Will Washington Nationals Trade Their Star Closer This Offseason?
The Washington Nationals are heading into the offseason looking to improve and hopefully get the franchise to the 80+ win mark in 2025.
As shown last year, the Nationals have a lot of young talent that is starting to blossom as their rebuild continues. Washington has done a good job being patient, letting their young talent grow in both the minors and major leagues.
One of the ways that the Nationals have been able to acquire some of their young talent has been through trades. Most notably was the deal that sent Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres in exchange for James Wood, CJ Abrams, and MacKenzie Gore.
All three of those players are not playing for Washington, as they did a nice job scouting out the Padres’ system.
With the Nationals being in a rebuild, there isn’t a ton of veteran talent left on the team, but one player who could potentially be moved is their closer, Kyle Finnegan.
Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report recently spoke about why Washington should trade their closer
“It wouldn't be surprising if the Nationals acted more like buyers this winter, but they could do that and still be justified in trading Kyle Finnegan. Though he ultimately didn't go anywhere, the 33-year-old righty was trade bait at the deadline. He's now heading into his final season of arbitration-eligibility before he can file for free agency at the end of 2025. Finnegan is otherwise projected to earn $8.6 million next year. If the Nationals did offload him, that money could only help them if they really wanted to make a splash with, say, Alex Bregman or even a reunion with Juan Soto.”
Finnegan has been a very good pitcher for the Nationals, and it was a tad surprising that he wasn’t dealt last summer at the trade deadline. However, at 33-years-old, he might not fit in the timeline with the rest of the team.
If Washington believes that they could compete in 2025, holding onto him makes a lot of sense until at least the trade deadline to evaluate where they are in the standings.
With relief pitchers always being a hot commodity in the trade market, the Nationals would likely get a nice haul for their right-hander either in the offseason or at the deadline.
Even if they decided to move Finnegan this offseason, by no means would that mean they are waving the white flag in 2025 again.
