WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Kyle Finnegan was disappointed, but not resentful of the Nationals when they chose to non-tender him three months ago. He understood it was a business decision, and he always left the door open for a return.

So when the All-Star closer walked back through that familiar clubhouse door today after officially re-signing with the Nats, there was nothing but a wide smile on his face.

“They’re making decisions that are what they think are in the best interests, and that doesn’t mean they don’t want you back,” he said. “It’s kind of one of those things that it is what it is. When the non-tender happened, I didn’t have any animosity or anything. I knew they had the potential to be one of the teams in play. So you keep an open mind, and at the end of the day you make the decision that feels right for you and your family.”

For Finnegan, a chance to return to the Nationals for $6 million, even if that was about $2 million to $3 million less than he was likely to earn had they let him go through the arbitration process over the winter, was the right one.

He looked right at home this afternoon in the same clubhouse he called home each of the previous five springs, albeit in a new locker on the other side of the room because his old spot was taken. He’s still wearing his No. 67 jersey. He only had to introduce himself to a few new teammates and staff members. He already knew everyone else.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals officially announced the re-signing of Kyle Finnegan this afternoon, but to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for their returning closer they made the surprising decision to designate outfielder Stone Garrett for assignment.

Finnegan agreed to a one-year, $6 million contract Tuesday, ending a three-month saga that began with the Nats non-tendering the All-Star reliever but ultimately bringing him back at a lower salary than he would have received via the arbitration process. He’ll report to CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches today and begin to get himself ready to pitch in spring training games and reassume the club’s ninth-inning role heading into the season.

The Nationals had several options when it came to clearing a 40-man spot for Finnegan. They could have placed right-hander Cade Cavalli (who is not expected to pitch in the big leagues for several months) on the 60-day injured list, or they could have designated another pitcher for assignment.

In the end, they chose to cut a position player, one who was attempting to make it back to the majors full-time 18 months after suffering a gruesome injury.

Garrett was developing into a productive hitter for the Nats in the summer of 2023 before he attempted to make a leaping catch at the wall in Yankee Stadium in late-August and crumbled to the ground in agony, breaking his left fibula and tearing his ankle ligaments.

JUPITER, Fla. – Kyle Finnegan will be closing for the Nationals in 2025 after all.

Finnegan and the Nats have agreed on a one-year, $6 million contract, three months after the club chose to non-tender its All-Star closer, a source familiar with the deal confirmed. It’s a modest raise from his $5.1 million salary last year, but significantly less than the $8 million to $9 million he was projected to receive via the arbitration process.

The decision to non-tender Finnegan, 33, left the Nationals without an experienced closer, and though general manager Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez insisted they were comfortable with veteran right-hander Jorge López or young lefty Jose A. Ferrer pitching the ninth inning, the prospect of a reunion with Finnegan always loomed large.

It took until the final days of February, two weeks into spring training, for the two sides to finally find common financial ground. Finnegan, who was holding out for a better deal, never got one from either the Nationals or another major league club.

FanSided.com and ESPN.com were first to report the new contract and its terms.

JUPITER, Fla. – Despite what looked like a modest offseason, in terms of spending on free agents, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo believes the moves he did make will help boost a talented young roster into a more successful record this year.

“The (salaries) of the players on the field is about the same, if not a little less, than it was last year,” Rizzo said. “But I think that we have a better team than we had last year.”

Speaking at Major League Baseball’s Spring Training Media Day for the five clubs that train on Florida’s East Coast, Rizzo acknowledged the Nationals did not increase payroll from 2024 but stressed the importance of the additions he did make to address some obvious roster needs.

The Nats acquired seven major league players this offseason, six via free agency (Michael Soroka, Trevor Williams, Josh Bell, Jorge López, Amed Rosario, Shinnosuke Ogasawara) and one via trade (Nathaniel Lowe). Those seven players are set to make slightly less than $40 million this season, with Lowe, Williams and Ogasawara all under club control for another season and likely to make a combined $24 million or so in 2026.

Those additions, plus the salary increases of returning players, put the Nationals’ projected Opening Day payroll at $94 million, according to Spotrac. (More than $25 million of that is going to Stephen Strasburg, who has retired, and Joey Gallo, who received a $2.5 million buyout.) Last year’s total payroll, per Spotrac, was nearly $104 million.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – If the season began today, and the Nationals held a slim lead entering the ninth inning, who would emerge from the bullpen to close the game?

“Right now, I don’t try to think about it,” manager Davey Martinez said with a smile. “I think it’ll all shape up.”

The season doesn’t begin today, of course, and that’s probably a good thing because the Nats don’t have a complete handle on the eventual makeup of their Opening Day bullpen yet.

After non-tendering All-Star Kyle Finnegan following the season, the team has signed a couple of experienced free agents to modest contracts in right-hander Jorge López ($3 million) and left-hander Colin Poche (minor league deal). Those two join returning setup man Derek Law, promising young lefty Jose A. Ferrer, returning-from-injury Mason Thompson and inexperienced righties Eduardo Salazar, Zach Brzykcy, Orlando Ribalta and Evan Reifert in a relief corps that looks quite diminished on paper.

López is the only one in the group with anything resembling big-league closing experience, with 23 of his 31 career saves coming in 2022 with the Orioles and Twins. He is best suited in a setup role, perhaps sharing that job with always-available workhorse Law.

When the Nationals decided to non-tender All-Star closer Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey on Nov. 22, they were letting go the only two relief pitchers on their roster who had real major league experience in high-leverage end-of-game situations.

After a spectacular start to the season with a 1.98 ERA and 23 saves on July 4, Finnegan struggled after his first All-Star selection. Over his final 28 appearances, he pitched to a 5.93 ERA with only 15 saves in 17 chances. Although he finished third in the major leagues with 38 saves, his overall 3.68 ERA was the third-highest among relievers with 26 or more saves.

Nonetheless, the Nats’ decision to part ways with Finnegan, who at 33 was projected to make $8.6 million in his last year of arbitration eligibility by MLB Trade Rumors, was unexpected.

The choice to non-tender Rainey, however, was less surprising. The 32-year-old right-hander was still trying to rediscover his form after August 2022 Tommy John surgery. Although he pitched to a 2.14 ERA and 1.000 WHIP over the season’s final two months, his overall numbers of 4.76 and 1.490 weren’t encouraging enough for the Nats to hold onto the last remaining player from their 2019 championship roster for one more year.

So the Nats entered the thick of the Hot Stove Season in need of a closer. And here we are two days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to West Palm Beach where the question still stands: Who’s the closer?

It’s been a slow offseason, not only for the Nationals but across the sport. Though teams began to get more active before the holidays, hundreds of free agents remain unsigned as the calendar shifts to 2025.

This isn’t anything new; the market seems to get slower and slower each winter, with more and more players forced to wait until February (or even March) to find out where they’re going to play that season. And we could be headed down a similar path over the next two months.

We’ve talked about the players the Nats have added so far this offseason. We haven’t talked a lot about the players they lost. Most of them remained unsigned at this date, with Trevor Williams (who returned to the club on a new two-year deal last week) a notable exception.

Here’s a look at the seven other members of the 2024 Nationals who became free agents at season’s end, either because their contracts expired or the team decided to part ways with them …

JACOB BARNES
The veteran reliever became a free agent after going 8-3 with a 4.36 ERA in 63 games, serving in a variety of bullpen roles. Barnes, who turns 35 in April, hasn’t signed anywhere yet, with the market for relievers having yet to take off. The Nationals could show interest in bringing him back, though he may have to be willing to accept another minor league deal.

We’ve reached the final week of the year, so it’s time to look back at the Nationals’ most significant stories of 2024. We continue the series today by looking at the moves the Nats did and did not make at the trade deadline …

For much of a decade, the Nationals used the trade deadline to add to their major league roster in order to compete for a World Series championship. Of course, they reached that goal in 2019. But at the cost of their farm system.

In the years since, general manager Mike Rizzo has used the deadline to rebuild the farm system by trading major league talent for minor league prospects.

It started with Max Scherzer, Trea Turner and a host of others in 2021. Juan Soto and Josh Bell netted a historic return in 2022. And then Jeimer Candelario was used to acquire two more young players, one of whom played a big role in the starting rotation this year, in 2023.

But what about 2024?

Thanksgiving is four days away, officially kicking off the holiday season. It also may kick off a busier time for the Hot Stove season.

It has been predictably quiet around the league since the World Series ended a month ago. But we’re now two weeks away from the start of the Winter Meetings, with many around the industry already anticipating a busy week in Dallas.

No, that doesn’t mean they think Juan Soto will announce his decision. It’s more that they think some mid-to-upper-level free agents will come off the board and a couple of teams could execute some trades.

Where does that leave the Nationals?

Their free agent needs and targets have been well documented, while the free agent pool grew after Friday’s non-tender deadline. Their farm system is stacked if they wish to acquire major league talent through a trade. But could they go the opposite route and flip a current big leaguer for more prospects to add to their minor league depth?

Twenty-four hours ago, the Nationals’ most pressing roster needs appeared obvious. They needed a power-hitting first baseman. They needed a veteran starting pitcher. They needed an experienced reliever or two for a setup role. And maybe they needed another productive offensive player who could either hold or share the DH role with someone else.

And then just like that, they added another pressing need to the list: a closer.

Friday night’s unexpected decision not to tender a contract to Kyle Finnegan – fellow reliever Tanner Rainey also was non-tendered – created a major void in the Nats bullpen. Maybe Finnegan wasn’t an elite lockdown closer, but he ranked second in the National League in saves this season and over his five seasons in D.C. totaled 88 saves and 291 appearances, third-most in club history in each category.

Manager Davey Martinez’s remaining relief options boast nothing close to that kind of resume.

Derek Law, who was tendered a contract before Friday’s deadline, is a durable and reliable reliever, to be sure. But the 34-year-old has notched only 13 big league saves across parts of eight seasons with six different clubs. His value lies in his ability to take the ball as often as his manager needs him, which led to a whopping 75 appearances and 90 innings pitched this season. He actually pitches more regularly than a typical closer does.

The Nationals surprisingly parted ways with Kyle Finnegan tonight, choosing not to tender a contract to their All-Star closer four months after turning down trade offers for him.

The club also non-tendered reliever Tanner Rainey, the last remaining active member of the 2019 World Series roster, before this evening’s leaguewide 8 p.m. deadline.

Five other unsigned arbitration-eligible players were tendered contracts: Second baseman Luis García Jr., catcher Riley Adams, left-hander MacKenzie Gore and right-handers Josiah Gray and Derek Law. Reliever Mason Thompson, who missed the entire season following Tommy John surgery, already agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the team Thursday evening.

The decision to let Finnegan become a free agent with one year left of club control was unexpected, especially after general manager Mike Rizzo opted not to accept offers for him at the July 30 trade deadline while dealing setup men Hunter Harvey and Dylan Floro for prospects. In non-tendering him now, the Nationals receive nothing in return for a proven late-inning reliever who ranked second in the National League this season with 38 saves.

Finnegan’s late-season struggles, though, may have changed some club officials’ minds about him. Owner of a 1.98 ERA on July 4 (shortly before he was named an All-Star for the first time), he saw that number skyrocket to 5.93 over his final 28 appearances, leaving his season-ending mark a pedestrian 3.68. That marked four straight years in which he finished with an ERA between 3.51 and 3.76.

The Nationals have tendered contracts to all unsigned 40-man roster players with the exception of Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey.

Finnegan and Rainey are now free agents.

The 40-man roster is now at 36. 

There’s already been a good amount of roster turnover for the Nationals since season’s end, with multiple veterans becoming free agents and several other notable players dropped from the 40-man roster earlier this week.

As the offseason gets underway, there are now four open slots on that 40-man roster, slots that could go to free agent acquisitions or in-house prospects ready for promotion. And if more slots are needed, there are a handful of current players who could still be dropped to create space.

What do the Nats currently have? What do they still need? Let’s take a look at the organizational depth chart as currently constructed to get a better idea of the state of things, going position by position. Players on the 40-man roster are listed first, with some minor leaguers not yet on the 40-man listed below them with an asterisk next to their names …

CATCHER
Keibert Ruiz
Drew Millas
Riley Adams
Brady Lindsly*
Onix Vega*
Caleb Lomavita*
Kevin Bazzell*

Comment: Ruiz was deemed the Nationals’ long-term answer behind the plate two years ago when he signed his $50 million extension, but there will be pressure on him to show real improvement after a disappointing season. Millas and Adams were on the D.C.-to-Rochester-and-back shuttle all year, neither seizing the job. And now that he’s arbitration-eligible, Adams could be a non-tender candidate later this month. For the first time in club history, the Nats used high draft picks on catchers this summer, selecting both Lomavita and Bazzell. Neither is going to be big league ready in 2025, but both are worth keeping an eye on.

PLAYER REVIEW: KYLE FINNEGAN

Age on Opening Day 2025: 33

How acquired: Signed as free agent, December 2019

MLB service time: 5 years

2024 salary: $5.1 million

We've been doing these Opening Day media predictions for 15 years now, and I'm always grateful to my colleagues on the Nationals beat for their willingness to participate and subject themselves to the inevitable ridicule that follows.

And there's definitely some ridicule to be doled out as we look back at our 2024 predictions. (Hey, I'm just as guilty as anyone!) A lot of things did not play out this season as any of us thought they would back in late March. But we weren't completely wrong on every category. There actually were several spot-on predictions by several members of the beat, and they deserve credit for being right.

And with that, it's time for some accountability. Here's a look back at all of our Opening Day predictions, what we got right and what we did not get right ...

WHICH NATIONALS WILL BE SELECTED FOR THE ALL-STAR GAME?
Bobby Blanco (MASNsports.com) – CJ Abrams
Jessica Camerato (MLB.com) – CJ Abrams
Craig Heist (106.7 The Fan) – Josiah Gray, Keibert Ruiz
Chelsea Janes (Washington Post) – CJ Abrams
Andrew Golden (Washington Post) – MacKenzie Gore
Bill Ladson (MLB.com honorary) – Josiah Gray, Jake Irvin
Spencer Nusbaum (Washington Post) – MacKenzie Gore
Mark Zuckerman (MASNsports.com) – Kyle Finnegan

Correct answer: CJ Abrams was set to be the Nationals’ lone All-Star this year, the first selection of his career, after his outstanding first half. Then on the day before the Midsummer Classic, Kyle Finnegan was added to the National League roster to replace Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley, giving the Nats two All-Stars.

History will forever show the Nationals went 71-91 in 2024. Just as they did in 2023. It’s not a won-loss record anyone should remember fondly, and the fact it didn’t change from 12 months prior would suggest the team as a whole didn’t really improve at all from one year to the next. For a franchise three years into a roster rebuild, that could feel quite disheartening.

Do you think it’s fair, though, to evaluate this team primarily on its won-loss record? Presented with that question over the weekend, Davey Martinez had to think long and hard before finally settling on an answer.

“Um … no, I really don’t,” the longtime manager said. “We’ve had a lot of different things happen in the course of the year.”

Martinez went on to detail how much the Nationals’ roster changed from April to September, how the team that ended the season was one of the youngest in baseball, which offered plenty of promise but also lent itself to more losses down the stretch than anyone would have liked.

“I thought a lot this morning about where we’re at,” he said. “We had to make so many transitions.”

When Patrick Corbin signed a six-year, $140 million contract with the Nationals on Dec. 7, 2018, it was praised as yet another massive free agent signing to reinforce one of the best starting rotations in baseball.

The left-hander, who chose to sign with the Nats over a Yankees team he grew up rooting for, joined Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Aníbal Sánchez in Washington’s rotation after going 11-7 with a 3.15 ERA, 1.050 WHIP and 11.1 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate in an All-Star season in Arizona.

His first year in a Curly W cap was everything he and the Nats could have hoped for. He finished 14-7 with a 3.25 ERA and some National League Cy Young Award votes before becoming a postseason hero while helping the Nats win their first World Series championship by being credited as the winning pitcher of Game 7 of the Fall Classic.

But after making his first career appearances in October (five of them coming out of the bullpen), Corbin’s career in D.C. took an unexpected turn for the worse.

Starting with the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Corbin statistically became one of the worst pitchers in the major leagues over the next five years of his contract.

Wins and losses aren’t the only measures of success, especially for a rebuilding team. But for a rebuilding team like the Nationals, who believe they are closer to competing than not, the win-loss column is a good marker for improvement.

The five seasons since the 2019 World Series championship have been marred by sub-.500 records, bottoming out with 107 losses in 2022. But the Nats made a lot of progress last year, with a 16-win improvement in 2023. And they were on pace earlier this year to make even more progress by the end of the season.

Eleven days ago, the Nats were only four victories away from surpassing last year’s 71 wins with 13 games remaining. But after a long slump, they were running out of time to achieve that.

Now after a 7-4 loss to finish a sweep at the hands of the Royals, the Nats need to win at least two games against the Phillies this weekend to match last year’s win total and sweep the National League East champions (who are still playing for home-field advantage in the postseason) to surpass it.

"Once again, we just couldn't score any more runs," said manager Davey Martinez after the game.

It has flown under the radar a bit, but DJ Herz has turned into the Nationals’ best starting pitcher over the last two months.

Since returning from a brief stint at Triple-A Rochester around the All-Star break designed to give him some extra rest, the rookie has taken the mound 10 times. And in those 10 games, he now owns a 2.76 ERA and 1.082 WHIP, all while striking out 10.5 batters per nine innings.

Including in that stretch was another gem tonight, with Herz tossing five more innings of one-run ball. And thanks to some long-awaited clutch hits from a lineup that has precious few of them the last two nights, the Nationals emerged with a 4-1 victory over the Marlins to reward Herz for his efforts.

Despite totaling only four hits, the Nats found a way to score four runs. And their bullpen didn’t squander their starter’s effort, with Eduardo Salazar, Jose A. Ferrer and Kyle Finnegan combining for four scoreless innings of relief to finish off the team’s ninth win in 11 games against Miami this season.

Herz was already on a roll entering this start, having tossed five no-hit innings against the Pirates last Saturday before he was pulled with a pitch count of 87. And when he retired the first six Marlins he faced tonight, the young lefty was now on a run of seven consecutive innings without allowing a hit.

Jake Irvin stood on the mound, the count full against the Braves’ toughest hitter, took a deep breath and then fired one last fastball on a night full of them. And when that 92 mph heater, above the zone and boring in on the hands, blew past a helpless Marcell Ozuna, the Nationals right-hander flexed his arms, roared with delight and hopped off the mound, knowing he had just completed yet another dominant start against a top opponent.

Irvin’s unlikely no-hit bid may have been thwarted two batters earlier when Atlanta finally notched its first base hit of the game, but that in no way diminished his overall performance during the Nats’ 5-1 victory on a gorgeous September evening on South Capitol Street.

With six nearly flawless innings, Irvin proved once again he could master the Braves lineup. Starting once in each of the four series between the two clubs this season, the 27-year-old finished with a sparkling 1.16 ERA, surrendering only 13 hits across 23 1/3 innings.

"Those guys get to see me a lot, but the role's reversed as well," he said. "Just understanding what those guys do and how we can best pitch around them and pitch to them, I think, helped out a lot."

In only one of those previous three head-to-head matchups had Irvin earned the win due to a recurring lack of run support. His teammates provided enough tonight, scoring four times against Max Fried, including the solo homer that propelled CJ Abrams into the 20/20 Club for the first time in his career.