Washington Nationals Need to Choose Direction During Winter Meetings
The Washington Nationals are getting ready to head into the Winter Meetings after what has been a quiet start to free agency so far.
Coming into the offseason, the Nationals were a team that had some needs to address and the means to do so after a 71-win season in 2024. Despite not having a good record, there are a lot of reasons to believe in what Washington is building.
After years of struggles, the Nationals have been very patient in their rebuilding process, letting bad contracts expire and young prospects grow.
Due to a lack of spending on free agents for more than a one-year deal here or there, Washington has created a ton of flexibility for themselves this offseason. However, with a lot of needs, they need to spend money in order to fill some holes.
Recently, Bradford Dootlittle of ESPN.com spoke about what is on the to-do list for the Nationals heading into the Winter Meetings. He highlighted the team spending to start to move the needle for the franchise.
He wrote that what's fascinating about the Nationals is just how many different directions they could go in order to improve the team, especially with the financial flexiblity afforded them after finally getting out from under contracts like Patrick Corbin's.
But the Nats need a direction and a focus.
“A frenzy of spending isn't going to finish off the process, but a targeted burst can move the needle. If Washington finds the right long-term fit, it won't need to wait until the new core is ready to contend," he wrote. "The Nats can start to operate as a club ready to win sooner than later. Young talent plus payroll flexibility is a pretty nice combination.”
Washington is truly one of the most interesting teams of the offseason, as they could make the decision to go in a lot of different directions.
The franchise might feel like their young core isn’t quite ready to compete and look to push off really going all-in another year or two by filling in some gaps with veterans on one or two-year deals.
However, they might also think the time is now to make a splash and go for a big free-agent like Pete Alonso or Alex Bregman.
Good arguments can be made for either strategy that Washington might go for this offseason, and it will be interesting to see what they do during the Winter Meetings.
