Things Washington Nationals Fans Should Be Thankful For This Thanksgiving

Here are a few things Washington Nationals fans should be thankful for during this Thanksgiving holiday.

Jul 22, 2023; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals president of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo (L) looks on as Nationals first round draft pick outfielder Dylan Crews (R) wears his cap and jersey at an introductory press conference prior to the Nationals' game against the San Francisco Giants at Nationals Park. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Washington Nationals are heading into the holiday season with the hopes of making some good moves this offseason to improve the team. 

While it was just another 71-win season in 2024, the Nationals appear to be a team heading in the right direction. There have certainly been a lot of losses since they won the World Series in 2019, but general manager Mike Rizzo has a plan for the future that he is sticking to. 

As the franchise heads into the offseason, they do have a few needs to address despite having a talented young core. Fortunately, they appear to be well-positioned to do so. 

Even though it has been a tough few years, there is reason to be optimistic about the long-term outlook. Here are a few things Nationals fans should be thankful for this Thanksgiving. 

Great Young Core

While Washington has lost a lot of games in recent years, it has resulted in high draft picks to give them the opportunity to add young talent. Through the draft and in trades, the Nationals have been able to stockpile a lot of great young players, some of whom are starting to make an impact already. 

With a core of MacKenzie Gore, CJ Abrams, Luis Garcia Jr, James Wood, and Dylan Crews, the future is bright, especially in their lineup. As these players continue to develop and get better, Washington could end up with one of the best lineups in baseball. 

Ability to Spend 

Even though the Nationals haven’t been big spenders of late, that has been by design. This is a franchise that is willing to spend, as shown by what the payroll was when they won the World Series.

However, with the team in a rebuild, spending on free agents long-term made little sense. Now, with bad contracts like Patrick Corbin’s off the books, Washington has a ton of money to potentially spend over the next couple of offseasons.

This is a team with needs in both the lineup and pitching staff, so the ability to spend is absolutely a positive. 

Rebuild Coming to an End

While it has been a somewhat long rebuild, and they still aren’t out of the woods yet, it feels like the Nationals are getting close to being able to contend for a playoff spot again.

Depending on how aggressive the organization looks to get this winter, they could easily see themselves getting to the .500 mark in 2025 by adding a few veterans and a few young players getting better as well.

With some talented prospects still on the way and money to spend, the long-term outlook is encouraging. However, there is a way that this team will be over .500 next season as well.