#washington-nationals

#washington-nationals

The Washington Nationals have kicked off 2026 spring training, and it will be fun to see how the team ends up faring over the next several weeks. We have not yet seen the team in action outside of some social media clips and first-hand accounts from those close to the action, but this is always a fun time of the year.

In March, the Nationals will have two players competing in the tournament. Infielder Matt Mervis, 27, the Potomac, MD native, who the team signed this Winter to a minor-league deal, is competing for Team Israel, for which he is eligible through his Jewish parents and eligible for Israeli citizenship and to play for Team Israel and therefore can obtain Israeli citizenship.

This is the first time that TalkNats has published a separate part of this annual-ish guide for the coaching staff. But these are unusual times. The manager and all but one of his twelve coaches are entirely new to the Washington Nationals organization. All but one of them are younger than the oldest active MLB player. Some confusion, as we try to figure out who's who in the dugout, is understandable.

Throughout the majority of this offseason, the front office of the Washington Nationals has been busy. While I don't think you would find a Nationals fan out there that isn't frustrated with the team's lack of aggression on the free agent front heading into spring training, the club will certainly still look a lot different than the last time we saw this team take the field.

Brought back old friend Josh Bell, coming off a dreadful season, on a cheap one-year deal the Nats failed to parlay into any trade value at the deadline. Traded for Nathaniel Lowe, who ended up turning in one of the most disappointing campaigns in Nationals history. Added platoon infielders Amed Rosario and Paul DeJong, who managed to combine for 0.1 rWAR for the Nats.

That feeling is primarily because pitchers and catchers are reporting in just a few days, however a solid amount of solid big league talent is still out there and could potentially be had for the Nationals. Whether or not they can convince any veteran to take either a cheap or short-term deal remains to be seen, and many free agents might just want to wait it out and wait for a competitive team to get desperate.

A turbulent offseason for the Nationals has seen a number of players depart, and yet, the team has still not signed on a hitter to a major league contract. It's a puzzling development; the Nats front office is forthcoming about its uncompetitiveness in 2026, but teams without playoff hopes still frequently sign players to one-year deals with the upside of flipping them to a contending team for prospects come the trade deadline if they perform well.

He made his long-awaited Major League debut just 364 days after the Nationals drafted him. He excelled in college at San Diego State University, where Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn coached him, and in his MLB debut, oh boy, did he shine. In just seven innings of work, he struck out 14 Pittsburgh Pirates, allowed two runs on four hits, and didn't walk an opposing batter. The anticipation for greatness built, and although injury cut his rookie season short,

Before you read any of this, use this article for entertainment purposes because it discusses risky gambling in a hedge against buying tickets to see your Washington Nationals. This idea came from Twitter/X's, Crabcakes&Football, an account that frequently gets salty about the Nats. And that account certainly isn't alone in the growing pessimism. A discussion with constant curmudgeon, @dclandofnerds, led to an X.com discussion (see below) that led to this article.

The Nationals made one of the biggest moves of the offseason on Thursday, trading MacKenzie Gore to the Texas Rangers in a five-for-one deal that sent shockwaves through both organizations. Washington acquired five prospects: Gavin Fien, Alejandro Rosario, Abimelec Ortiz, Devin Fitz-Gerald and Yeremy Cabrera. All five immediately slotted into the Nationals' top 25 prospects on MLB Pipeline. It's the latest bold move from president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, who has wasted no time reshaping the system since taking over.

It does not really need to be sugarcoated at this point, but free agency as a fan of the Washington Nationals for the last few years has not been the most fun time. Watching division rivals like the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies spend money to contend year in and year out has become expected, and the Nationals have done the complete opposite.