#washington-nationals

#washington-nationals

The Nationals are in agreement with lefty reliever Zach Penrod on a minor league contract, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. The Dynamic Sports Group client would be paid an $800K rate, marginally above the minimum, if he makes the MLB roster. Penrod is a former Red Sox farmhand who made seven appearances for Boston in 2024. Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni was an assistant general manager for the Sox at the time.

Once again, the Los Angeles Dodgers have flipped the baseball world upside down. This time with their record breaking, four year, $240 million deal with Kyle Tucker. The back to back World Series champions are adding to their reputation as the 'Evil Empire' with the signing of seemingly every single All-Star caliber player in the league. While fans everywhere are losing their minds over the newly polished Dodgers' $400 million payroll, Washington Nationals fans should be feeling something much worse... fear.

That said, the buzz has been more on Framber Valdez as a free agent or someone like Freddy Peralta on the trade market for Atlanta lately, so perhaps their move is still on the table. They could plausibly go into the season with their current rotation options, particularly if the answers to their injury questions are favorable, but a quality starter really would be a phenomenal touch to an already strong offseason.

Throughout the offseason, one of the more awkward times of the year is the subject of arbitration for players and teams around Major League Baseball. Their case is a true first, as Skubal and his camp are seeking $32 million in salary for 2026, which would be a record awarded in arbitration. The Tigers filed at $19 million, which leaves the side $13 million apart as rumors of Skubal being traded to the highest bidder will only surely increase moving forward.

On that day, Washington officially announced the signing of Max Scherzer to a seven-year, $210 million contract. At the time, it marked the largest deal ever given to a right-handed pitcher and a clear signal that the Nationals were serious about winning. Scherzer arrived in Washington from the Detroit Tigers. Already an established ace, he still exceeded expectations. From 2015 to 2021, he posted a 2.80 ERA across 189 appearances and struck out 1,610 batters.

As of December 29th, 2025 take a look at the projected 2026 payroll for the Washington Nationals. Go ahead, pull it up. As of right now, it's hovering right around $98 million. This is in a division where the Mets and Phillies are both treating the league's luxury tax as nothing more than a suggestion, the Nationals are currently ranked in the bottom third in spending.

Last year, the right-handed reliever was in AAA with the Royals, where he posted a 4.87 ERA in 57 and a third innings pitched. These are not numbers that most fans would get excited about. However, Nogosek has untapped potential. He has a fastball that is about league average velocity, and his primary offspeed offering is a sweeper with almost 20 inches of horizontal break.

Infielder Orelvis Martinez will attend spring training as a non-roster invitee with the Washington Nationals in 2026, per the club's announcement on Friday. The former Toronto Blue Jays top prospect, who agreed to a minor-league deal for '26 with the Nats back in September, was one of three non-roster players - ones who aren't already on the 40-man roster - to receive an invitation to major-league camp for next spring.

Despite being a near-unwatchable product on the field in recent years, the Washington Nationals have had pretty fantastic luck when it comes to having the odds bounce in their favor. Specifically, the ping pong balls for the MLB Draft Lottery have resulted in their favor more often than not, but the team has been unable to take full advantage. Them not being able to take advantage is actually no fault of their own but is in fact due to an outright stupid rule change that Major League Baseball implemented a few years ago.

Simply put, the Nationals have not been good enough behind the plate for years now. Keibert Ruiz has been brutal both offensively and defensively since inking his long-term extension, and this trade now has his future with the club in serious doubt. While giving up Ferrer, thought to be the long-term closer of the future for the Nationals, is a steep loss, the upside presented by the return is definitely worth it, in my opinion.

Aside front ace southpaw MacKenzie Gore, Washington's pitching staff struggled mightily in 2025. Young starters Jake Irvin and Mitchell Parker took major steps back after solid showings in 2024. Trevor Williams pitched more like his 2023 self than 2024. Kyle Finnegan was inconsistent and wound up getting traded, and no young relievers (perhaps with the exception of Brad Lord) stepped up in a meaningful way.

As we as a site have pointed out at length, specifically back at the trade deadline, the case for trading Gore is a very simple one to comprehend. He is a Scott Boras client, who is notorious for not having his players sign extensions before going to free agency, and the Nationals don't seem close to competing with him before he hits free agency after the 2027 season.

As part of their efforts to provide their upper levels of the minor leagues with more depth, the team has brought in righty Tyler Baum, a former touted arm in the Athletics' organization. As for some background on Baum, he was a 2nd-round pick by the then Oakland A's back in 2019 with the 66th pick out of the University of North Carolina.

If you remember back about a year ago at this time, things looked pretty wild for the Washington Nationals and former closer Kyle Finnegan. The righty was coming off an All-Star 2024 campaign, but his underlying metrics told more of the full story. Finnegan had been a beneficiary of some good luck, and his lack of swing-and-miss stuff was keeping him from unlocking his true potential as a late inning option for the Nationals.

The World Series victory in 2019 was unexpected for the Washington Nationals. A 19-31 start to the season had ownership questioning the decision to hire Davey Martinez. Fans were upset, and rumblings for change began to stir. Just a few months later, the Nats went on a historic run to win the World Series. Since 2019, Nationals fans have come to expect losing seasons. Year after year, the play has arguably gotten worse. Why should any Nationals fan have interest in the team next season?

While variations of these jerseys were worn in the past, before 2011, the main change made to them was on the jersey sleeve, where the interlocking DC logo was replaced with a Nationals emblem in a circle featuring the team's signature "curly w". The Nationals wore these uniforms during the years when they had their core players, including 2018, when the team featured many superstars such as Bryce Harper, Juan Soto, Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer, and Anthony Rendon.

They had to hire an entirely new front office, led by the youngest President of Baseball Operations and the youngest manager in all of baseball in Paul Toboni and Blake Butera, respectively. They also have a ton of work to do in filling out their organization with useful players at both the big-league level and in the minors, and they will have to supplement their new acquisitions with adequate coaching.

The Nationals' front office continues with aggressive coaching hires, and they made another bold move on Friday by bringing in Andrew Aydt as their new assistant hitting coach. Aydt becomes the second addition to the staff from Driveline Baseball this offseason and carries on a clear trend under president of baseball operations Paul Toboni and manager Blake Butera: youth, analytics and innovation.