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Nine Teams Terminate Contracts With Main Street Sports

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The nine MLB teams who had contracts with Main Street Sports have terminated those contracts with the company. It’s possible that some of them eventually work out new deals with the broadcaster, which operates channels under the FanDuel Sports Network banner. The teams are the Braves, Reds, Tigers, Royals, Angels, Marlins, Brewers, Cardinals and Rays. Talks between the company and the teams are ongoing. Various elements of this developing story were reported by Evan Drellich of The Athletic, Alden González of ESPN, Ronald Blum of the Associated Press, Tom Friend of the Sports Business Journal and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

The issue is due to the poor financial state of the company. They have recently missed payments to several teams, including the Cardinals and Marlins, but possibly others. The nine teams have cut ties with the company for now to keep them away from potential bankruptcy proceedings and explore other options, but it’s possible some teams will eventually sign new pacts with the company. Main Street is trying to find a buyer, though the reporting indicates talks with DAZN have fizzled out. Fubo TV might have stepped into the bidding but there are conflicting reports about that.

This is just the latest chapter in a saga that goes back quite a while, with cord cutting and streaming having chipped away the regional sports network (RSN) model. The company was previously known as Diamond Sports Group with channels marketed as Bally Sports. Going into 2023, 14 MLB clubs and many teams in other sports leagues had RSN deals with the company. But trouble emerged early that year when the company missed some payments. They filed for bankruptcy in March of 2023.

The company eventually emerged from bankruptcy in November of 2024 and then rebranded. Along the way, many of their deals with MLB clubs fell apart. In some cases, new deals were worked out. In other cases, the league took over broadcasting duties. The Rangers went a different route and launched their own RSN. Coming into 2026, Main Street has 29 deals with teams across MLB, the NBA and NHL.

The path of MLB handling the broadcasts will be available for all the clubs involved here. “No matter what happens, whether it’s Main Street, a third party or MLB media, fans are going to have the games,” commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday, per Blum.

The MLB path is largely inconsequential for fans. If anything, it’s a better arrangement. MLB still puts the games on cable. For cord-cutters, they have the option of streaming the club by paying the league directly, with no local blackouts.

For the teams, however, it’s not a great situation. RSN deals have been a big source of revenue over the years. The bankruptcy of Diamond/Main Street put many of them in a tough position. Renegotiating with the company meant accepting lower fees than they had been receiving on their previous deals. Going with MLB would allow them to potentially reach more fans but the revenue in that path is both lesser and not guaranteed, as the money is contingent on how many people sign up to stream.

MLB handled the broadcasts of five clubs in 2025: the Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Twins and Guardians. It was reported in September that the Mariners would go down this route in 2026. This week’s reporting suggests the Nationals will likely leave MASN and join with the league as well.

In the cases of at least a few of these teams, the situation seems to had on-field implications by reducing the club’s spending capacity when it comes to player payroll. The Padres and Twins, for instance, have been trying to strike a delicate balance of staying in contention while having less to spend on players than the front office may have once anticipated.

That’s obviously a disadvantage compared to some big-market clubs, many of whom are co-owners in RSNs which are relatively healthy in larger population areas. In July of 2024, it was reported that the league and the MLB Players Association had agreed to redirect some competitive balance tax money to teams impacted by the television situation. This week’s reporting indicates that arrangement was for 2024 alone. There was no such deal in place for 2025 and there’s currently nothing lined up for 2026 either.

“The clubs have control over the timing,” Manfred said this week. “They can make a decision to move to MLB Media because of the contractual status now. I think that what’s happening right now clubs are evaluating their alternatives. Obviously they’ve made significant payroll commitments already and they’re evaluating the alternatives to find the best revenue source for the year and the best outlet in terms of providing quality broadcasts to their fans.”

With this situation and other disruptive developments in terms of MLB’s broadcast landscape, the league’s preference has been to not sign any new contracts that go beyond the 2028 season. It has been reported that many of MLB’s broadcast deals expire after that season. Manfred hopes to put together a league-wide streaming service with no blackouts and/or have a big auction of rights to various games, with multiple broadcasters bidding against each other.

A mini version of this happened recently when MLB’s deal with ESPN fell apart. The league then split up ESPN’s previous package, selling some of it back to ESPN along with other elements. Netflix bought the rights to Opening Day, the Home Run Derby and some other special events. NBC/Peacock bought Sunday Night Baseball and the Wild Card round from 2026 to 2028, as well as other events. ESPN acquired the local rights for the Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Guardians and Twins as part of their new deal.

All of this figures to hang over the upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations. The current CBA expires after the 2026 season. Another lockout, like the one in 2021-22, is widely expected. Manfred has essentially admitted that one will occur by speaking positively about the lockout process.

Whether that lockout extends long enough to cancel games in 2027 remains to be seen. The players and the union are already concerned by a lack of spending from some clubs and the RSN situation will likely only exacerbate that. Some of the impacted clubs would likely welcome more revenue sharing but the bigger clubs wouldn’t be as keen on that. The owners are expected to push for a salary cap but the players are strongly opposed to that.

Manfred has made plenty of unpopular moves in his time as commissioner but he can currently point to a legacy that includes no games missed due to labor strife. Baseball’s popularity is also on the rise, despite the aforementioned TV disruption. Game Seven of the 2025 World Series was the most-watched game around the world since 1991. The uptick in ratings and attendance has been attributed by many to recent rule changes, particularly the pitch clock.

Disrupting the 2027 season would impact that legacy and also cut into baseball’s recent surge, which would be inopportune timing with the aforementioned future broadcast plans. Manfred is signed through 2029 and does not plan to seek another term after that.

Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images

Nationals Release Sauryn Lao To Pursue Opportunity In Japan

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The Nationals announced today that right-hander Sauryn Lao has been released to pursue an opportunity in Japan. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 39. Mike Rodriguez reported last month that Lao had agreed to a deal with the Nippon-Ham Fighters of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Per Rodriguez, that deal is for one guaranteed year with a club option for 2027 and could end up paying more than $3MM.

Lao, 26, landed with the Nats via waivers in September. He had made his major league debut with the Mariners earlier in 2025. Between the two clubs, he tossed 11 innings, allowing six earned runs while striking out nine opponents.

He began his professional career as an international signing of the Dodgers back in 2015. Initially an infielder, he couldn’t hit enough to get beyond the High-A level, so the Dodgers put him on the mound in 2023. He showed some encouraging results for a couple of years but didn’t get a roster spot. He became a minor league free agent after 2024 and landed a minor league deal with the Mariners.

His track record in the majors is obviously still quite limited but his results in the minors have been good. He tossed 74 2/3 Triple-A innings last year over 25 appearances. 19 of those were technically starts, though mostly in the range of two to four innings. He allowed 3.01 earned runs per nine with a 24.7% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate, both solid figures.

Despite the solid numbers, his path to regular big league playing time would have been a bit challenging. He has two option years, meaning he could be sent to the minors regularly for another two years. Even if he carved out a regular role in the bigs, he only has 24 days of big league service time, meaning he would be three years away from an arbitration raise.

Taking the opportunity to go overseas gives him a better chance to pitch on a big stage and bank some notable earnings in the next few years. Since he’s still in his mid-20s, perhaps he can try to return to North American ball in a few years if he has some success overseas.

For the Nats, they are losing an arm they liked enough to grab from the waiver wire. However, clubs generally don’t stand in the way of players pursuing such opportunities in other leagues. The front office has also been overhauled since the claim of Lao, so it’s entirely possible the new regime was less attached to him than the previous one. The Nats will likely receive a nominal release fee from the Fighters.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

18 Players Exchange Filing Figures

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Teams and arbitration-eligible players had until 7:00 pm Central to agree to terms or exchange filing figures. The vast majority agreed to salaries, either this afternoon or before November’s non-tender deadline to ensure they were offered contracts at all.

There were 18 cases where team and player did not align — none bigger than the record $13MM gap between the Tigers and Tarik Skubal. Nothing formally prevents players and teams from continuing negotiations. However, virtually every team takes a “file-and-trial” approach to the process. Clubs will mostly refuse to continue talks about one-year deals after this date. They’ll often make exceptions for discussions involving multi-year contracts or one-year deals with a club/mutual option. It’s unlikely that all of these players will end up getting to a hearing, but the majority probably will.

If the sides go to a hearing, a three-person arbitration panel will either choose the player’s or the team’s filing figure. (Hearings will run between January 26 and February 13.) The arbitrators cannot pick a midpoint. That’s designed to prevent the parties from anchoring by filing at extremely high or low figures. Teams’ preferences for the file-and-trial approach follows a similar logic. The idea is to deter players from submitting a higher number from which they could continue to negotiate until the hearing begins.

Unless otherwise noted, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com and ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported all filing figures for those who didn’t reach agreements. The list of players who could go to a hearing this winter (service time in parentheses):

Angels

  • Reid Detmers (3.159): Filed at $2.925MM, team filed at $2.625MM

Astros

  • Isaac Paredes (4.160): Filed at $9.95MM, team filed at $8.75MM
  • Yainer Diaz (3.035): Filed at $4.5MM, team filed at $3MM

Blue Jays

  • Eric Lauer (5.091): Filed at $5.75MM, team filed at $4.4MM (first reported by Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet)

Braves

  • Dylan Lee (3.150): Filed at $2.2MM, team filed at $2MM

Brewers

Marlins

Mariners

  • Bryce Miller (2.153): Filed at $2.625MM, team filed at $2.25MM

Nationals

Orioles

  • Keegan Akin (5.083): Filed at $3.375MM, team filed at $2.975MM
  • Kyle Bradish (3.160): Filed at $3.55MM, team filed at $2.875MM

Rays

  • Edwin Uceta (2.150): Filed at $1.525MM, team filed at $1.2MM

Reds

Royals

Tigers

Twins

  • Joe Ryan (4.033): Filed at $6.35MM, team filed at $5.85MM

Nationals Claim Joey Wiemer

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The Nationals have claimed outfielder Joey Wiemer off waivers from the Giants, reports Robert Murray of Fansided. San Francisco designated Wiemer for assignment last month in order to open a roster spot for newly signed reliever Jason Foley.

Wiemer, 27 next month, was a fourth-round pick by the Brewers in 2020 and previously drew some top-100 fanfare back in 2022-23. His stock has since dipped as he’s bounced from Milwaukee to Cincinnati to Kansas City via the trade market, and now from Miami to San Francisco following a pair of DFAs.

In parts of three big league seasons, Wiemer carries a tepid .205/.279/.359 batting line with a strikeout rate just under 30%. That said, he popped 13 homers and swiped 11 bags as a rookie in 2023 and has held his own against lefties in the majors, hitting .255/.298/.484. It’s a power-over-OBP skill set, but Wiemer can play all three outfield spots and has a solid glove. He’s drawn positive marks in left, center and right in his career, drawing 11 Defensive Runs Saved and 7 Outs Above Average overall.

Wiemer is out of minor league options, so he’ll need to stay on Washington’s 40-man roster for the rest of the offseason and break camp with the team or else be designated for assignment once again. He can’t be sent to the minors without first passing through waivers.

For now, he projects as a possible bench option who could provide a righty-swinging complement to outfielders like James Wood, Daylen Lile and Robert Hassell III — although it’s also possible that the acquisition of Wiemer bumps Hassell back down to Triple-A. Hassell, unlike Wiemer, has minor league options remaining. A return trip to Triple-A Rochester could afford him everyday at-bats as he hopes to carve out a larger role on the big league club.

The Nationals’ Closer Options

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The swap of Jose A. Ferrer for Harry Ford brought the Nationals their potential catcher of the future. It also left an already-thin bullpen without a clear closer for the upcoming season. The rebuilding club is unlikely to pursue an impact reliever in free agency. If they make a move, it’ll likely be finding a cheap veteran with closing experience in the hopes of flipping them at the trade deadline after a few months of decent production.

The Nationals ranked dead last in bullpen ERA by a significant margin in 2025. The team was 0.4 runs worse than the next-closest team (Colorado). Washington has been able to rely on Kyle Finnegan for the past few seasons. The righty threaded the needle of being capable of holding down the job, while not being talented enough to leave via trade or free agency. He fell back into the Nats’ lap in late February after garnering minimal interest on the open market. Washington moved him to Detroit at the trade deadline.

The Finnegan trade led to the emergence of Ferrer, who earned 11 saves over the final two months of the season. The hard-throwing lefty’s overall numbers weren’t amazing, but a 3.24 SIERA and a 3.43 xFIP suggested the best was yet to come. Ferrer will now join Seattle’s elite bullpen.

Washington has a new general manager and a first-time skipper. It’s the perfect time to unearth a stud reliever out of a rag-tag mix of arms. So who could the closer-in-waiting be?

Cole Henry

After multiple years as one of the organization’s top pitching prospects, Henry moved to a relief role in 2025. Persistent injury issues kept the 2020 second-round pick from putting it all together as a starter. Henry opened the season in the minors, but was quickly promoted to the big-league club. He slowly worked his way into a high-leverage role. The righty finished the season with 10 holds, which ranked behind only Ferrer. He also notched a pair of saves.

Henry has the fastball to be a closer. The 26-year-old’s four-seamer sits in the mid-90s with well-above-average arm-side movement. The pitch held hitters to a .191 batting average and recorded a +4 Run Value. Henry’s curveball is a decent complement, with its solid whiff rate and tight shape. As a former starter, Henry unsurprisingly used a deep pitch mix, but his sinker, cutter, and changeup were unremarkable. The key will be narrowing down an arsenal he can throw for strikes. Henry had a 13.3% walk rate, which ranked in the second percentile. He posted a miserable 85 Location+.

Clayton Beeter

If the season started today, Beeter would likely draw the 9th-inning assignment. He finished just behind Henry with nine holds and also chipped in a save. Beeter closed the season with a save and five holds over his final seven appearances. Interim manager Miguel Cairo leaned on him when Ferrer faltered down the stretch. He’s another former starter who recently made the move to the bullpen.

Beeter has the strikeout numbers of an elite reliever. After multiple minor league seasons with a strikeout rate above 35%, he’s continued to punch out hitters in the majors. Beeter has a 31.9% strikeout rate across 29 MLB innings over the past two years. It’s a straightforward repertoire, just an upper-90s fastball and a hard slider. Beeter’s slider had a massive 49.1% whiff rate last season. It was responsible for 29 of his 33 strikeouts. Beeter had a 2.97 xFIP with the Nats, so his 2.49 ERA seems somewhat legit. If there’s an internal option who could rack up 15 saves and be on the move in late July, it’s probably Beeter.

PJ Poulin or Konnor Pilkington

Washington only has two left-handed relievers on the 40-man roster, so while Poulin and Pilkington are locked into MLB roles, neither is likely to be reserved for the 9th inning. A free agent addition of the southpaw variety would probably be the only way for one of them to step into the gig. If that happens, there’s a route toward Poulin or Pilkington vying for the job.

Poulin would be a non-traditional pick, even as lefties go. His heater barely cracks 90 mph, and he walks too many hitters for a soft-tosser. But, he did compile a 2.10 ERA across Double-A and Triple-A in Detroit’s system in 2024. He had multiple stops with big strikeout numbers, including a 33.7% strikeout rate with Triple-A Toledo before getting claimed by the Nats.

Pilkington’s velocity jumped up in the Nats’ bullpen compared to his days as a starter with the Guardians. He was sitting above 94 mph as a reliever this past year. Pilkington missed bats at an above-average rate, but walked too many and was barreled too frequently.

Marquis Grissom Jr.

Grissom has steadily worked his way up Washington’s system, reaching Triple-A this past season. While he stumbled with Rochester, there’s enough of a minor league track record to believe Grissom could make an impact with the big-league club. He posted a 2.21 ERA across two minor league levels in 2024. That earned Grissom an invite to MLB Spring Training in 2025. He also played in the Futures Game this past year, where he went up against his dad (who was managing the AL team). Grissom has totaled 27 saves in the minors over the past three seasons. The fact that he isn’t on the 40-man roster hurts his chances, but the club doesn’t have many obvious impact relievers in the minors.

Brad Lord

A team bereft of reliable starters outside of MacKenzie Gore probably can’t afford to keep Lord in the bullpen, though his stuff is enticing there. Lord scooped up seven holds in a hybrid role last season. He was sitting at 96 mph at times as a reliever. Lord put together a two-month stretch from mid-May to mid-July with a 2.70 ERA and a 23.5% strikeout rate over 26 relief appearances. He doesn’t have a clear answer for lefties (which will be a problem as a starter), but the fastball/sinker/slider combo could play with the velocity bump out of the bullpen.

Nationals To Sign Matt Mervis To Minor League Deal

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The Nationals and first baseman Matt Mervis have agreed to a minor league deal with an invite to big league camp in spring training. Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported that Mervis and the Nats had a deal in place. Andrew Golden of The Washington Post specified that it was a minor league deal with a camp invite.

Mervis, 28 in April, hasn’t found much major league success yet. He has appeared in 78 big league games over the past three seasons, stepping to the plate 261 times split between the Cubs and Marlins. He hit ten home runs in that time but also had a subpar 7.7% walk rate and an awful 34.5% strikeout rate. He currently sports a career batting line of .165/.238/.322.

That lack of offense is deadly for his viability. He is one of the slowest players in the majors and can only play first base. He needs to hit to provide value.

The reason he has been given a few major league chances is because his minor league production is vastly superior to what he’s done in the big leagues. He first gained attention as a minor leaguer with the Cubs in 2022. That year, he went from High-A to Double-A and Triple-A, hitting 36 homers on the year.

Since then, even as he has floundered in the majors, he has continued hitting fairly well on the farm. From 2023 to 2025, he has stepped to the plate 1,058 times at the Triple-A level with various clubs. His 25.8% strikeout rate in that time is still a bit high but far better than his big league work. He has also drawn walks at a strong 11.9% clip and hit 56 home runs. He has a combined .257/.354/.510 line and 112 wRC+ in that span, indicating he’s been 12% above league average.

The Cubs traded him to the Marlins last offseason. The Fish outrighted him off their 40-man in June and released him in August. He then landed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks but didn’t get called up down the stretch and became a minor league free agent at season’s end.

The Nats are a sensible landing spot for him. Not only was he born and raised in the D.C. area but the first base spot is fairly wide open in Washington. They had Nathaniel Lowe as their regular at that position this year but released him in August. They mostly used Josh Bell the rest of the way. He became a free agent after the season and subsequently signed with the Twins.

As of now, Washington’s top first basemen are Andrés Chaparro and Luis García Jr. Chaparro has a .203/.268/.358 batting line in 205 big league plate appearances. García has mostly been a second baseman in his career but his poor defensive grades might get him bumped to first, where he has only 16 big league innings of experience. Even if he can stick at first defensively, he probably doesn’t have the bat for the position, with a career .266/.299/.410 line and 93 wRC+.

With that situation, the Nats clearly need upgrades. Since they are rebuilding, they probably won’t make a big splash there. As spring training approaches, they could perhaps take a low-cost flier on a free agent, depending on who remains unsigned. Guys like Ty France, Rhys Hoskins, Dominic Smith, Carlos Santana, Rowdy Tellez or Justin Turner are some theoretical possibilities.

For now, they have added some non-roster depth. They signed Warming Bernabel to a minor league deal not too long ago and have now brought Mervis into the fold as well. If Mervis can earn a roster spot, he still has an option season remaining and also has less than a year of service time. If he finally clicks in the majors with his hometown team, he can be cheaply retained into the foreseeable future.

Photo courtesy of Stephen Brashear, Imagn Images

Nationals Hire Shawn O’Malley As Assistant Hitting Coach

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The Nationals announced their full 2026 coaching staff this afternoon. The only new development is the hiring of Shawn O’Malley as one of two assistant hitting coaches. Andrew Aydt’s hiring in that role was reported in November, while the Nats hired lead hitting coach Matt Borgschulte shortly before the Winter Meetings.

O’Malley joins a major league staff for the first time. The 37-year-old had a three-year playing career in the big leagues, appearing in 124 games from 2014-16. A switch-hitting utility player, O’Malley spent parts of 13 seasons in the minors. He was playing professionally through 2019 before moving into the coaching ranks. A Washington native and former Mariner player, O’Malley joined the Seattle organization as a minor league hitting instructor. He worked his way up from High-A to the Triple-A level by 2024.

Blake Butera is entering his first season as Washington’s manager. The rest of his staff is as follows: bench coach Michael Johns, pitching coach Simon Mathews, assistant pitching coach Sean Doolittle, bullpen coach Dustin Glant, base coaches Corey Ray and Victor Estevez, field coordinator Tyler Smarslok, catching coach Bobby Wilson, and development coach Grant Anders.

Nationals Sign Foster Griffin

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December 22nd: The Nats announced the Griffin signing today.

December 16th: The Nationals are going to sign left-hander Foster Griffin, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. It’ll be a one-year, $5.5MM contract with another $1MM in incentives for the Excel Sports Management client. The Nats have 40-man vacancies and won’t need to make a corresponding move.

Foster GriffinGriffin, now 30, got some brief major league action a few years ago. He made seven appearances, split between the Royals and Blue Jays, over the 2020 and 2022 seasons. He has spent the past three years in Japan, pitching for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball, with great success.

He tossed 315 2/3 innings over those three campaigns, allowing 2.57 earned runs per nine. He struck out 25.1% of batters faced, only gave out walks to 5.1% of opponents and kept about half of balls in play on the ground. In 2025, a leg injury limited him to just 78 innings but it was his best season in terms of run prevention. He posted a 1.62 ERA with a 25.1% strikeout rate, 5.9% walk rate and 48.9% grounder rate.

Despite the solid numbers, there are some questions about whether how his stuff will translate to North American ball. Griffin’s fastball only sits in the low 90s, fairly soft by modern standards. He succeeds with a deep arsenal which also includes a slider, cutter, changeup, splitter, curveball and two-seamer.

It has been a relatively busy winter in terms of guys returning to North America after stints overseas. Cody Ponce got $30MM over three years from the Blue Jays. The White Sox gave Anthony Kay $12MM over two years. Drew Anderson got one year and $7MM from the Tigers and Ryan Weiss got one year and $2.6MM from the Astros. All pitchers have had some success in Japan or South Korea but the price differences are likely down to the stuff. Ponce is 6’6″ and 255 pounds with a fastball that averages in the upper 90s with a splitter/kick change that is considered a plus pitch. Griffin isn’t tiny, as he’s listed at 6’3″ and 225 lbs., but his crafty, soft-tossing lefty profile is obviously different than that of Ponce.

It’s still an intriguing package. Recent reporting indicated teams were showing interest in Griffin and that he was putting a priority on an opportunity to prove himself in a rotation. Washington is a good landing spot for him in that regard.

The Nats have been rebuilding for years but have struggled to return to contention. The slow progress prompted major changes, as the club has overhauled almost the entire front office and coaching staff in the past few months. It’s expected that the new regime, led by president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, will be focused on long-term goals. They are one of the clubs best suited to take a chance on an unproven arm like Griffin.

As of right now, the Washington rotation consists of guys like MacKenzie Gore, Cade Cavalli, Josiah Gray, Brad Lord, Griff McGarry, Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker and others. Gore is just two years away from free agency and is widely expected to be traded this offseason. Cavalli and Gray haven’t pitched much in recent years due to Tommy John surgery. Lord had decent results as a swingman in 2025. McGarry is a Rule 5 pick with no major league experience yet. Irvin and Parker have each logged over 300 big league innings but they each posted an ERA near 6.00 this year.

In short, there’s very little locked into place in the Washington rotation, meaning Griffin should have a shot to hold down a spot. If he succeeds for the first few months of the season, he will likely end up on the trade block, allowing the Nats to potentially bring back more young talent for their rebuild. If it doesn’t work out, it’s a fairly modest bet from the team’s perspective, though it’s a huge amount of money for Griffin himself.

Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Raj Mehta, Imagn Images

Nationals To Sign Warming Bernabel To Minor League Deal

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The Nationals and infielder Warming Bernabel have reportedly agree to a minor league deal. Reporter Mike Rodriguez was first on the pact, which also includes an invite to big league camp in spring training.

Bernabel, 24 in June, joins a new organization for the first time in his career. The Rockies signed him out of the Dominican Republic as an international amateur and he spent his entire career with them until he became a free agent earlier this month.

As he climbed the minor league ladder, he put up big offensive numbers in the lower levels, though mostly with a contact-based approach. By the end of 2022, he had climbed as high as High-A and taken 830 trips to the plate in his minor league career. He only struck out 13.4% of the time but also only drew walks at a 7.1% clip. This led to a combined line of .295/.355/.470 and a 115 wRC+.

But the approach has been less effective at the upper levels. From 2023 to 2025, he slashed .265/.308/.385 in the minors for an 84 wRC+. The Rockies also gave him 146 big league plate appearances, with Bernabel slashing .252/.288/.410 for a 78 wRC+. He was outrighted off the roster a couple of weeks ago and was able to elect free agency.

For the Nats, there’s little harm on a minor league deal. Bernabel is still quite young and won’t take up a roster spot for now. If he gets in a good place and earns one, he still has a couple of option seasons. He also has less than a year of service time, so he could be controlled for years to come if he plays his way into the club’s long-term plans.

Bernabel has experience at both infield corners and the Nats don’t really have long-term solutions for either spot. Brady House was the 11th overall pick in 2021 and was once viewed as the third baseman of the future in Washington, but he has a .234/.252/.322 line in his first 274 plate appearances.

At first base, the club traded for Nathaniel Lowe a year ago but gave up on him in August. Josh Bell took most of the playing time down the stretch but became a free agent and has since signed with the Twins. Players like Andrés Chaparro and Luis García Jr. are candidates there but they can play other positions, so it’s fairly wide open. The Nats might make some more moves between now and Opening Day but there’s currently a path for Bernabel to hit his way onto the roster if he takes a step forward.

Photo courtesy of Christopher Hanewinckel, Imagn Images

Nationals To Hire Anirudh Kilambi As General Manager

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The Nationals are going to hire Anirudh Kilambi as general manager, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. Kilambi, who had been with the Phillies as an assistant general manager, will be the second-in-command in the Washington front office under president of baseball operations Paul Toboni.

Kilambi, 31, began working for the Rays back in 2015 when he was in his early 20s. He worked his way up that organization to the position of assistant director of baseball research and development. In November of 2021, the Phillies hired him as assistant general manager when he was just 27 years old.

The Nationals have been busy overhauling their franchise. Their recent rebuild wasn’t showing enough progress, so president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez were fired midseason. Toboni and Blake Butera have since been hired to take on those roles and Butera has also made a number of coaching changes. Since Toboni was hired, it has been reported that he would eventually hire a GM to be his top lieutenant, with Kilambi now tapped for the gig.

A key feature of the new regime has been youth. Toboni is 35 years old and Butera 33. New pitching coach Simon Mathews is 30. New first base coach Corey Ray is 31, as is Kilambi. “That wasn’t on purpose,” Butera recently said of the youth of his staff, per Andrew Golden of The Washington Post. “We weren’t trying to get young staff. Someone made a joke like, ’Did you tell Paul when you got hired that the staff has to be under 40 years old?’ You might not believe me, but no.”

While the Nats are surely looking at attributes other than age, it does make for an interesting symbol of the changing of the guard. Many in the industry viewed the Nats as behind the curve when it came to data and analytics as the front office was run by Rizzo, who is now 65 years old. Kilambi has a strong research and development background and is the latest injection of fresh blood as the Nats try to charge forward into what they hope is a bright future.

Photo courtesy of Brad Mills, Imagn Images

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