Over the last few days, there have been a few pieces of Nationals news I wanted to catch up on. There has been a minor league signing, some staff hirings and a player on the 40-man roster left for Japan. None of these news items are earth shattering, but they could play a role in how the Nats 2026 season goes.
First, I want to talk about the Nats minor league signing. The Nats signed the uniquely named Warming Bernabel to a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite. At just 23 years old, he is
on the younger side for an MILB free agent pickup. Bernabel also has some big league experience with the Rockies.
Bernabel, who plays first base and third base, will come to Spring Training looking to win a job. He actually played 40 MLB games, where he hit .252, with a respectable .698 OPS. Like most Rockies players, he was much better at Coors Field, but he was an extreme example. Bernabel hit .338 with a .899 OPS at home, while hitting .169 with a .502 OPS on the road.
While a lot of people talk about how it is easier for hitters to put up big numbers in Colorado, and that is true, it also tends to hurt their road production. Being at high altitude gets you used to pitches being less nasty due to the thin air. While the Coors effect is real, the rocky road effect is also a thing.
Bernabel is likely to be minor league depth, but there is a chance that he gets some run at some point this season. He makes a ton of contact and knows how to pull the ball in the air. The plate discipline and raw power is a bit of a problem though.
On the other side of the coin, the Nats have a player leaving the organization. Mike DeBartolo picked up Sauryn Lao off of waivers, and he made a couple appearances for the Nats down the stretch. However, it looks like the right hander will be going to Japan to sign with Nippon Ham Fighters.
This just makes an already thin bullpen even thinner. There is now one less arm to turn to in the bullpen. It was unclear if Lao was going to make the Opening Day roster, but he was likely to have to throw some innings at some point in the season.
Lao leaving just makes bullpen additions even more needed. I am interested to see what Paul Toboni does with the bullpen. So far, the Nats have lost two relievers in Lao and Jose A. Ferrer, but they have not brought anyone in. They need help in the bullpen badly and it is only a matter of time before Toboni brings in reinforcements.
Lastly, there has been a steady trickle of staffing hires over the past week. The most notable one was the Nats hiring Chris O’Neill to be the Low-A manager. That Low-A team is going to have a lot of prospects coming through it, so it is important to have a good manager down there.
O’Neill is very familiar with the DC area, coaching at George Washington for a few years. This past year, O’Neill was an assistant coach at VCU. The Nats have hired a few coaches from the college ranks so far. It is very interesting to follow these minor league coaching hires because they will be doing so much of the development.
Another interesting hire was Justin Simanek, who will be a minor league pitching coach. Like so many of these Nats hires, Simanek is super young. He is a 28 year old who founded a pitching lab down in Mississippi three years ago. Simanek will be part of this crazy new project the Nats are embarking on.
After the Nats picked up Foster Griffin, there were no massive pieces of news. However, there was some interesting stuff that could become important down the road. It is a fascinating time to be a Nats fan and even the minor moves have some intrigue to them.
