Washington Nationals Planning To 'Aggressively Pursue' Top Free Agent
The Washington Nationals have money to spend if they choose to do so.
Owner Mark Lerner seems ready to open up his checkbook again after this past campaign delivered one of the most promising seasons they've had in a while with plenty of young stars looking like they can be cornerstones of this roster for years to come.
Adding established players at clear positions of need would go a long way in getting them out of this rebuild.
The question becomes if the Nationals will be willing to spend when that time comes.
General manager Mike Rizzo is weighing that option in conjunction with letting this young roster continue to develop, and if he doesn't feel like this is the right time to attack the free agency market, he might opt to wait another cycle before spending Lerner's money.
However, it seems like Washington is targeting at least one available high-profile player.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY, "there are at least six teams who plan to aggressively pursue" slugging first baseman Christian Walker, and the Nationals are one of them.
That would be huge.
First base has been a position discussed as an area they will look to upgrade this winter, and without a top prospect waiting in the wings to take over that role like they have had across other spots in the field, landing Walker would be huge.
Not only is he playing the best baseball of his career right now with three straight seasons finishing with an OPS+ over 120 and 25-plus home runs, but he also won his third Gold Glove in a row which would provide the elite defense this team is looking for.
Does he fit their timeline, though?
That's what Washington has to figure out since he's 33 years old and does seem to be regressing a bit at the plate.
Perhaps they view Walker as a stopgap solution, bringing in his legit Major League experience to help this roster in the short term as they wait for one of their young prospects to take over first base going forward.
Whatever the case might be surrounding the plans the Nationals could have for the slugger, it sounds like they are going to be aggressively going after him this winter.
