Toronto Blue Jays Named Potential Suitor for Washington Nationals Closer
The Washington Nationals are heading into an important offseason, as the franchise looks to get out of the rebuild that they have been in.
In 2024, the Nationals were able to record 71 wins for the second straight season, but with a lot of young talent contributing in those wins, the future looks bright in Washington.
This offseason, the Nationals have a couple of contracts coming off the books, most notably Patrick Corbin, who was a disappointing sign. However, with his large annual salary coming off the books, Washington will have money to allocate into new areas to help the team.
However, the direction of the team this offseason is still very much up in the air. Mike Rizzo might want to wait one more season before aggressively pursing top free agents, as this is still a very young roster with a lot of unknowns.
It feels like this offseason could go in either direction for Washington, as they might look to be aggressive and try to add some help, or they could wait another year.
If Rizzo and the front office believes that they should wait another year, moving veteran closer Kyle Finnegan would make sense, despite him being the closer for the team. Recently, Finnegan was linked to the Toronto Blue Jays by Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report as a potential player they might pursue in a trade.
2024 was a great season for the 33-year-old, as he was selected to the All-Star team for the first time in his career. Last campaign, the right-hander totaled a 3.68 ERA, 38 saves, and 60 strikeouts in 63.1 innings pitched.
If Finnegan does become available for trades, the Blue Jays make a lot of sense as a potential suitor. Even though they had a down season in 2024, this is a talented team that has a lot of money to spend.
Getting help in the bullpen will certainly help fix a lot of the issues for Toronto, as the unit struggled quite a bit last year.
While Finnegan has been a closer for the Nationals, he could also go into a step up role if the right situation presented itself on a contending team.
As the Blue Jays look to contend once again in a very challenging American League East, improvements will certainly have to be made. Relief pitching always comes at a premium, and Finnegan would be a great player to target if he becomes available this winter.
