It looks like the Nationals might be more competitive this year and could sneak into the playoffs without hampering their long term flexibility. We just need to make some additions to the team in key places and hope to stay healthy enough to compete for a wild card spot. Note: I'm just trying to post something positive and I don't feel comfortable with trying to predict any trades.

We need a new backup catcher as Riley Adams is going to be non-tendered soon and Jacob Stallings might be a decent option that can hit well enough to give Keibert Ruiz some time off behind the dish. He used to have a great defensive reputation with the Pirates and Marlins but it's gone downhill with the Rockies. One year at about $3 million should do

Third base we should not give Jose Tena going forward, instead we should let Vargas go and have Tena as a utility man going forward as we give Yoan Moncada a one year deal worth about $5 million with a team option for $10 million for 2026. He's coming off an injury plagued season. It should help us bridge the gap until House is ready to play everyday and if House continues to have growing pains while Moncada performs well enough to where the team option is quite reasonable we could keep him if we're in the wild card race. If we aren't in the wild card race, we can trade him at the deadline for a few prospects to help our rebuild/retooling efforts.

We need a starting pitcher/swingman who can fill in for the Absence of Josiah Gray until he's fully recovered from his elbow surgery. Fortunately it was an internal brace procedure rather than Tommy John so he'll be able to return sooner. Rather than throw Cade Cavalli into the fire as the fifth starter after a horrible 2024 between AAA and MLB, we should allow him a chance to get some confidence in AAA to allow him to work on his command and control of his pitches. I'm thinking we should try an upside play with Jeremy Beasley. He's probably not the big ticket guy everyone is looking at, but he's shown some impressive numbers in the NPB this year in a starting pitcher role in spite of the NPB being in a deadball ERA. Small sample size of 76.2 IP in the NPB major league aside, he had a 16.7 K-BB% which was good for 13th best in all of NPB. Additionally, this is better than the mark Tomoyuki Sugano posted last year. He had a 24.6% K against 7.9% BB with a 2.46 ERA and he's still on the right side of 30 as he won't turn 30 until the 2025 off-season. I'm thinking a one year deal for about $3 million with a team option for $6 million for the 2026 season in case we need another starter/a good trade chip at the deadline. Though he'll likely have his innings limited to 140 or so as he's coming off throwing 111 ⅔ IP last year and his career high is 122 ⅓ IP in 2019 so we would move him to the pen towards the end of the year anyways and it would allow Josiah Gray to have a spot available/Cade Cavalli if he's doing well in AAA and Gray isn't quite ready. Another option is admittedly more of a long reliever/fireman type that had a strong 2019 as a starter but the injury bug kept biting him after he ruptured his Achilles. Michael Soroka looks like he turned a corner after being shifted to the bullpen this year as he went from not getting much success because he wasn't striking out batters and he walked the same amount of batters he struck out. Once he got into the bullpen, he saw a massive increase in strikeouts with a slight uptick in velocity. I'd be willing to offer him a one year deal for about $1.25 million with a club option for $3.75 for the 2026 season.

The other area of need is our bullpen and to supplement Soroka, I'd look into adding two veteran arms to bolster our pen in Luis Garcia and Caleb Theilbar. Both of these guys would help us protect leads, albeit in different ways. Theilbar doesn't throw as hard as Garcia but he's a strikeout guy who usually doesn't walk as many batters as he did last year. I would be comfortable in expecting an improvement in his walk rate for next year and his cost is going to be lower than most arms so a one year deal for about $2.5 million should do. Garcia is more of a control artist that picks up groundballs in spite of his fastball averaging 96.4 MPH or better every year since 2015, he had a bit of a down year by ERA at 4.88 but his peripheral stats such as his xFIP, xERA and SIERA all tend to be in the mid 3 range (his FIP is still considerably lower at 4.05). A one year deal worth about $2 million should be well worth it for a middle relief arm with some upside. They would be replacing Michael Rucker, Tanner Rainey, and Joan Adon in the bullpen.

Mark, Al, and Tim posted a post-World Series/pre-free agency episode this morning.

This is an outstanding piece of feature writing, about those players who get World Series rings despite minimal -- or even negative -- contributions. Great quotes from 2019 Nationals castoff Austin Adams, and a mention of Trevor Rosenthal as well.

I had forgotten about Adams, who had only one appearance for the Nationals. I remember having extra tickets to an April game, and was going to try to sell them outside the stadium just before first pitch, when a woman needing tickets told me her son had just been called up and she had just arrived in town and there was confusion at the box office and they didn't have her name. I gave her mine so she could see her son's debut.

Heading to my first Swing for your Seats this Saturday and was hoping y’all could answer some of my questions:

1. Can I bring family to the event? Obviously, I’ll be the one swinging for the free seats…but can they enter the ballpark with me / take BP for fun

2. Is the event ultimately worth the 1.5 hour drive? 😂

Thank you!

Holes needing to be filled:

I believe our starting pitching needs 1-2 more pieces to really be solidified, I don’t think Cavalli or Parker will be on the opening day roster in 25, largely because Cade will need more reps to get back into the swing of things, and Parker developing his arsenal a little better like his changeup/slider/curve; I honestly don’t need to say anything about our bullpen, WE KNOW IT NEEDS WORK; 1st, 3rd & DH is going to be key for us next year, specifically from a POWER HITTER prospective, Chapparo needs to develop his power more, and if Meneses is coming back I hope we see what we got from him back in 2022.

Players:

PITCHING: I honestly believe a veteran presence is needed in our starting rotation, I think reuniting with Max Scherzer (yes I know he’s coming off of injury) would be the best possible choice, he loved playing in DC, his best years come from his time as a Nat, and I don’t think he’d mind coming back and retiring as one either (he’d be our 1st HOFer), possibly also getting another lefty, I was really impressed with Matthew Boyd during the playoffs, but there are other options out there too! For the bullpen, I think we could get Floro back, maybe go after a ground ball pitcher like Chris Martin & Aaron Bummer, those would be really good pick ups and on the cheaper end too!

HITTING: Eugenio Suarez would bring the power that we desperately lack, platooning him at 3rd & DH would solve two problems at once, killing 2 birds with 1 stone; I don’t necessarily believe House is ready, but Suarez on a 1yr deal wouldn’t be a bad option!

What y’all think?

Has anyone got any recommendations for a place to get a jersey framed? Michael’s charges a lot, but maybe I just don’t have a good sense of the market.

My son managed to get Zim to sign his #11 city connect and I kinda want to help him display it.

It keeps telling me: “We are unable to customize this item with the text you have entered. Please try a different entry.”

But yet for some reason I can combine his name with ANY other number. What’s the deal?

Ryan Zimmerman had a habit of hitting walkkoff homers, but I've always wondered how many of these he hit vs. how many opportunities he had. As in, how many times did he come to the plate with the chance to hit a walkoff HR and then actually did. I don't think there's a formula or algorithm to determine this, and I'm too lazy to go back through his entire career and look at play by play or score cards by myself. Anyone ever look into the actual percentage or possibly have an interest in a ridiculous off-season project?

Happy for the Lane Train!

Out with an embarrassing whimper.

I know a lot of folks have mentioned the team possibly splurging on a Werth type FA signing. A veteran clubhouse guy to help the young guys and a sign that we’re ready to contend/spend. The only one I can think of is Bregman and it’s highly unlikely Rizzo would want to block 3B for House, Wallace, etc. Is there anyone else in this class that fits that mold?

Hi all,

Newbie to this sub looking to get some kind of package deal for games next season. A ten game package (two tickets for each game) would be ideal. Any advice for me?

Ty!