Washington Nationals Priced Out of Starting Pitching Market This Offseason
Coming into the offseason, one of the goals of Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo was to find some starting pitching help.
He knows that is the foundation of every good team. You need to have options on the mound and plenty of them.
Right now, the Nationals have a nice collection of young arms that have some real upside.
MacKenzie Gore sandwiched ace performances around a really tough summer. Jake Irvin remains a rock-solid member of the rotation. DJ Herz and Parker Mitchell provided unexpected production despite being pushed into larger roles than anyone thought they would be.
Pitching prospect Cade Cavalli may not be far away from the Major Leagues. Josiah Gray will be coming back from injury and Jackson Rutledge is still in the mix as well.
What that group is missing is experience, as veterans Patrick Corbin and Trevor Williams are both free agents. Washington certainly has the wiggle room to purchase some established arms, as $43 million came off the books alone between those two.
Theoretically, they could just put that money toward a new pitcher, but with other holes on the roster to fill, the Nationals are biding their time. Unfortunately, a large chunk of that cap space would be needed to find a legitimate upgrade.
As things currently stand, Washington is being priced out of the market for free agents.
Max Fried signed an eight-year, $218 million contract with the New York Yankees, the richest for a left-handed pitcher in baseball history. Blake Snell landed $182 million on a five-year deal from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Nationals weren’t expected to push toward the top of the market, but even second and third-tier pitchers have been incredibly expensive.
Veteran Nathan Eovaldi, who would have been a nice addition, received a three-year, $75 million deal to return to the Texas Rangers. Luis Severino landed the largest contract in Athletics history with a three-year, $67 million deal. Michael Wacha and the Kansas City Royals agreed to a three-year, $51 million pact.
Alex Cobb, who made three starts in 2024, agreed to a one-year, $15 million deal from the Detroit Tigers.
There are some starters left who would be a good fit for Washington, such as Sean Manaea and Jack Flaherty. But, based on the other deals that have been made, it will cost Rizzo a pretty penny to land one of them.
Corbin Burnes, the top pitcher remaining on the market, could top all of those deals.
Even the trade market has proven to be expensive.
The Chicago White Sox traded Garrett Crochet to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for catcher Kyle Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth and starting pitcher Wickelman Gonzalez; four of the Red Sox’s top 11 prospects.
That wasn’t a price the Nationals would or should have been willing to meet as they aren’t as close to contending as Boston is. But, if they want to get involved in the trade market for an established arm, it is going to cost them.
It will be interesting to see how the market shakes out for the rest of the players available, as there are some good pitchers left. Conventional wisdom would be that the price has to go down eventually once teams start spending their budgets, which could be when Washington strikes with a favorable deal.
