The MLB offseason is officially here, and November 2nd is one of the first big days on the calendar. Due to how the rules work, we could see a lot of minor moves today, and we know how much Paul Toboni loves that. Players are not allowed to be stashed on the 60-day IL for the offseason, so all 40-man rosters actually have to be cut to 40 today by 5 PM.
For the Nats, that means moves will have to be made. Right now, there are five players on the 60-day IL who either need to be DFA’d or re-added to the 40-man. Those players are Mitchell Parker, PJ Poulin, Ken Waldichuk, Matt Waldron and Drew Millas. Several of those guys are likely to be DFA’d, but we won’t know for sure until later in the day.
The Nats are not the only team dealing with this situation. In San Francisco, Buster Posey has a busy day on his hands. As of October 29th, the Giants had 56 players on their 40-man roster. They had a lot of players go on the 60-day IL, but now they will have to trim that roster back down.
Paul Toboni is clearly monitoring that situation. In fact, he has already acquired two players from the Giants. First, he claimed RHP Braxton Roxby off waivers a few days ago. Then, he made a minor trade for second baseman Nate Furman, a speedy, contact oriented infielder. In that deal, the Nats gave up Tony Neubeck, who was an undrafted free agent in 2026. To clear space on the 40-man roster, the Nats DFA’d Richard Lovelady.
I could see Toboni and Ani Kilambi making more moves like this in the coming hours. They clearly like to churn through the back end of the 40-man roster in an attempt to find hidden gems. The results have been mixed so far, but Curtis Mead was a notable success story. There are going to be a lot of players DFA’d today, and I think the Nats will be keeping a close eye on the waiver wire.
The next month should be a hectic one across the league. Unless a deal is miraculously made, the CBA will expire in a month. Once that happens, teams will not be allowed to make any moves. That could mean we see a lot of blockbuster moves made in November. I also think we will see a ton of smaller moves as well. Executives will want as optimal of a 40-man roster as possible.
There are a number of key dates that are coming up. The GM and owner meetings are in the next couple of weeks. After that, the non-tender deadline is on November 20th. Paul Toboni is going to have quite a busy month.
Overall, this will be a busy day around the league. However, I think the Nats will be one of the busier teams. We could see a couple surprise DFA’s or some minor deals like the Furman one. This new regime loves optimizing the back of the 40-man roster, so today probably feels like a holiday for Paul Toboni, Ani Kilambi and the rest of the front office. Let’s see what goes down in the coming hours.
