The Nationals, like most clubs, typically take their time in free agency, wait out the market and strike when they have an opportunity to sign a player over the winter. Today, they showed they aren't afraid to dive right in, though, and swoop up an appealing free agent only days after he became eligible to negotiate with teams. In agreeing to terms with Trevor Rosenthal, the Nats made a rare Halloween transaction to add an experienced and accomplished power arm to the back end of their...

Not that there was ever any doubt they would, but the Nationals today formally announced they have picked up Sean Doolittle's $6 million option, guaranteeing their All-Star closer will return in 2019. With the World Series now complete, baseball's offseason began this morning, with 145 major leaguers officially becoming free agents. That list includes eight Nationals players: Bryce Harper, Matt Wieters, Mark Reynolds, Greg Holland, Kelvin Herrera, Jeremy Hellickson, Tim Collins and Joaquin...

As we transition into offseason mode around here, we're going to spend a few days looking at the most pressing offseason storylines for the Nationals. And there's no debate that the single most pressing storyline involves the guy who was the pre-eminent storyline of the entire season. You know the deal with Bryce Harper by now. No sense rehashing his wild 2018 campaign. Or trying to read the tea leaves from what he said over the last week as he simultaneously gushed about the only...

It's been the underlying story of the entire offseason throughout the baseball world, the lack of free agent signings. And yesterday the most controversial theory was put out there by a prominent agent, something many have wondered but few have publicly been willing to offer: collusion by all 30 clubs to keep spending down and increase their own profits. Brodie Van Wagenen, the co-head of CAA baseball and agent for a host of big-name players (including Ryan Zimmerman), posted a memo on his...

The new year has arrived. But does that mean all those free agents who are still out there will start picking their employers for 2018? It's been a really slow hot stove league so far. Aside from the usual excitement right before, during and right after the Winter Meetings, there has been precious little action across baseball. And that was especially true over the holiday break, which saw Wade Davis sign with the Rockies, a couple of third-tier relievers sign deals and nothing else. It's not...

The Nationals know they need to acquire multiple pitchers this winter in hope of filling several holes vacated by departing free agents. They may have found out Wednesday just how much it's going to cost them to do it. Though the Rangers' signing of Mike Minor didn't draw major headlines, it was noted in baseball circles for one important reason: The left-hander may have just set the market for every other free agent pitcher this offseason. Consider that Minor got a three-year, $28 million...

The Nationals' No. 1 need this winter, arguably, is a starting pitcher. They've got four well-established guys set to return next season in Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark, but they have no obvious choice to be the fifth starter. Joe Ross, who held that job for most of the first half of the 2017 season, had Tommy John surgery and won't be back until July at the earliest. Edwin Jackson, who held that job for most of the second half of the 2017 season, is a free...

Buried amid the Nationals' latest managerial change was the news that one of the club's most important players - Daniel Murphy - needed significant knee surgery at season's end. And though team officials believe the All-Star second baseman will be fully healed well before the start of the 2018 season, they can't definitively say that just yet. Murphy had debridement and microfracture surgery two weeks ago to repair damage to the articular cartilage in his right knee. The procedure, which...

We'll never know what might have been had Wilson Ramos not torn the ACL in his right knee on Sept. 26, whether it would have altered the Nationals' postseason fortunes and whether it would have altered their chances of re-signing him this winter. Neither Ramos nor the Nationals can do anything about that now. They can only look forward. And for Ramos, that means some intense rehabilitation right now as the free agent catcher tries to convince teams around the sport he is still worth a...

It's Black Friday, which means around the country people stayed up all night so they could fight off their fellow citizens with sticks trying to snag a cheap television or washing machine or Tickle Me Elmo or whatever it is people fight each other over these days. (Suffice it to say, I don't know a thing about any of this. I prefer to do my shopping at 11 a.m. on random Tuesdays, when nobody else can get in your way.) But I guess Black Friday is a big thing for many because it presents the...

The Nationals' top needs this winter are fairly clear-cut. They need a closer, whether they re-sign Mark Melancon or acquire someone else. They need a catcher, whether they bring back the rehabbing Wilson Ramos, give Pedro Severino a chance or look outside the organization. They need to decide whether Trea Turner is their center fielder or shortstop, and address any domino effects of that decision. Here, though, is a less clear-cut question currently facing the Nationals front office as the...

Chris Heisey, a key member of what became a productive bench for the Nationals this season, is returning in 2017. Heisey has agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the Nats worth $1.4 million plus incentives, according to a source familiar with the deal. ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick was first to report the signing, which won't become official until Heisey passes a physical. The 31-year-old outfielder joined the Nationals last winter on a minor league contract, then played his way onto the...

The Nationals will not extend a qualifying offer to Wilson Ramos before today's 5 p.m. EST deadline, according to a source familiar with the decision, making the rehabbing catcher a free agent who can now sign with any club in baseball. The decision, which had been expected since Ramos suffered a major knee injury in late September, doesn't prevent him from re-signing with the Nationals this winter. But it both makes his departure more likely and prevents the Nats from receiving any...