Current Rebuild Could Force Washington Nationals To 'Overpay' for Top Free Agents
The Washington Nationals are entering Spring Training with some hope for what the future can provide, but the only thing they'll be competing for is to not finish last in the NL East standings.
That's the reality this franchise has built for themselves.
After winning the 2019 World Series, they weren't able to follow that up with a playoff appearance in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, prompting them to make the hard decision to rebuild when multiple players from the championship-winning group either left in free agency or were injured.
Piece by piece, the Nationals started tearing things down, and that has resulted in the most losses out of any team in Major League Baseball the past five seasons.
Washington appears ready to come out on the other side, though.
They seemingly have their franchise cornerstones in place throughout the roster, with an ace and multiple intriguing arms in the starting rotation, a middle infield led by an All-Star and another who could reach that ceiling, and an outfield that has two of the organization's former No. 1 overall prospects manning the corners.
It's exciting.
But, players around the league might not see it that way.
While the Nationals never really went after some of the high-profile free agents who hit the market this cycle, it's clear that winning has not been prioritized within this organization for some time, a challenge they'll have to overcome when they do reach the point where the front office and ownership group is ready to spend.
"We're not going to win any ties. We're going to have to overpay," someone familiar with the team's baseball operation told Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post.
Again, another reality the franchise has created for themselves.
Players don't want to go to a club where they're going to waste away, especially during a long, 162-game schedule that becomes monotonous at a certain point for everyone, even if they're on a team that's winning games.
For Washington to land high-profile players, they'll need to make financial commitments that rise above what other teams are offering.
So, while it's exciting the Nationals are finally getting to see the star prospects in their pipeline get to the Major League level, they need almost all of them to hit if they're going to become a destination for free agents again.
Mark Lerner and Mike Rizzo decided to tear things down and rebuild.
They're going to have to live with the financial consequences that come from that decision.
