What are the Nationals' positions of need this winter?

What are the Nationals' positions of need this winter?
As stated over the last couple of days, the fun is now over and it's time to start looking ahead to 2020. Not that the Nationals wouldn't love to just freeze time for a while and keep celebrating their championship. Unfortunately, the rest of the baseball world doesn't care about that and has already proceeded into the hot stove league. Thus, the Nats have no choice but to start making plans for next season. Which means we have no choice but to start looking at what they need for next...

With free agency underway, Nats extend two qualifying offers

With free agency underway, Nats extend two qualifying offers
Five full days have passed since the Nationals won the World Series, and a lot has a lot happened in those five days. The celebration phase of the post-Game 7 victory time period, alas, is over. And now it's time to get down to serious business. Free agency is now fully underway, with all unsigned players free to negotiate with anybody they want. That doesn't mean there's going to be a sudden flurry of moves in the next 48 hours. Baseball, lest you forget, doesn't act that way. It's a...

Scherzer speaks out on baseball's growing free agency issue

Scherzer speaks out on baseball's growing free agency issue
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Max Scherzer had been through this before, four winters ago, and though his free agency saga still ended with a huge contract from a franchise he embraces, he also knew the process took longer and included more frustrating developments than he believed it should have included. So when the subject of Bryce Harper's ongoing slog through free agency comes up, Scherzer has no trouble speaking both passionately and intelligently about the situation. And what does he have to...

Host of 2018 Nationals still seeking jobs in tepid market

Host of 2018 Nationals still seeking jobs in tepid market
For all the attention lavished upon Bryce Harper and Manny Machado and their long, slow quest to sign with somebody before the start of spring training, there are a ton of other free agents still unemployed as we reach late January. And that includes a whole bunch of guys who played for the Nationals in 2018. Let's look at those still-unsigned free agents and figure out what it might take to get them in a uniform before pitchers and catchers report ... MATT WIETERS Wieters had to know he was...

Healthy and motivated, Dozier picked Nats over better offers

Healthy and motivated, Dozier picked Nats over better offers
Even on the heels of a subpar 2018 season in which he played through a knee injury and saw his production decrease, Brian Dozier said he had multi-year offers from other clubs this winter. How, then, did it come to be that the veteran second baseman found himself on a conference call with Washington reporters this afternoon, discussing the one-year, $9 million contract he just signed with the Nationals? "Basically, what it came down to was just where my wife and I wanted to be," he said....

Nats agree to deal with veteran second baseman Dozier

Nats agree to deal with veteran second baseman Dozier
The Nationals have agreed to terms with veteran second baseman Brian Dozier on a one-year contract, perhaps helping offset somewhat the power they would lose if Bryce Harper ends up signing elsewhere while also filling the one remaining vacancy in their projected 2019 lineup. Dozier's deal, which is pending a physical, is worth a total of $9 million, with $2 million of that deferred, according to a source familiar with the terms. ESPN's Jeff Passan was first to report the agreement. It's a...

Press conference today at Nationals Park

Press conference today at Nationals Park
It's been a while since the Nationals held an offseason press conference on South Capitol Street. The last one came more than a year ago, when Davey Martinez was introduced as the club's seventh manager in 14 seasons. None of last year's player acquisitions warranted a full-scale press conference at the ballpark. So today represents a significant moment for the Nats, who have announced a 12:30 p.m. press conference at Nationals Park for what at this point the club is only saying is "a major...

Nats facing plenty of competition for frontline starters

Nats facing plenty of competition for frontline starters
The Nationals have been aggressive in addressing some of their needs early this offseason, more aggressive than most teams. They acquired two relievers (Kyle Barraclough and Trevor Rosenthal) before the calendar even reached November. They signed a catcher (Kurt Suzuki) before any of the other top free agents at the position found a new home. Those were important moves, and all should help the Nationals in areas where they clearly needed help. But let's not kid ourselves here, because the...

Suzuki signing was smart - if Nats sign another catcher, too

Suzuki signing was smart - if Nats sign another catcher, too
It never fails. The Nationals go weeks without making any news, and then the moment I go on vacation they suddenly create headlines. So I can't say I was shocked when - just as I was packing my bags and preparing to head to the airport eight days ago - the first report of the Nats signing Kurt Suzuki emerged. Yes, it happened again. Thanks, as always, to Byron Kerr and Pete Kerzel for stepping in to cover the news and everything else that happened over the last week while I was relaxing and...

Harper, as expected, declines Nationals' qualifying offer

Harper, as expected, declines Nationals' qualifying offer
Bryce Harper has declined the qualifying offer extended to him 10 days ago, an expected move that now ensures the Nationals will get draft-pick compensation if the star outfielder signs with another club this winter. The Nationals extended the offer - one year for $17.9 million, a figure predetermined by Major League Baseball - as required Nov. 2, then technically had to wait 10 days before Harper was required to make his decision. Not that his decision was ever in doubt. Harper, who made...

"Harper's Bazaar" already proceeding as expected

"Harper's Bazaar" already proceeding as expected
Bryce Harper hasn't yet decided where he's going to play in 2019, and as far as we know, he hasn't even really begun talking to potential suitors in order to decide where he's going to play in 2019. Yet it feels like he's been a free agent far longer than the two weeks he's actually been on the open market because there's been a steady stream of Harper news making the rounds ever since the World Series concluded and the offseason officially began. This has produced no shortage of...

Nats again will be seeking a backup first baseman

Nats again will be seeking a backup first baseman
It has become something of an annual tradition for the Nationals: find a left-handed bat who can back up Ryan Zimmerman at first base and take over on a regular basis if (and when) the veteran starter gets hurt. Clint Robinson held that job in 2015-16. Adam Lind did it in 2017. Matt Adams became the guy in 2018. And now the Nats find themselves once again looking for someone to fill that secondary-yet-important role. It's kind of a tricky thing, because ideally the player who holds this role...

Looking at the market for lefty relievers

Looking at the market for lefty relievers
The Nationals have acquired two players so far this offseason, and both were right-handed relievers: Trevor Rosenthal and Kyle Barraclough. In doing so, they began to address one of their areas of need, restocking a bullpen that was turned over by trades this summer and free agency once the season ended. The Nats' bullpen makeover isn't complete yet, though. They may still be in the market for another right-hander who can join Rosenthal and Barraclough in setting up closer Sean Doolittle. And...

Not many quality catchers available this winter

Not many quality catchers available this winter
If there's only one move the Nationals are 100 percent guaranteed to make this winter, it's the acquisition of a catcher. You can argue they can get by with in-house options at other positions, but you can't argue they can do it behind the plate. The only catchers currently on the organization's 40-man roster are Spencer Kieboom, Pedro Severino and Raudy Read. None is a viable No. 1 catcher in the big leagues to begin the 2019 season. (You could make a case none is really an ideal No. 2...

If Nats want to upgrade second base, plenty of options

If Nats want to upgrade second base, plenty of options
Do the Nationals need to acquire a starting second baseman? The answer depends on your view of several players. Do you believe Howie Kendrick will come back strong from a ruptured Achilles tendon and be able to play second base at a big league level at 35? Do you believe Wilmer Difo can develop into a more consistent offensive and defensive threat? Do you believe Carter Kieboom is going to be ready to ascend from the farm system sometime in 2019 and take over as the long-term answer at the...

Free agent starting pitchers who could interest Nats

Free agent starting pitchers who could interest Nats
We've spent most of the offseason to date looking at players who already were on the Nationals' roster this year and could return next year. But now that free agency has begun, we'd be remiss if we didn't start looking at players from other clubs who could find their way to Washington in 2019. The Nationals have several needs - starting pitching, catcher, second baseman, relief pitching, backup first baseman - but let's start today with the most significant (and priciest) position. The...

How much money do the Nats have to spend this winter?

How much money do the Nats have to spend this winter?
How much money do the Nationals have to spend this winter? It seems like a simple question, but the answer isn't even close to simple. Major League Baseball payroll calculations have become far more complicated than they used to be, thanks to the luxury tax (officially known as the competitive-balance tax), deferred salaries and bonus clauses that are cropping up more and more in players' contracts. But we're going to do our best to try to figure this one out here, because it's kind of an...

After "smooth" rehab, Rosenthal excited to join Nationals

After "smooth" rehab, Rosenthal excited to join Nationals
As much as doctors, trainers and pitching coordinators have fine-tuned the rehab process from Tommy John surgery to the point some just believe it's now routine, there are always a few surprises along the way. A hiccup, or even a setback. Maybe a few moments of trepidation from a pitcher who begins to doubt he'll be able to make it all the way back. Trevor Rosenthal insists he experienced none of that. Yes, he's surprised by it. But the veteran reliever, who just signed as a free agent with...

Rosenthal passes physical, signing announced

Rosenthal passes physical, signing announced
Trevor Rosenthal's signing with the Nationals became official this morning after the right-hander passed a physical, giving the club its first free agent addition of the offseason. Rosenthal, the Cardinals' former All-Star closer who missed all of the 2018 season following Tommy John surgery, agreed on Wednesday to a one-year contract with the Nats that guarantees him $7 million (a $6 million salary in 2019, plus a $1 million buyout if his 2020 option is not picked up). That conditional 2020...

With qualifying offer to Harper, Nats' comp pick is set (updated)

With qualifying offer to Harper, Nats' comp pick is set (updated)
The Nationals will submit a qualifying offer to Bryce Harper before today's 5 p.m., a club source confirmed, the latest of several procedural steps that are set to be taken as the star outfielder enters free agency. The qualifying offer - a one-year contract worth $17.9 million - is required if the Nationals want to receive draft-pick compensation should Harper ultimately sign with another club, though today's move doesn't change the likelihood of him either staying or going. Harper has 10...