Pitchers and catchers report to camp tomorrow, and the Washington Nationals roster still feels painfully incomplete. Even for a team that does not have serious playoff aspirations, there are still holes
that need to be filled. The team lacks veteran leaders and proven commodities. Hopefully new President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni can do something to fix that as the offseason winds down.
For his part, Toboni has acknowledged that the team needs more additions. In interviews from the past couple of weeks, Toboni said that the team is not set heading to West Palm Beach and that the team is actively looking for pitching help. However, no deals have materialized since then, besides waiver wire action.
Hopefully Toboni sticks to his word because he is right that the team is not complete. In fact, they are far from it. The Nats have as many holes as Swiss Cheese right now. There are question marks at first base, DH, the rotation and in the bullpen. You can have internal competitions at some of those spots, but it would be unsettling to do it at all of those positions.
The Nats are not going to be a good team this year, but fans still want to see a respectable product on the field. Right now, it does not seem like there is a serious effort to do that. The only free agent signing Paul Toboni has made is the $5.5 million addition of Foster Griffin, who has spent the last three years in Japan.
The Nats have not signed a player to a big league contract that actually played in the big leagues last year. Even in a rebuilding year, that is unacceptable. It is something Toboni needs to fix, for the sake of the fans if nothing else.
Most of the high profile free agents are off the board, but that is okay because the Nats were never fishing in that pool. However, there are still some solid free agents available that could be in the Nats price range. Some names to watch could be Rhys Hoskins and former Nats draft pick Lucas Giolito.
The Nats need reliability at first base and in the rotation. Giolito and Hoskins are veteran presences who can provide that. While the underlying numbers suggest Giolito’s 3.41 ERA from last year is not sustainable, he should still be able to provide league average production which the Nats desperately need in their rotation.
Other starters they could turn to for that include Nick Martinez, Chris Bassitt and Zack Littell. Zac Gallen is also on the market, but Toboni is likely to stay away from him due to his price tag and the qualifying offer attached to him. Toboni does not seem like he is in the business of giving away draft picks.
Another area that could use a boost is the bullpen. The Nats had the worst bullpen in all of baseball last year and it got worse on paper over the offseason. Toboni traded away Jose A. Ferrer, the Nats most promising reliever. It was a deal I liked, but it still weakens the bullpen. The Nats are projected to have the worst bullpen in baseball again in 2026.
The free agent options are slim, but there are still some names available. Michael Kopech could be an interesting flier to take. He has injury issues, but also possesses huge upside. If the Nats wanted a safer option, veteran lefties Danny Coulombe or Jalen Beeks could be options.
I am not expecting any massive additions, but are a couple stabilizing additions too much to ask for? With this pitching staff, the Nats are really running the risk of bottoming out and losing 100+ games. Even in a rebuild, that is not something you want to do, especially with a draft lottery in place.
A few veterans would help the young guys develop and keep the fans engaged. Speaking of the fans, how about an addition of Max Scherzer? I know that would fire me up and he would be such a great leader for this young team. Both the Nats and Scherzer have reasons to not be interested in each other, but it would be a ton of fun.
Pitchers and catchers report tomorrow and the Nats roster just feels so unfinished. Can you really roll out there with this rotation, Abimelec Ortiz or Matt Mervis at first base, and this no name bullpen? It just feels like you would be asking for trouble. I guess we are going to find out based on what Paul Toboni does in the coming days and weeks.
