The Nationals’ No. 1 need this offseason is no secret. They need a power bat, ideally at first base but potentially at another position if there’s a good match.

This team ranked last in the National League with 135 home runs. It ranked second-to-last in home runs by first basemen with 14. The only returning candidates to play that position are Juan Yepez and Andres Chaparro, who combined for 10 homers over 381 plate appearances.

If they want to put forth a more productive lineup next season, it’s the obvious upgrade that must occur this winter.

To date, they haven’t upgraded at first base. Nor have they upgraded at any position so far during an awfully quiet offseason. The good news: Nobody has.

Not a single free agent first baseman has signed anywhere yet. And the list includes a good number of prominent names just waiting to be courted and locked up.

It doesn’t take tremendous insight to figure out the Nationals’ No. 1 need this winter. They need to add power to a lineup that simply hasn’t had enough of that in recent years.

The Nats ranked 29th in the majors in home runs each of the last two seasons, and their total actually went down from 2023 (151) to 2024 (135). In today’s game, that simply won’t cut it. Six of baseball’s top-seven home run-hitting clubs made the playoffs this year, and none of the bottom six did.

Club officials do have hope for an increase in power production from several key young players, especially James Wood and Dylan Crews as they embark on their first full big league seasons. And if Brady House arrives as expected, the 2021 first round pick should provide some much needed slugging potential as well.

But make no mistake, the Nationals also have to acquire power from outside the organization this offseason. And that has to come from someone closer to the prime of his career than Joey Gallo, Eddie Rosario or Jesse Winker was upon their bargain-basement acquisitions last offseason.

If Mike Rizzo truly has the green light from ownership to pursue bigger name free agents, it stands to reason the longtime general manager will be making his pitch to a number of prominent sluggers seeking employment. And in a perfect world, the slugger the Nats wind up getting would play first base.

The Cardinals came to D.C. taking aim at becoming the second National League team to recover from a 0-2 deficit in a best-of-seven series and make the World Series. Instead, they dug themselves an even deeper hole. The Nationals, a win away from bringing the World Series to Washington for the first time since 1933, beat the Cardinals 8-1 in Game 3 on Monday night to take a three games to none lead in the NL Championship Series at wild and crazy Nationals Park. The 2004 Red Sox are the only team...