Insider Says Washington Nationals 'Planned All Along' to Buyout Slugger
Some of the areas the Washington Nationals will look to upgrade this offseason are starting to become more clear.
With their outfield full of star prospects, and the middle of their infield featuring two of their best players, much of the attention will be focused on adding to their starting rotation and improving the corner infield spots.
First base is seen as their No. 1 priority, and it will only be a matter of time before the Nationals officially part ways with Joey Gallo after he underwhelmed during his stint with the franchise due to injuries and poor offensive output.
The veteran was brought in on a low-risk type of contract this past winter, hoping he would be able to perform well enough where Washington could potentially flip him at the trade deadline, or even help them get into the playoffs.
None of those things happened, but even if Gallo had performed well in 2024, Mark Zuckerman of MASN says they were never planning on bringing him back for next year.
"Let's be clear: Even if Gallo agreed to his side of the [mutual] option, the Nationals have no plans to pick up their end of the deal and have planned all along to pay him the buyout, which for practical purposes will be the same as them paying him $5 million for one season," he reports.
Maybe that shouldn't be too surprising, but the slugger did provide some things they liked at first base.
The two-time Gold Glove-winning outfielder brought that elite defense with him to the infield where he had a 0.2 defensive bWAR and routinely saved errors by scooping balls in the dirt and using his big frame to catch high throws.
Ideally, they would like to add someone with his defensive profile who can also bring more offense to the table, but it's going to be difficult to land their ideal protype unless they open up their checkbook.
Gallo is not in the plans of the Nationals going forward, and based on what Zuckerman said, that was how they viewed this situation all along.
