We’ve reached the final week of the year, so it’s time to look back at the Nationals’ most significant stories of 2024. We begin the series today looking back at the departures of the final pieces from the 2019 World Series championship team …

The revolving door had been turning since that glorious night in Houston on Oct. 30, 2019. The roster that helped the Nationals clinch their first World Series championship in franchise history would never be assembled again. But that didn’t mean pieces couldn’t linger.

Players – both of the utmost importance and those who were along for the ride – stayed around in the years since. That was until this year when, finally, the last pieces of that championship squad departed D.C.

The first to leave in 2024 was the World Series MVP, Stephen Strasburg. After a convoluted and confusing path to get there, the 36-year-old officially retired on April 6, months after plans were already in place to announce the end of his career due to complications from thoracic outlet syndrome.

The hold-up? The money still owed Strasburg, who only pitched 31 ⅓ innings in three years after the World Series, from the seven-year, $245 million extension he signed in December 2019. He was still owed $100 million over the next three years.

Merry Christmas to all! To those who celebrate, I hope you’re enjoying the holiday with friends and family. And to those who don’t, I wish you a day filled with peace and love.

One of my favorite holiday songs, “The Christmas Waltz” originally by Frank Sinatra, has a line that says, “It's that time of year when the world falls in love.” And that could not be more true this year for me.

My wife and I welcomed our first child into the world last week. An early Christmas present and the best we’ve ever received.

Robert Callum Blanco was born a healthy baby boy in D.C. Callum and mom are doing great. He’s an absolute bundle of joy with five tools: snuggly, squishy, smiley, squeaky and simply lovable. And his mother is a superhero by my standards.

Usually the one asking in interviews, I’ve fielded a lot of questions about what fatherhood is like for me. The best answer I’ve come up with in these early days is understanding.

PROSPECT REVIEW: CAYDEN WALLACE

Age on opening day 2025: 22

How acquired: Traded with Competitive Balance A pick (Caleb Lomavita) from Royals for Hunter Harvey in July 2024; originally drafted in second round by Royals in 2022 from Arkansas

Ranking: No. 11 per MLB Pipeline, No. 10 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2025
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

PROSPECT REVIEW: CALEB LOMAVITA

Age on opening day 2025: 22

How acquired: Drafted in Competitive Balance A round in 2024 from University of California, Berkeley; pick acquired via trade along with Cayden Wallace from Royals for Hunter Harvey in July 2024

Ranking: No. 10 per MLB Pipeline, No. 9 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2027
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

PROSPECT REVIEW: LUKE DICKERSON

Age on opening day 2025: 19

How acquired: Drafted in second round in 2024 from Morris Knolls High School in Rockaway, N.J.

Ranking: No. 7 per MLB Pipeline, No. 16 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2028
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

PROSPECT REVIEW: SEAVER KING

Age on opening day 2025: 21

How acquired: Drafted No. 10 overall in 2024 from Wake Forest

Ranking: No. 5 per MLB Pipeline, No. 8 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2027
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

PROSPECT REVIEW: ANDREW PINCKNEY

Age on opening day 2025: 24

How acquired: Drafted in fourth round in 2023 from University of Alabama

Ranking: No. 28 per MLB Pipeline, No. 21 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2026
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

PROSPECT REVIEW: CRISTHIAN VAQUERO

Age on opening day 2025: 20

How acquired: Signed as international free agent, January 2022

Ranking: No. 23 per MLB Pipeline, No. 12 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2027
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

PROSPECT REVIEW: YOHANDY MORALES

Age on opening day 2025: 23

How acquired: Drafted in second round in 2023 from the University of Miami (Fla.)

Ranking: No. 9 per MLB Pipeline, No. 7 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2025
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

PROSPECT REVIEW: DAYLEN LILE

Age on opening day 2025: 22

How acquired: Drafted in second round in 2021 from Trinity High School in Louisville, Ky.

Ranking: No. 12 per MLB Pipeline, No. 17 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2025
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

PROSPECT REVIEW: ELIJAH GREEN

Age on opening day 2025: 21

How acquired: Drafted No. 5 overall in 2022 from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

Ranking: No. 21 per MLB Pipeline, No. 19 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2026
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

PROSPECT REVIEW: ROBERT HASSELL III

Age on opening day 2025: 23

How acquired: Traded with MacKenzie Gore, CJ Abrams, James Wood, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit from Padres for Juan Soto and Josh Bell in August 2022; originally drafted No. 8 overall by Padres in 2020 from Independence High School in Thompson’s Station, Tenn.

Ranking: No. 13 per MLB Pipeline, No. 14 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2025
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

PROSPECT REVIEW: BRADY HOUSE

Age on opening day 2025: 21

How acquired: Drafted No. 11 overall in 2021 from Winder-Barrow High School in Winder, Ga.

Ranking: No. 3 (No. 84 overall) per MLB Pipeline, No. 4 (No. 79 overall) per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2025
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

Thanksgiving is four days away, officially kicking off the holiday season. It also may kick off a busier time for the Hot Stove season.

It has been predictably quiet around the league since the World Series ended a month ago. But we’re now two weeks away from the start of the Winter Meetings, with many around the industry already anticipating a busy week in Dallas.

No, that doesn’t mean they think Juan Soto will announce his decision. It’s more that they think some mid-to-upper-level free agents will come off the board and a couple of teams could execute some trades.

Where does that leave the Nationals?

Their free agent needs and targets have been well documented, while the free agent pool grew after Friday’s non-tender deadline. Their farm system is stacked if they wish to acquire major league talent through a trade. But could they go the opposite route and flip a current big leaguer for more prospects to add to their minor league depth?

Voting for the annual Baseball Writers' Association of America awards is hardly easy. There is a lot of pressure when filling out your ballot because of the pedigree and history that are attached to the awards.

If there was an “easy” one of the four, it would probably be Manager of the Year.

When it comes down to Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and Most Valuable Player, there are so many statistics that can be used to compare and contrast the candidates. It sometimes comes down to which ones the voters value more, and that often changes (i.e. the emergence of sabermetric numbers over the last decade).

But for Manager of the Year, there is really only one stat that matters: Record. Then that is often balanced against a team’s expectations coming into the season and any hardships they had to endure (roster changes, injuries, prolonged slumps, etc.).

Voters also take a team’s talent level into consideration. Dave Roberts may never win another Manager of the Year award because the Dodgers are always loaded with MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year candidates with World Series-or-bust aspirations.

It’s awards season around baseball as the offseason continues. Major League Baseball handed out several individual awards and named the All-MLB teams on Thursday. And the Baseball Writers' Association of America announced the finalists for its major awards this past week, with the winners to be announced over the next four days.

Unsurprisingly, the Nationals were shut out from bringing home any hardware. And it’s been a while since any has come Washington's way. But looking ahead, could the Nats have any contenders in 2025?

Note: This is only taking players currently in the organization under consideration. Of course, there could be other candidates added to the mix this offseason.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Last finalist: Juan Soto (2021)
Last winner: Bryce Harper (2015)

The biggest award of the year is probably the biggest stretch for any Nationals player. The Nats as a team would have to take a big leap forward with one of their budding stars leading the way, or have one of those stars have an unbelievable season on his own.

It’s still early November, so the Hot Stove is far from heating up. But with this past week getting us further removed from the end of the World Series, the offseason – specifically free agency – has officially begun.

For the Nationals, that means it may be time to make some significant offseason additions to the major league roster after years of waiting for their in-house prospects to reach the bigs, opening the window for them to compete again.

Mike Rizzo reportedly said at the General Manager Meetings this week in San Antonio that he thinks the Nats could make a big free agent signing this winter if it makes sense for the club, which would be a stark contrast to the organization’s philosophy over the last three offseasons.

So with that in mind, let’s take a look at MLB Trade Rumors’ list of the top 50 free agents and which players its staff predicts will land in Washington …

1B PETE ALONSO
Top 50 rank: 7
Contract: Five years, $125 million

I want to thank reader and commenter Peter Wood for posing this question back in September that I thought was an interesting topic to address in the offseason: Who do we think will have a better career, Dylan Crews or Jackson Holliday?

It is, of course, way too early to make any proclamation one way or the other. But with each playing a substantial amount in the major leagues this season, there are significant data points to start the conversation.

Crews and Holliday are both highly touted young players and former No. 1 overall prospects in the sport. The Nationals got Crews out of Louisiana State with the No. 2 overall pick in 2023. Holliday, out of Stillwater High School in Oklahoma, was the No. 1 overall selection when the Orioles drafted him in 2022.

Both youngsters were anticipated to make their big league debuts this year, which they did. In fact, they each had a shot at making his respective team’s Opening Day roster. Many around the league believed that leaving Holliday off the Orioles roster to start the season was a surprising snub.

And so it was that both prospects started the year in the minor leagues, with Crews at Double-A Harrisburg and Holliday at Triple-A Norfolk.

Despite a 16-win improvement in 2023, the Nationals were careful not to call last year a success. Even though they jumped from 55 to 71 victories, they still lost 91 games for their fourth straight losing season.

“I don't think that it's a successful season, but it's a very encouraging season,” said general manager Mike Rizzo on Sept. 13, 2023. “Nobody wants to aim to win 70 games in a season. We want to win 97 games in the season. So that's our goal. That's always been our goal. But this is a good step in the right direction to that.”

The Nats looked like they were going to take a similar step in that direction this year. Through the first 77 outings in late June, they were on pace to win about 80 games. That would have been close to another double-digit win improvement from last year and close to their first finish at or above .500 since winning the World Series in 2019.

But from that point on, starting with a three-game sweep at Petco Park at the hands of the Padres (which also helped turn San Diego’s season around), the Nats went 33-52 (.388) the rest of the way en route to finishing with the same 71-91 record they had in 2023. Although this year, they did finally end their four-year streak of finishing last in the National League East, with the woeful Marlins residing in the division’s basement.

So if last year was more “encouraging” than a “success,” what’s the word the Nats would use to describe the 2024 season?

When Patrick Corbin signed a six-year, $140 million contract with the Nationals on Dec. 7, 2018, it was praised as yet another massive free agent signing to reinforce one of the best starting rotations in baseball.

The left-hander, who chose to sign with the Nats over a Yankees team he grew up rooting for, joined Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Aníbal Sánchez in Washington’s rotation after going 11-7 with a 3.15 ERA, 1.050 WHIP and 11.1 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate in an All-Star season in Arizona.

His first year in a Curly W cap was everything he and the Nats could have hoped for. He finished 14-7 with a 3.25 ERA and some National League Cy Young Award votes before becoming a postseason hero while helping the Nats win their first World Series championship by being credited as the winning pitcher of Game 7 of the Fall Classic.

But after making his first career appearances in October (five of them coming out of the bullpen), Corbin’s career in D.C. took an unexpected turn for the worse.

Starting with the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Corbin statistically became one of the worst pitchers in the major leagues over the next five years of his contract.