The 2026 MLB season has officially ended. Congratulations to the Milwaukee Brewers on their first ever World Series title. However, baseball never stops, and teams will start attacking the offseason right away. Of course, the Washington Nationals are one of those teams. I wanted to take a look at the state of the 40-man roster as the offseason begins.
First, I wanted to look at some important dates. As of 9 AM today, players on the last year of their contracts are officially free agents. However,
they are not allowed to sign with a new team until November 2nd at 5 PM. Of course, December 2nd is another important day because that is when the collective bargaining agreement expires. For more key dates, here is a list of them.
With the Nationals being such a young team, they do not have any free agents. The ones that were on the roster this season were either traded or cut. That means the Nats have a very crowded 40-man roster heading into this offseason. Paul Toboni will have a lot of decisions to make here.
Including players currently on the 60-Day IL, the Nats have 45 players on the 40-Man roster. When the 60-Day IL guys come off early this offseason, there will be choices to make right away. The players currently on the 60-Day IL are Mitchell Parker, Ken Waldichuk, PJ Poulin, Matt Waldron and Drew Millas. Several of those guys are DFA candidates, so we will see which ones get added back.
I would expect to see several smaller roster moves over the next few days. When it comes to DFA candidates on the pitching side of things, there is no shortage of options for Paul Toboni. I could see the Nats making moves on Zak Kent, Kyle Nicolas, Paxton Schultz, Jared Simpson and Gus Varland. There are also more names that could be on the chopping block.
Entering the offseason, Paul Toboni will want as much flexibility as possible. We know he is active on the waiver wire, so having open 40-man spots is key. There are also several Rule-5 draft protection decisions to make. Travis Sykora and Jarlin Susana are must-protect guys, so those are two more spots you need open on the 40-man. The likes of Cayden Wallace, Alejandro Rosario and Maxwell Romero are other guys you could consider adding.
There is a lot to sort out on this 40-man roster, and I think it could look very different in the coming weeks. Of course, if you want to sign a free agent, that player will also need to take a spot. Once the lockout starts, the 40-man is frozen, but between now and then I think we will see a ton of movement.
Another thing to consider is the non-tender decisions. We talked about Jake Irvin as a potential non-tender candidate yesterday. However, the Nats have 7 other arbitration eligible players and there are some interesting decisions. Jake Bird, Mitchell Parker, Ken Waldichuk and Richard Lovelady are some other names I could see being non-tendered.
With no free agents coming off the books, the Nats have a uniquely crowded 40-man roster to sort through right now. There will probably be double-digit changes between now and December 2nd. Most of those will be on the pitching side, but I do not think the position player group will be totally spared.
Jose Tena and Drew Millas are the two likeliest candidates to go. Neither had a great season and there are players in the minors who can take their jobs. I think Maxwell Romero will be the Nats third catcher in 2027, while Cayden Wallace could take reps from Tena.
Overall, the 40-man roster movement will be something to monitor as we enter the offseason. With the lockout on the horizon, I could see teams being very busy to get their rosters in the best position possible before they freeze. We know Paul Toboni is an active GM, and I think he will make a lot of moves this next month.
