Nats, as expected, get No. 10 pick in 2024 Draft (updated)

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NASHVILLE – One year ago, Mike Rizzo sat on a makeshift TV set in San Diego and legitimately sweated out the final moments of the brand-new MLB Draft Lottery, in the end accepting the No. 2 pick after the Pirates won the No. 1 choice.

The tension wasn’t nearly as thick tonight for this year’s lottery. Rizzo wasn’t even in the room when the Nationals, who went into the event knowing they couldn’t pick any better than 10th, found out that’s exactly where they’ll pick next summer.

Despite finishing with the league’s fifth-worst record at 71-91, the Nats were ineligible for the lottery thanks to its convoluted rules.

The lottery fine print states that any team that pays (as opposed to receives) revenue sharing dollars cannot be selected in consecutive draft lotteries. So that knocked the Nationals out of the mix for a top-nine pick this year, and all but guaranteed they’d land the No. 10 pick. Their only other potential outcome would’ve been a drop to No. 11, something that only could’ve happened if all four teams that had a worse record in 2023 (the Athletics, Royals, Rockies and White Sox) lost the lottery.

That didn’t happen. Even though the Guardians and Reds surprisingly snagged the top two picks despite low odds, the Rockies, A’s, White Sox and Royals checked in with the third through sixth picks, locking the Nats in at No. 10.

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Robles cleared to play winter ball, still in Nats' 2024 plans

Victor Robles run white

NASHVILLE – In rattling off the positions they need to fill this winter, the Nationals will say first base, third base and left field. They’ll acknowledge Luis García isn’t guaranteed to retain his starting job at second base. But what about center field?

When the 2023 season ended, the Nats were playing Jacob Young every day. And though the rookie (who opened the year in Single-A) acquitted himself well, he hardly has the track record or pedigree to suggest he deserves to be handed the job.

Which brings us to Victor Robles. The guy who has started in center field on Opening Day each of the last five seasons.

Robles started Opening Day this year, but he went on the injured list in May with a back ailment, and after a brief return in June he went right back on the IL and remained there the rest of the year. He was very much out-of-sight, out-of-mind as the season concluded, leaving his future in doubt.

The Nationals, though, have retained the 26-year-old. They initially declined a $3.3 million club option for him but soon after agreed to terms on a lesser deal to avoid arbitration. He is, by all accounts, expected to remain a prominent player on the team in 2024.

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Nats in market for starter, but focus remains on young arms

MacKenzie Gore blue jersey

NASHVILLE – The Nationals don’t have to add a starting pitcher this winter. They could easily enter the 2024 season with Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Patrick Corbin and Trevor Williams in their rotation, with Cade Cavalli set to return from Tommy John surgery in June and several other prospects at Triple-A Rochester ready to be called upon if needed.

Mike Rizzo isn’t hiding the fact, though, that he’d like to acquire another starter. It may not be priority No. 1 on his offseason shopping list, but it’s definitely on the list.

“Everyone needs starting pitching in the whole sport,” the general manager said Monday. “We’re no different. You can never have enough of it, and we’re in search of it.”

Free agent starters, of course, don’t come cheap. The best ones cost more than $100 million. The average ones can cost in excess of $50 million. Even the worst of them can still come with a price tag of $10 million per year, based on what struggling veterans Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson recently received from the Cardinals.

So if the Nationals do delve into the market this winter, they likely won’t be acquiring anything more than a back-of-the-rotation arm, someone who will be asked to eat innings and take some pressure and workload off the organization’s younger pitchers.

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Rizzo on offseason approach and using roster spot on Strasburg

Stephen Strasburg last start

NASHVILLE – The Nationals’ winter wish list – first base, third base, left field, starting pitcher – reads a whole lot like it did one year ago, when Mike Rizzo filled those needs with one-year deals for Dominic Smith, Jeimer Candelario and Corey Dickerson, plus a two-year deal for Trevor Williams.

So, is it fair to assume the same type of approach this winter, or might the Nats take a different tack this time around?

“We’ve got several holes to fill,” the general manager said tonight in his first media session of the Winter Meetings. “We’ve got our work cut out for us this year, and I think we’re going to take our aggressive approach when it suits us and wait for the market when it suits us. I think we’re going to be busy here.”

“Busy,” of course, doesn’t necessarily mean the Nationals will leave town with any new players signed. It may refer only to meetings they take with agents, which could eventually lead to the signing of new players.

Rizzo doesn’t deny, though, what he’s looking for.

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Martinez saw chance to "bring some fresh guys in" with coaching changes

Davey Martinez dugout red

NASHVILLE – When it came time to evaluate his coaching staff at the end of the season, Davey Martinez knew it was time to make some changes. Even if it meant parting ways with some longtime confidants.

Tim Bogar was one of Martinez’s first hires after he was named Nationals manager in 2018, initially serving as first base coach before moving to bench coach. Pat Roessler joined the staff in 2020 as assistant hitting coach. Gary DiSarcina and Eric Young Jr. were added in 2022.

All are now gone, replaced by two in-house promotions and two outside additions in the biggest coaching staff shakeup Martinez has made in six years on the job.

“Obviously, it was a tough decision,” Martinez said today, his first public remarks since the moves were made in October. “Very close to all those guys. I’m going to miss them. But I thought it was an opportunity, being where we’re headed, to bring some fresh guys in, and some guys that are very well capable of coaching young players.”

The two in-house promotions: Ricky Gutierrez (who spent this season in the newly created position of run prevention coordinator) is now third base coach, while Gerardo Parra (who won the 2019 World Series as a player and then took on a front-office role in 2022) was named first base coach.

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Nats expect another Winter Meetings of reluctant patience

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NASHVILLE – Members of the Nationals organization arrived at the Gaylord Opryland Resort throughout the course of Sunday afternoon and evening, every one of them eager to see what transpires during this version of the Winter Meetings while simultaneously acknowledging the most frustrating part of the situation: It’s not quite time yet for the Nats to go all-in.

More than four years removed now from their World Series title, the Nationals are itching to return to their prior status as an annual contender. But while they’ve made significant progress since embarking on their franchise rebuild midway through the 2021 season, they’re not done yet. And that probably means another frustrating winter of patching a few roster holes without making any real long-term commitments to free agents.

The Nats, to be sure, have talked to a number of free agent targets. And they will sign a few of them sometime this winter. But they are not expecting to be major players at these meetings, which will see other clubs go for broke in pursuit of Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto and others.

After improving from 55 wins in 2022 to 71 wins this season, the Nationals know they must take one more critical step before jumping back into the deep end of the free agent pool. Sure, they could make a big move now, like they did back in December 2010 when they signed Jayson Werth for $126 million despite losing 93 games that season. But they appear to be more inclined to wait one more year before going that route this time around.

Why? Because while their won-loss progression the last two seasons may mirror 2009-10, the organization is in a distinctly different position these days.

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Davey Johnson again falls short in Hall of Fame vote

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NASHVILLE – A decade after managing his final game for the Nationals and nearly four decades after leading the Mets to their most recent World Series title, Davey Johnson once again didn’t get the congratulatory call he has long waited to receive.

Johnson was not elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame tonight for the fifth time in the last 15 years, failing to come close to the necessary 12 votes he needed from the 16-member Contemporary Eras Committee.

That group, comprised of Hall of Famers, longtime baseball executives and veteran media members, instead elected only Jim Leyland off an eight-person ballot that included former managers, umpires and executives up for consideration.

Leyland, who won a World Series title with the Marlins and won multiple division titles with the Pirates and Tigers, was named on 15 of the 16 ballots. Longtime manager Lou Piniella received 11 votes (one shy) and former National League president Bill White received 10 votes. Johnson and the four other candidates (manager Cito Gaston, executive Hank Peters, umpires Ed Montague and Joe West) on the ballot each received fewer than five votes, according to the Hall of Fame.

For the 80-year-old Johnson, this may have been a final opportunity to have his highly successful – but often underappreciated – career recognized with the ultimate honor.

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Will Nats make news at Winter Meetings?

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Nashville has been part of the Winter Meetings’ regular rotation for some time now, having hosted the event seven times since 1983, not to mention three times in a nine-year span from 2007-15. So the cavernous Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center will be familiar territory for just about everyone who gathers there later today for the start of this year’s Winter Meetings.

That includes Mike Rizzo, who attends his fourth Nashville Winter Meetings as a member of the Nationals front office, his third as general manager. The situation this time, though, is different from those previous ones.

In December 2012 and 2015, the Nats were full-blown contenders, desperate to find a way to get over their postseason humps. So Rizzo was front-and-center each time, signing Dan Haren in 2012 and a trio of relievers (Shawn Kelley, Oliver Pérez and Yusmeiro Petit) in 2015.

Nationals managers also were the center of attention at each of those meetings, with Davey Johnson in 2012 declaring the goal was “World Series or bust” and recently hired Dusty Baker drawing a huge crowd for his media session in 2015.

What will this week have in store? Well, probably nothing like any of that. Unless Rizzo or Davey Martinez has a surprise up his sleeve.

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Nats to close spring with "Futures Game," clear two 40-man spots

Roddery Munoz Rochester

The Nationals’ traditional end-of-spring exhibition game in D.C. is going to look different in 2024.

Instead of facing another major league club like they typically have over the years, the Nats will face a team of their own prospects, giving those players a chance to take the field at Nationals Park for the first time and fans who can’t make it to West Palm Beach a chance to see them in person for the first time.

Dubbed “On Deck: Nationals Futures Game,” the exhibition is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. on March 26, two days after the team wraps up Grapefruit League play in Florida and two days before it opens the 2024 season on the road in Cincinnati.

“We’re incredibly thankful for the continued support of our fans in D.C., and we can’t wait for them to get a look at some of the players who will make up our next championship-caliber roster,” general manager Mike Rizzo said. “Players like James Wood, Dylan Crews, Brady House and Robert Hassell have certainly received a lot of attention, and I know that once our fans have the chance to see a full lineup of the young guys in our system, there will be even more reason to be optimistic about where we’re headed.”

The team has traditionally scheduled an exhibition game at Nationals Park to bridge the gap between the end of spring training and Opening Day, knowing players need to get some at-bats and throw innings during the three-day break. Those exhibitions have almost always been scheduled against another major league club, usually an American League team that will open the season somewhere in the Northeast, like the Yankees, Red Sox or Tigers.

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Friday morning Nats Q&A

Davey Martinez

It's been a rather quiet offseason so far for the Nationals, who have yet to acquire a major league player. They did drop several players from last year's roster to clear up space for some prospects who needed to be protected. And they made some significant changes to both their coaching staff and their front office.

But there's still a lot to be done this winter. Perhaps things are about to pick up with the Winter Meetings beginning Sunday evening in Nashville. (For my sake, I sure hope things pick up there, or else it's going to be an awfully boring week at the Opryland Resort.)

In the meantime, let's discuss what the Nats have done, and what they might do. Submit your questions in the comments section below, then check back for my replies over the course of the morning. ...

How the early market for starters impacts the Nats

Mike Rizzo

A week’s vacation for your trusty beat writer usually guarantees something for the Nationals: News.

Countless times over the years have I gone off the grid only to find out the Nats made some kind of major transaction in my absence. So, count me genuinely shocked when I got back to town after an extended Thanksgiving break with nary a peep coming out of South Capitol Street. Don’t get me wrong, I was glad Bobby Blanco’s holiday weekend wasn’t ruined by breaking news. But I fully expected to come back with reason to share my thoughts on multiple items of interest.

Instead … well, there really isn’t anything new on the Nationals to discuss. The Winter Meetings begin Sunday in Nashville, so there will be actual news soon enough. But not yet.

Perhaps the most interesting development of the last week from the Nats’ perspective was the flurry of moves made by other clubs. Especially when it came to free agent starting pitchers.

There have already been a number of moves in that oh-so-important department, and you better believe the Nationals were paying attention and calculating how it might impact their own pursuit of pitching help this winter.

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Nats' Hall of Fame moment will come some day

Max Scherzer All-Star jersey

The Hall of Fame’s 2024 ballot was revealed Monday, with 12 new candidates joining 14 returning candidates up for this year’s election by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

The list includes several first-timers with compelling cases: Adrián Beltré, Chase Utley, Joe Mauer. Headlining the group of returning candidates are Todd Helton, Billy Wagner and Andruw Jones, plus some all-time greats whose chances have been marred by connections to performance enhancing drugs (Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield) or other off-the-field controversies (Carlos Beltrán, Omar Vizquel).

Here’s what the list does not include, though: Anybody with any Nationals connection.

Not that the Nats typically are well-represented in these matters. Only one person who played for them since 2005 has been elected to the Hall: Iván Rodríguez. Only a few others who made any kind of real impression in D.C. (Adam Dunn, Liván Hernández, Jayson Werth, Jonathan Papelbon, Alfonso Soriano) have appeared on a ballot, and none of those came anywhere close to getting elected.

But it’s kind of unfortunate to look at a Hall of Fame ballot some 19 years after the Nationals debuted and see nobody who wore a curly W cap included.

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How the rest of the NL East figures into Nats' rebuild

2023 NL East Champion Braves

When gauging where the Nationals stand in their rebuilding efforts, the simplest answer is to look at their won-loss record since the process began. They went 65-97 in 2021 while starting to tear down the roster. They bottomed out at 55-107 in 2022 after trading Juan Soto. Then they started the climb back up toward contention with a 71-91 record this season, positioning themselves to take another key step forward that could have them on the fringes of contention in 2024.

And there’s nothing wrong with that approach. Sometimes, it’s important to judge a team against itself, not anybody else.

But we do have to acknowledge an important caveat here: The Nats do not exist in a vacuum. They’re one of five teams in the National League East division, one of 15 teams in the NL. Their success ultimately is dependent in many ways on how those other teams do, whether they’re trying to win the division or finish with one of the three best records in the NL among non-division winners to secure a wild card berth.

The Nationals could be better next season, a lot better, and it may not matter if enough other teams in the NL remain ahead of them in the standings.

Which makes their geographic location a bit of a hindrance to the whole rebuild process. As a member of the NL East, the Nats face some additional challenges they wouldn’t face in another division.

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A's relocation should bring out emotions for D.C. baseball fans

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Major League Baseball, for all its warts, can stake claim to something no other major North American professional sports league can claim: Very few franchise relocations in recent times.

For five decades, in fact, there was only one MLB relocation: the Expos’ move to Washington prior to the 2005 season to become the Nationals. In spite of all of the sport’s other issues, this was a particular point of pride for baseball when comparing itself to the NFL, NBA and NHL.

And then came this week’s news of MLB owners unanimously approving the Athletics’ plan to relocate from Oakland to Las Vegas, and all of a sudden an issue that has barely been on baseball’s mind for a half-century is now the predominant story in the sport.

Baseball, of course, experienced plenty of franchise relocations prior to this long run of stability. The 1950s saw the Dodgers and Giants head west, the Braves move from Boston to Milwaukee, the St. Louis Browns become the Baltimore Orioles and the A’s transfer from Philadelphia to Kansas City. The 1960s then saw the original Senators become the Minnesota Twins, while the Braves (Milwaukee to Atlanta) and A’s (Kansas City to Oakland) relocated again. And the early 1970s saw the Seattle Pilots become the Milwaukee Brewers after only one season and the expansion Senators bolt for Texas to be rebranded as the Rangers.

But that’s ancient history at this point. Modern baseball has been defined by the stability of its franchises, and the addition of expansion teams to grow the league to an even 30 organizations. So the Oakland-to-Vegas announcement feels like a really big deal because in this sport it is a really big deal.

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Nationals face several decisions on tender deadline day (updated)

Garcia and Call white jerseys

Baseball’s second significant roster deadline of the week comes this evening, when teams are required to tender contracts to all players on the 40-man roster who aren’t already signed for the upcoming season.

Tendering a contract doesn’t mean actually agreeing to a 2024 salary. That process can still take place over the next two months, with any cases that aren’t settled ultimately heading to arbitration. This first step merely involves a team indicating its intention to sign a player for another season.

And the vast majority of these cases are cut-and-dried. Almost everyone involved in this process will have his contract tendered by the end of the day. Anyone who doesn’t get tendered … well, that’s the real newsworthy event.

Dozens of players across the sport get “non-tendered” every year on this date. Most are arbitration-eligible and due to earn more money via standard raises than the club is willing to pay after disappointing performances, making them free agents who can then sign anywhere they like.

The Nationals used this to their advantage last winter. They not only non-tendered Luke Voit, Erick Fedde and Tommy Romero, they wound up signing two players who were non-tendered by other clubs: Jemier Candelario and Dominic Smith.

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Offseason lineup needs look familiar for Nationals

Joey Meneses blue jersey

At this point 12 months ago, the Nationals had three holes to fill in their 2023 starting lineup. They needed a left fielder. They needed a third baseman. And, after choosing not to tender a contract to Luke Voit, they needed a first baseman (or designated hitter).

Mike Rizzo promptly filled all three of those holes in the form of Corey Dickerson, Jeimer Candelario and Dominic Smith, who combined made less than $10 million. One of them worked out wonderfully and was flipped at the trade deadline for a pitching prospect who could make his major league debut next season. The other two didn’t work out at all, with Dickerson injured and unproductive and out of a job by early August, and Smith offering smooth defensive work but not nearly enough offense at a traditionally offense-first position.

So as they progress into the heart of this offseason, the Nationals find themselves yet again with three lineup holes to fill. They need a left fielder. They need a third baseman. And, after choosing to designate Smith for assignment this week, they need a first baseman (or DH).

There are, to be fair, some potential in-house options at each position. Stone Garrett could be the starting left fielder, but how confident is the team in his ability to be 100 percent recovered from a gruesome broken leg by Opening Day? Carter Kieboom or Ildemaro Vargas or Jake Alu could be the third baseman, but none provides the kind of assured offense you’d think the Nats prefer at that position. And they could make Joey Meneses their regular first baseman and hope his defense is good enough, but even then, would still need to find another DH.

So, it feels like Rizzo is probably going to be looking once again to fill all three of those holes from outside the organization.

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Nats will again be in the market for a first baseman

Dominic Smith blue jersey

We knew there would be news Tuesday, what with the Nationals facing a late-afternoon deadline to add players to the 40-man roster and protect them from being lost in the Rule 5 draft. We didn’t know there would be quite this much news, though.

While the promotions of pitchers DJ Herz, Mitchell Parker, Cole Henry and Zach Brzykcy to the 40-man roster were newsworthy, the bigger story wound up being one of the corresponding moves made to clear spots for those prospects: Dominic Smith was designated for assignment.

This isn’t to suggest Smith was always a lock to return in 2024 after a very disappointing 2023 at the plate. But here’s what Mike Rizzo had to say when asked during the season’s final week about the roles both Smith and Jeimer Candelario played after they were signed the previous winter:

“Dom’s shown that his leadership in the infield, I think he’s made our young infielders much, much better and much more confident defensively,” Rizzo said. “And he’s starting to show some power late in the season. Those are always the type of people that you want to acquire, and guys that when you’re at this point in the rebuild, I thought was important for us to acquire.”

Smith was never supposed to be part of the long-term plan around here. But with no obvious replacement at first base waiting in the wings and based on the way both Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez talked about him at season’s end, it felt like he would be back for another year.

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Smith, Abbott, Machado cut; four pitchers added to 40-man roster

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The Nationals chose to protect four prospects, all pitchers, from being lost in the upcoming Rule 5 draft. To do so, they cut ties with three players who ended the season on their major league roster, most notably first baseman Dominic Smith.

Smith and right-hander Cory Abbott were both designated for assignment today, with reliever Andrés Machado granted his unconditional release as well to pursue opportunities in Japan. The team then used those three open slots, plus one that already was open, to add left-handers DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker, plus right-handers Cole Henry and Zach Brzykcy, to their 40-man roster. That ensures none of those four prospects can be lost in next month’s Rule 5 draft.

The decision to drop Smith came as the biggest surprise of the day, considering the manner in which club officials spoke up the first baseman’s defensive value and clubhouse leadership this season in spite of his offensive struggles. Signed for $2 million last winter after the Mets chose not to tender him a contract, Smith hit .254/.326/.366 with 12 homers, 46 RBIs and a .692 OPS in 153 games for the Nats. Six of his 12 homers came in September alone, leaving the 28-year-old with some hope he had solved the power woes he endured for the majority of the season.

Even with those woes at the plate, Smith was lauded for his glove work at first base, where he produced five Defensive Runs Saved and was a calming influence for young infielders CJ Abrams, Luis García and Carter Kieboom.

Smith was eligible for arbitration and was projected to make roughly $4 million through that process. Now, the Nationals will be in the market for a new first baseman for the second straight offseason, likely prioritizing power from that corner position to help bolster a lineup that hit a National League-worst 151 homers this year. They could also move Joey Meneses full-time to first base and seek a new designated hitter.

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Roster moves coming on Rule 5 draft deadline day

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There are two significant roster-related deadline days across baseball this week. On Friday, all teams must tender contracts to their arbitration-eligible players, with the possibility looming that some could be non-tendered. But before we get to that, today all teams must decide which of their prospects they want to add to their 40-man rosters in order to protect them from being lost in the Rule 5 draft.

This is a day that usually didn’t garner much attention from the Nationals’ perspective when they were consistent contenders and basically sat out the Rule 5 draft for a decade. But it became important again last year, both because they owned (and used) the No. 1 pick in the draft and because they had a high number of prospects they wanted to protect, forcing them to part ways with several big leaguers.

A refresher course, for those who don’t remember how this works: The Rule 5 draft gives teams the opportunity to select unprotected minor leaguers away from other clubs for $100,000, with one critical caveat: Any player selected must remain on the major league roster the entire season (90 days on the active roster) or else be offered back to the original club.

The Nats, who hadn’t selected a Rule 5 player since 2010, finally got back in the game last year by taking Thaddeus Ward with the first overall pick. The right-hander missed several months with a shoulder injury but met the required standard by staying on the active roster enough to remain with the organization, which can now option him to Triple-A if it wants.

The Nationals did not, however, have anyone selected away from them in last year’s Rule 5 draft, evidence perhaps of some smart decisions they made to protect certain players and perhaps of the lack of big-league-ready talent further down the organizational depth chart.

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What type of pitcher might the Nats pursue this winter?

Blake Snell Padres jersey

The Nationals, like pretty much every other team in the major leagues, could use some pitching help entering next season. They would love to add an experienced starter to a rotation that, while improved from a year ago, still was lacking in many ways.

Saying you’re interested in adding a veteran starter, however, is very different from actually adding a veteran starter. And the term “veteran starter” can mean a whole lot of different things.

Are we talking about a top-of-the-rotation guy, someone who could lead this staff for years to come? Are we talking about a middle-of-the-rotation guy, a solid-but-unspectacular pitcher who takes the ball every fifth day and usually gives you a chance to win? Are we talking about a back-of-the-rotation guy, a stopgap solution who may not even make it through the entire season?

We don’t know specifically yet what the Nationals have in mind. But if we look back at Mike Rizzo’s track record, we can probably get an idea about the type of pitcher he usually pursues. And the type of pitcher he usually ignores.

Since becoming general manager in 2009, Rizzo has signed nine starting pitchers as major league free agents: Jason Marquis and Chien-Ming Wang in 2010, Edwin Jackson in 2012, Dan Haren in 2013, Max Scherzer in 2015, Patrick Corbin and Anibal Sanchez in 2019, Jon Lester in 2021 and Trevor Williams in 2023.

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