The Nationals have two lefties in their bullpen already in Jose A. Ferrer and Andrew Chafin. The latter is a veteran on a one-year deal and likely to be traded in the coming week or so, which makes it possible Pilkington is the second lefty on the bullpen chart come August. Pilkington still has an option year, so the Nats could easilty send him back down to Rochester.

As for Crews, this doesn’t impact his timeline. He landed on the 10-day IL on May 21st due to an oblique strain. His 60-day count is retroactive to that initial IL placement. Since it’s already been 60 days, he is eligible for reinstatement at any time.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Cubs Interested In Eugenio Suárez, Kyle Finnegan

By Darragh McDonald | July 21, 2025 at 11:20am CDT

The Cubs are clear buyers heading into next week’s deadline and are looking for upgrades. Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic report that Eugenio Suárez of the Diamondbacks and Kyle Finnegan of the Nationals are two names on their radar.

Chicago’s third base situation has been unsettled for a while. They acquired Isaac Paredes at last year’s deadline but then flipped him to Houston in the offseason as part of the Kyle Tucker trade. That seemingly opened the door for top prospect Matt Shaw to take over at the hot corner, though the Cubs also hung around the Alex Bregman market into the middle of February.

Bregman ultimately signed with the Red Sox, which left the door open for Shaw, but he hasn’t seized the job. In 239 major league plate appearances, Shaw has a .210/.285/.304 batting line. That’s still a small sample of work and he could still emerge as a viable big leaguer, but third base is the most obvious weak spot in Chicago’s otherwise excellent lineup.

The Cubs have already been connected to Ke’Bryan Hayes, but Suárez is a more sensible solution at the hot corner. Hayes is a glove-first player with poor offense and is signed through 2029. He also plays for a division rival, which often complicates trade talks.

Suárez isn’t as strong a defender but has been on fire at the plate over the past year-plus. Dating back to July 7th of last year, he has 59 home runs, a .281/.336/.611 batting line and a 156 wRC+. Only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani have more home runs in that span. Suárez is also a rental, which could be appealing to the Cubs. He could take over third base for the rest of the year, then depart in free agency. The Cubs could then decide in the offseason if they want to give Shaw another shot at earning the job or pursue alternatives.

Adding that kind of bat would be sensible for a lot of clubs but it’s still unclear if the Diamondbacks will make him available. They have suffered a significant number of injuries that have set them back this year, but they’re not totally buried. Every time it seems their season is over, they win a few more games to stay alive. They just swept the Cardinals over the weekend and are only 4.5 games out of a playoff spot. Suárez ripped four homers in that series to help fuel the victories.

If the D-backs decide to sell, they could really cash in. In addition to Suárez, they have Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Josh Naylor as high-profile impending free agents, in addition to guys like Randal Grichuk, Jalen Beeks, Shelby Miller and Kendall Graveman. They have reportedly listened to offers on some of their controllable non-Corbin Carroll outfielders.

Trading that group would bring back a haul of young talent but also punt the season. Per The Athletic, the Snakes will wait into next week to decide what to do, so the Cubs will also have to think about other options for third base. Even if Suárez is available, there will be lots of other clubs with interest. As mentioned, Hayes is one names the Cubs have also considered. Other potential options include Yoán Moncada, Ryan McMahon, Miguel Andujar or the Mets’ many young infielders.

As for Finnegan, that’s a pretty straightforward target. Almost all contending clubs look to make bullpen additions ahead of the deadline. Per The Athletic, the Cubs are fine with Daniel Palencia as the closer but are just looking to strengthen the bullpen more generally.

Finnegan has been Washington’s closer for a few years now but it’s been suggested that he should probably be in a setup role on a better club, as he doesn’t strike out as many opponents as a typical closer. This year, he has saved 19 games for the Nats but blown six other chances. In 36 innings, he has a 4.25 earned run average and subpar 19.3% strikeout rate, though his 46.7% ground ball rate is solid.

He’s also been better in the past, including last year. In 2024, Finnegan had a 3.68 ERA and 22.1% strikeout rate, though it was a tale of two seasons. He had a 2.45 ERA in the first half but then a 5.79 ERA in the second half after the Nationals surprisingly opted not to trade him. Washington wound up non-tendering Finnegan and then re-signing him to a one-year contract.

If Finnegan were no longer in a closing role, perhaps manager Craig Counsell could find ways to bring him into a game against opponents that he matches up well against, as opposed to just throwing him out there in the ninth inning regardless. Finnegan feels like a lock to get traded as an impending free agent on a poor club, but the Cubs will probably be one of several teams checking in.

Financially, the Cubs should have lots of room to work with this month. They paid the competitive balance tax last year but are well below it this year. RosterResource pegs them around $218MM right now, which is roughly $23MM below the base threshold. Even if they want to avoid the tax this year, that’s a lot of wiggle room. Suárez is making $15MM this year, meaning there will be about $5MM left to be paid out at the deadline. Finnegan is making $6MM, which will only leave $2MM left to be paid out at the deadline. It’s actually even cheaper than that since $4MM of the money in his deal is deferred without interest.

Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images

Nationals Not Planning To Trade From Young Core At Deadline

By Mark Polishuk | July 20, 2025 at 9:35am CDT

It has been two weeks since the Nationals sent shockwaves through the organization by firing longtime president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez. The timing of the shake-up (a week before the draft and within a month of the trade deadline) caught many by surprise, though it looks like the change in leadership won’t lead to any major changes in direction for the club’s deadline plans. Interim GM Mike DeBartolo told the Washington Post’s Andrew Golden and other reporters on Saturday that the Nats want to build around such players as James Wood, CJ Abrams, Dylan Crews, and MacKenzie Gore, rather than shop them at the deadline.

“I’m looking to keep the young, core group of our best players together,” DeBartolo said. “Certainly [with] my job, if someone calls, you always listen to what they have to say. But trading away our really high-quality young players is not something I’m looking to do right now.”

DeBartolo made a point of including Gore within “that group in terms of our young, really talented players,” noting that it’s “not a focus of mine to move him.” Gore is both slightly older (26) and closer to free agency than the other members of the core, as Gore has two more arbitration-eligible years remaining before hitting the open market after the 2027 season.

Because of this timeline and the fact that Gore is represented by Scott Boras, there has been speculation that the Nationals could shop Gore if they feel they won’t be able to sign the southpaw to a long-term extension. Selling high on Gore while he is in the midst of a career year would likely bring a big return back to Washington, as Gore would instantly become perhaps the most sought-after player at the deadline. On the other hand, as Golden writes, “moving out Gore also would send the message that the Nationals are taking a step back and aren’t ready to contend in the near future.”

[Related: Washington Nationals Trade Deadline Outlook, for MLBTR Front Office subscribers]

The same logic applies to an even greater extent to Abrams (controlled through 2028) and Wood and Crews (each controlled through 2030). Trading from this group would be tantamount to restarting the rebuild altogether, which doesn’t seem feasible for a team that already hasn’t had a winning season since 2019. Though DeBartolo has been with the organization since 2012, it also doesn’t appear likely that an interim GM would make the call to deal a building block player, as such a major decision would likely be saved for whomever the Nationals eventually name as the new full-time head of baseball operations.

“My goal in this role, whether it’s interim or otherwise, is to build a competitive team every year,” DeBartolo said. “As frustrating as it is to see where we are this year, my goal is to build future competitive teams and be in that playoff mix. So that’s what my focus is over the next few weeks — whatever we can do to bolster the future outlook of the Nationals and get in that playoff race as soon as we can.”

This focus likely means that the Nationals will be looking to move shorter-term players who aren’t part of that longer-term future. Unsurprisingly, the Nats have made impending free agents Kyle Finnegan, Josh Bell, Michael Soroka, and Amed Rosario available in trade talks, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes, and first baseman Nathaniel Lowe (who is arb-controlled through 2026) is also within that group of trade chips. Finnegan and Soroka will likely garner the most attention given how many contenders need pitching help, and the Nats figure to be a team to watch as one of the few teams in full-fledged sell mode.

AL West Notes: Trout, Rangers, Rodgers, Waldichuk

By Mark Polishuk | July 19, 2025 at 7:26pm CDT

Mike Trout was hitting .179/.264/.462 when a bone bruise in his left knee sent him to the injured list on May 2, but since being activated from the IL, Trout has been closer to his old superstar form in batting .287/.432/.483 over his last 183 plate appearances. It might not be a coincidence that Trout has excelled since exclusively acting as a designated hitter since his return, as the Angels have been cautiously managing his leg health in the wake of both the bone bruise, and a variety of other leg injuries over the years. Trout did take part in some right field drills prior to Friday’s game and came away feeling good, though he told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger and other reporters that the team doesn’t yet have a timetable set in regards to an in-game return to right field.

Both Trout and interim manager Ray Montgomery are eager to see Trout return to right field, with Montgomery noting that freeing up the DH spot would allow more players to get partial rest days. Time will tell when Trout is entirely physically ready to go, though there must be some slight sense of “if it ain’t broke….” within the Angels’ decision process. Trout has been so hammered by injuries in recent years that if regular DH duty allows him to stay in the lineup and post big numbers, the Halos surely have to be considering whether limiting Trout to just cameo appearances in the outfield could be the best course of action going forward.

Nationals Agree To Sign First Overall Pick Eli Willits

By Mark Polishuk | July 19, 2025 at 2:20pm CDT

The Nationals have agreed to sign Eli Willits, the first overall pick of the 2025 draft. The high school shortstop announced yesterday (in an interview on CNN with Wolf Blitzer) that he planned to officially ink his first pro contract today, and the Nats indeed have a press conference set to mark the event. MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis reports that Willits will receive an $8.2MM bonus, which is the highest bonus ever given to a high school draft pick. However, Willits’ bonus is well beneath the $11,075,900 slot value assigned to the 1-1 selection.

Washington’s decision to select Willits raised a few eyebrows on draft night, and it would seem like his willingness to take a below-slot deal factored into the Nationals’ plan. With just under $2.876MM saved in draft pool money, the Nats can now re-allocate some funds towards other members of their draft class. To wit, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports that the Nats went way over slot to sign fourth-rounder Miguel Sime Jr., who had committed to LSU. Sime will now instead start his pro career after getting $2MM from the Nationals — Sime’s draft spot of 111th overall has an attached $687,800 slot price.

Several teams have adopted this tactic in the draft pool era, opting to spread around to their available money to multiple highly-touted players rather than commit the bulk of the draft pool towards its top pick. Willits will still end up with just under half of Washington’s $16,597,800 total pool, and the $8.2MM figure seems purposeful, as Willits can at least claim to getting the biggest draft payday of any high schooler.

This isn’t to say that the Nationals necessarily reached by picking Willits, who still well-regarded even if he didn’t top the boards of any of the most notable pundits. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel and Baseball America were highest on Willits as the third-ranked player in their pre-draft rankings, MLB Pipeline and Fangraphs each had Willits fifth, and The Athletic’s Keith had Willits eighth.

Willits is viewed a relatively safe, high-floor type of pick, as the evaluators agreed that Willits looks like a big leaguer, even if he could top out as a regular moreso than the type of star usually associated with the 1-1 selection. That said, there’s still a lot to like about Willits’ upside given his contact skills and mature approach at the plate, especially if he can add more power. Willits has plenty of other tools, including plus speed, and a plus throwing arm and good defensive range that should make him a solid shortstop.

Trevor Williams Undergoes Internal Brace Surgery

By Darragh McDonald | July 19, 2025 at 11:09am CDT

TODAY: Williams indeed underwent an internal brace surgery rather than a Tommy John procedure, according to Nusbaum and other reporters. This puts Williams roughly on pace to return by July or August 2026, if all goes well with his rehab.

JULY 9: Nationals right-hander Trevor Williams told members of the media today that he has a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament and will undergo surgery. He is expecting it to be internal brace surgery, though a full Tommy John procedure is still a possibility. He will therefore miss the remainder of this season and possibly all of 2026 as well. He’s already on the 60-day injured list. Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post was among those to pass the news along.

Williams, 33, made his most recent start on Wednesday of last week. The first game of a doubleheader against the Tigers, Williams had a less-than-ideal experience. He struggled in the top of the first but, with a long day ahead, the Nats left him out there to take a beating. Pitchers usually aren’t allowed to throw more than 3o to 40 pitches in a single inning but the Nats let Williams throw 54 in that frame, as he eventually got out of it with six runs having scored. He tossed two more innings after that.

Two days later, he was placed on the 15-day IL with an elbow sprain. Yesterday, he was transferred to the 60-day IL, which indicated the Nats didn’t expect him back for a few months. With the news of this surgery, he’ll be out much longer than that. The timelines for an internal brace procedure can be a bit shorter than with a full Tommy John, though it’s still usually about a year.

Williams has been part of Washington’s rotation since 2023. He signed a two-year, $13MM deal ahead of that 2023 season. The first campaign in Washington didn’t go especially well, as he posted a 5.55 earned run average over his 31 starts.

Last year, he showed significant improvement, though in a smaller sample size. He missed a few months with a flexor strain, limiting him to just 13 starts, but with a 2.03 ERA. There was surely some good luck in there, as his .267 batting average on balls in play and 80.2% strand rate were both to the fortunate side. Part of the reason he was able to strand so many runners is that only 4.2% of his fly balls left the yard, a massive drop from his 17% rate in 2023. But on the other hand, his 22.7% strikeout rate, 6.9% walk rate and 45.4% ground ball rate were all strong figures. His 2.79 FIP and 3.96 SIERA suggested he could post good numbers even with some regression in the luck department.

The Nats decided to bring him back to serve as a veteran back-end guy, an understandable move for a rebuilding club with lots of inexperienced starters. They gave him another two-year deal, with the $14MM guarantee amounting to a slight pay bump compared to his prior deal. Unfortunately, his luck turned far in the other direction this year. In 17 starts, he posted a 6.21 ERA here in 2025. His strikeout rate dropped to 17.4% and his grounder rate to 33%, but he still only walked 5.6% of opponents. His .347 BABIP and 61.6% strand rate both swung far to the unlucky side. His 4.08 FIP and 4.46 SIERA suggested some correction over the rest of the season may have been likely but that won’t happen now.

Williams will spend the rest of this year on the shelf and will start next year on the IL as well. Depending on his surgery and rehab, he could work his way into the mix during the 2026 season. Whether there’s a rotation spot for him there will depend upon what the Nats do this winter.

For now, they have a rotation consisting of MacKenzie Gore, Michael Soroka, Mitchell Parker, Jake Irvin and Shinnosuke Ogasawara. Soroka is on a one-year deal and likely to be dealt this month. Gore has been the subject of some trade speculation since the Nats are struggling to come out of their rebuild and he’s only controlled for two more seasons after this one, but there hasn’t been any real suggestion the Nats want to make such a move. Parker and Irvin are serviceable back-end guys. Ogasawara only has one major league start so far, which didn’t go especially well.

Josiah Gray had UCL surgery last summer and could perhaps be back in the mix later this year. Cade Cavalli is in Triple-A and could be back in the majors at some point. Prospects like Travis Sykora or Jarlin Susana could get into the mix down the line but both are currently injured and neither has reached the Triple-A level yet.

If the Nats want to accelerate the end of their rebuild, spending some money to bolster this rotation group would be a sensible plan for this winter. However, the future is currently murky, with manager Dave Martinez and president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo having just been fired a few days ago.

Photos courtesy of David Frerker and Geoff Burke, Imagn Images

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