And so we have reached the final installment of a series 20 years in the making. It’s time to reveal the five greatest players in Nationals history. Thanks again to everyone who has read and commented on the previous editions. It’s always great to hear the diverse set of opinions on such a fun topic. For those who haven’t read them yet, here are links to the articles on Nos. 16-20, Nos. 11-15 and Nos. 6-10.

These final five share a lot of things in common. Every one of them excelled while in Washington, all of them performing not only at an All-Star level but at times a Hall of Fame level. All played here for at least parts of five seasons, two of them for more than a decade. Four were homegrown, one acquired in a massive free agent deal. Most importantly, all five played in and were significant contributors to the first World Series title in franchise history.

There will be plenty of discussion about the final order selected below. There’s a reasonable case for everyone from this group to rank anywhere in the top five. In the end, it came down to a combination of excellence, longevity and legacy …

NO. 5 – JUAN SOTO
Outfielder, 2018-22
Stats: 565 G, 2439 PA, 1954 AB, 399 R, 569 H, 108 2B, 9 3B, 119 HR, 358 RBI, 38 SB, 14 CS, 464 BB, 414 SO, .291 AVG, .427 OBP, .538 SLG, .966 OPS, 159 OPS+, 21.3 bWAR, 21.0 fWAR

Soto didn’t come out of nowhere; the Nationals gave him a $1.5 million bonus when they signed him at 16 out of the Dominican Republic. And they always knew he had elite hitting skills and a patient eye to go along with it. But his rise to the majors was shockingly quick. In the span of three weeks in April-May 2018, he was promoted from low Single-A Hagerstown to high Single-A Potomac to Double-A Harrisburg to the big leagues. And then immediately thrived and never looked back.

Nathaniel Lowe wasn’t exactly shocked when he got the news Sunday.

The Rangers first baseman had already seen his team acquire corner infielder Jake Burger from the Marlins this month, and there were rumblings they were in the market for Joc Pederson as well. He seemed to be getting squeezed out of his everyday job, maybe squeezed out of Texas altogether.

So when his phone rang Sunday and the caller ID showed “Chris Young,” Lowe correctly guessed he had just been traded. The only question was where he was going.

“When you see the GM’s phone pop up in the middle of winter, that’s kind of usually how that goes. It’s my second time getting traded in the winter,” Lowe said during a Zoom call with reporters Monday. “I’m excited for a new opportunity. And when he said I was going to Washington, I was like: ‘Let’s go for it!’”

Acquired by the Nationals for reliever Robert Garcia, Lowe has had 24 hours to process the news and look forward to a new challenge. The 29-year-old is embracing this one, in large part because it stirs up echoes of his joining the Rangers in 2021 after getting limited playing time the previous two seasons with the Rays.

For two months, we knew the Nationals’ biggest offseason need was a first baseman. And for two months, we waited and waited and waited to see who Mike Rizzo would acquire for that all-important position.

In the end, he didn’t sign one of the big-name (aka high-priced) free agents. Pete Alonso remains unsigned, with a return to the Mets perhaps the likeliest outcome. Christian Walker is now an Astro, getting three years and $60 million.

Nor did Rizzo sign one of the second-tier, fallback options in free agency. Paul Goldschmidt went to the Yankees for one year and $12.5 million. Carlos Santana went to the Guardians for one year and $12 million, shortly after Cleveland traded Josh Naylor to the Diamondbacks.

In the end, Rizzo went the trade route himself, snagging Nathaniel Lowe from the Rangers for Robert Garcia on Sunday evening in a deal that finally addressed his team’s biggest need while at the same time creating additional need at another critical position: reliever.

Who is Lowe? He’s a 29-year-old, lefty-hitting, righty-throwing native of Norfolk, Va., who went to high school in suburban Atlanta and played in college at Mississippi State before the Rays used their 13th-round pick on him in the 2016 draft. After getting a taste of the big leagues in 2019-20, the Rays traded him to the Rangers, who gave him the opportunity to play every day.

The Washington Nationals acquired first baseman Nathaniel Lowe from the Texas Rangers in exchange for left-handed pitcher Robert Garcia on Sunday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

Lowe, 29, won a Rawlings Gold Glove Award in 2023, a Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award in 2022, and was a member of the 2023 World Champion Texas Rangers. In 2024, he paced the Rangers and ranked in the American League in walks (6^th, 71) and on-base percentage (9^th, .361). His .361 on-base percentage ranked second among American League first basemen, while his .762 OPS ranked third. Lowe’s 12.6% walk rate ranked fourth in all of Major League Baseball.

In his fourth season in Texas in 2024, Lowe hit .265 with 16 doubles, one triple, 16 home runs, 69 RBI, 71 walks, two stolen bases and 62 runs scored in 140 games. He ranked second among American League first basemen with seven outs above average and fourth with a .995 fielding percentage. Lowe is under club control through the 2026 season.

The left-handed hitting Lowe is a career .272/.356/.433 hitter with 114 doubles, 10 triples, 89 home runs, 329 RBI, 314 walks and 334 runs scored in 686 games across six Major League seasons with Texas (2021-24) and Tampa Bay. A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Lowe was originally selected by the Rays in the 13^th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Mississippi State University.

The Nationals have acquired a much-needed first baseman. Not via free agency, but trade.

The club finalized a deal this evening that will bring former Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Award winner Nathaniel Lowe to Washington in exchange for left-hander Robert Garcia, a trade that fills a major hole in the roster but also creates another hole in an already thin bullpen.

Having seen a flurry of top free agent first basemen (Christian Walker, Paul Goldschmidt, Carlos Santana) sign elsewhere in the last 48 hours, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo instead turned to the trade market to fill what arguably was his roster’s biggest hole. He found a willing partner in Rangers GM Chris Young.

Lowe, 29, isn’t as well-known as the aforementioned free agents, but he’s put together a solid career both at the plate and in the field. Over parts of six big league seasons with the Rays and Rangers, he owns a .272/.356/.433 slash line, having averaged 26 doubles, 20 homers and 75 RBIs each over the last four years.

A left-handed batter and right-handed fielder, Lowe’s best season at the plate came in 2022, when he hit 27 homers with a .302 batting average and .851 OPS to win the American League Silver Slugger Award at his position. He followed that up with his best defensive season in 2023, winning the Gold Glove Award for the World Series champions while leading all AL first basemen in putouts, assists, double plays and Fielding Runs Above Average.

It’s time for the third installment of our 20 Greatest Players in Nationals History series, which means we’ve reached the Top 10. If you missed the first two installments, be sure to click these links for No. 16-20 and No. 11-15.

It was no easy task finalizing the 20 greatest players in 20 years of Nats baseball, and it was no easier deciding who made the Top 10, and in what order. Reminder: This is a subjective exercise, so there’s no hard and fast rule or stat to determine the order. This is about both the player’s tangible performance and also his broader impact and significance within the history of the organization.

We’ll wrap things up next Sunday with the highly anticipated Top 5. But before we get to that, here’s No. 6-10, featuring some pretty big names who each played parts of at least seven seasons in D.C. …

NO. 10 – IAN DESMOND
Shortstop, 2009-15
Stats: 927 G, 3793 PA, 3480 AB, 424 R, 917 H, 185 2B, 21 3B, 110 HR, 432 RBI, 122 SB, 37 CS, 232 BB, 890 SO, .264 AVG, .312 OBP, .424 SLG, .736 OPS, 99 OPS+, 16.5 bWAR, 16.2 fWAR

In March 2005, the Nationals called up a 19-year-old shortstop drafted the previous summer by the then-Expos to play in a few big league spring training games. He immediately turned heads with some dazzling plays in the field, prompting Jim Bowden and Frank Robinson to declare him the organization’s “Shortstop of the Future” and give him a chance to play in the team’s first exhibition game at RFK Stadium.

As he explored his options this winter, Michael Soroka was struck by the Nationals’ interest in him. Interest that stemmed not as much from what he had done in the past, but from what they feel he’s still capable of doing in the future.

“It seemed like the best place to move forward with, for myself and for the organization,” the right-hander said Friday in an introductory Zoom call with D.C. reporters. “I’m excited to be a part of that. It’s an organization that’s going in the right direction.”

The Nats on Thursday made Soroka their first major league acquisition of the offseason, giving him a one-year, $9 million contract to join their 2025 rotation. It’s a gamble in some ways, because he hasn’t been a full-time, big-league starter since 2019 with the Braves (when he finished runner-up for Rookie of the Year and sixth for the Cy Young Award).

Soroka’s career has been on a winding path since, with two full seasons lost to a freak Achilles’ tendon tear (and re-tear), then a slow and at times ineffective return to the mound that culminated this season with an 0-10 record, 4.74 ERA and demotion from the rotation to the bullpen for an historically awful White Sox team.

The Nationals, though, saw what Soroka himself felt during the latter stages of a tough season in Chicago. Upon moving to a long-relief role, he enjoyed newfound success with some changes both to his mechanics and his pitch usage. In 16 relief appearances totaling 36 innings, he produced a 2.75 ERA, 1.222 WHIP and a whopping 60 strikeouts.

The Nationals’ long-awaited first free agent signing of the offseason didn’t qualify as a big splash. Michael Soroka isn’t the big slugger they need for the middle of their lineup. He’s not the closer they lack since non-tendering Kyle Finnegan. And he’s probably not the ace of the staff, even if he did pitch like one as a rookie for the Braves way back in 2019.

Soroka’s deal – one year, $9 million – is modest by 2025 standards. If anything, it might even be a bit of a stretch considering his lack of success and lack of good health, the last five seasons.

But that’s the price of doing business in the free agent pitching market. Nobody with any kind of track record comes cheap, and the best of the best are paid exorbitant amounts of dollars over a number of years that leaves general managers around the league shivering.

The Nats didn’t sign Soroka to lead their rotation. They signed him in the hopes he can rekindle some of his past success and health and perform at a level that makes his $9 million salary look like a bargain.

In short, they signed him hoping he can do in 2025 what Trevor Williams did in 2024.

The Nationals have made their long-awaited first major league acquisition of the winter, signing right-hander Michael Soroka to a one-year, $9 million deal.

The signing, formally announced by the team this afternoon, is their first of an unusually quiet offseason to date but perhaps signals the start of a more active period before the holidays. The financial terms, confirmed by a club source, make the 27-year-old the highest paid player on the team for now.

Soroka burst onto the scene with the Braves in 2019, going 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA and 1.111 WHIP to earn an All-Star selection, plus votes for the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards. His career has been ravaged by injuries since, beginning with a freak Achilles tendon tear that essentially kept him out of the big leagues for more than two full seasons.

The Braves traded Soroka to the White Sox last winter, and he attempted to revive his career in Chicago. It didn’t go well at first; he went 0-5 with a 6.39 ERA in nine early season starts for a team that would eventually set the major league record with 121 losses. But he was much more effective pitching out of the bullpen the remainder of the season, posting a 2.75 ERA in 16 appearances, most of them lasting multiple innings.

The Nationals intend to give Soroka a chance to start, according to a club source, which aligns with the money they guaranteed him. As was the case with Trevor Williams in recent seasons, though, the team could shift him to the bullpen at some point if he struggles in the rotation or if another starter emerges.

The Nationals’ minor league coaching staff is mostly staying put for 2025, with a couple of notable affiliate and role changes.

The Nats unveiled their entire player development staff for the upcoming season Wednesday, and it features plenty of familiar names who have been with the organization for some time.

Triple-A manager Matt LeCroy and Double-A manager Delino DeShields both return, with LeCroy about to enter his fifth season in Rochester and DeShields entering his third season in Harrisburg.

LeCroy, who played 39 games for the Nationals in 2006, has been a coach or manager within the organization continuously since 2008 and has managed every affiliate from low Single-A through Triple-A. He also served on the big league staff from 2014-15 as bullpen coach. He’s the first Rochester manager to hold the job for five seasons since Joe Altobelli from 1971-76.

DeShields joined the Nats in 2023 after a long stint with the Reds. The former Expos second baseman has become a mainstay in Harrisburg, helping top prospects James Wood, Dylan Crews and Brady House navigate their way toward Washington.

Two players the Nationals let go at season’s end found new homes Tuesday, with Ildemaro Vargas signing a minor league contract with the Diamondbacks and Jordan Weems getting his own minor league deal with the Braves.

Both Vargas and Weems were regular members of the Nats roster in 2023 and were expected to remain in their respective roles throughout the 2024 season, as well. Vargas did survive the full year but was dropped from the 40-man roster in November and elected to become a free agent. Weems was designated for assignment in August, and though he cleared waivers and finished the season at Triple-A Rochester, he became a free agent in October.

Neither is assured of a major league job in 2025, but each will get an opportunity to make a case for himself in the spring with invitations to big league camp.

Vargas, 33, has previous ties with the Diamondbacks, signing with them in 2015 and making his major league debut in 2017. The infielder spent parts of the next four seasons in Arizona, playing in 144 games while batting .247 with seven homers, 36 RBIs and a .648 OPS.

He bounced around after that, going from the Diamondbacks to the Twins to the Cubs to the Pirates and back to the Diamondbacks again in 2021. The Nationals then signed him to a minor league deal in May 2022, and when the need for a utility infielder arose in August following the trade of Ehire Adrianza to Atlanta, they called him up.

Jacob Young, MacKenzie Gore, CJ Abrams and Jake Irvin all performed well enough this season to earn some extra money before the holidays.

Young, Gore, Abrams and Irvin recently were revealed as part of a group of 101 players with less than three years of big league service time who qualified for Major League Baseball’s “pre-arbitration bonus pool.”

The pool was created as part of this collective bargaining agreement to reward players who have yet to reach salary arbitration but played beyond their experience levels. Anyone who finishes in the top five in voting for the MVP or Cy Young awards, first or second for Rookie of the Year or is named to the all-MLB first or second team receives a bonus ranging from $500,000 to $2.5 million. Any money remaining from the $50 million total pool is divided up among other players based on a WAR formula.

None of the Nationals received votes for the aforementioned awards, but four young players did compile enough WAR to qualify for these bonuses.

Young, who ranked 56th out of the 101 pre-arbitration players, received a bonus of $333,239. That’s added to his base rookie salary of $740,000, making his total income for the season $1,073,239.

We spend most of our time around here asking what the Nationals are going to do about their most glaring roster needs. Are they going to sign a big-name slugger to play first base? Are they going to spend money on a proven starting pitcher? Are they going to bolster a now-depleted bullpen with experienced late-inning arms?

So far, we don’t have the answers to any of those questions. The Nats have not yet acquired a major league player this offseason, aside from reliever Evan Reifert in last week’s Rule 5 Draft. Their most glaring holes remain holes to this point.

Let’s start this week off, though, looking at the roster in an entirely different way. We know what the Nationals need. Which means we also should know what they already have. It’s worth remembering where around the field they already appear to be set, because it’s actually a majority of the positions on the team.

The Nats have a middle infield, no questions there. CJ Abrams, despite his end-of-season demotion, is the everyday shortstop, coming off an All-Star year that showcased his elite combination of skills. Yes, he needs to prove he can put those skills together on a more consistent basis over a six-month season. But the team remains fully committed to him, of that there appears to be no doubt.

They’re also fully committed to Luis Garcia Jr., who after a spring full of tough love finally blossomed into the second baseman they always believed him to be. Garcia was the most pleasant development of the 2024 season, and the expectation will be for more of the same, if not even more improvement from him in 2025.

Thanks to everyone who read and commented on the first installment of our 20 Greatest Players in Nationals History series. If you missed it, click this link to find out who checked in at Nos. 16-20 before proceeding with this week’s piece featuring Nos. 11-15.

Reminder: This is a purely subjective exercise. Stats were considered, of course, but greatness is about more than stats. It’s about impact, both on and off the field. It’s about significance to the franchise during its two decades in D.C. And on some instinctual level, it’s just about the players that you think most fondly of when you consider the last 20 years of Nats baseball.

We’ll continue the series each Sunday through the rest of the month, culminating with the Top 5 on Dec. 29 …

NO. 15 – LIVÁN HERNÁNDEZ
Starting pitcher, 2005-2006, 2009-11
Stats: 44-47, 4.32 ERA, 129 GS, 828.2 IP, 915 H, 430 R, 398 ER, 82 HR, 262 BB, 476 SO, 94 ERA+, 1.420 WHIP, 7.7 bWAR, 10.2 fWAR

Perhaps no player better epitomizes the early years of the Nationals than the man who threw the first pitch in club history. Hernández already had enjoyed a notable career before coming here, winning National League Championship and World Series MVP honors as a rookie for the Marlins in 1997, then again pitching in the World Series for the Giants in 2002. He was traded to the Expos in 2003 and established himself as the workhorse ace of that staff by the time he joined them in relocating to Washington.

It’s not the kind of major splash everyone’s been waiting for, but the Nationals have signed a couple of free agents in recent days who could pitch their way onto the roster in 2025.

The Nats signed left-hander Konnor Pilkington and right-hander Clay Helvey to minor league contracts with invitations to spring training, adding a pair of pitchers who will compete for jobs in big league camp.

Pilkington, 27, has some major league experience, appearing in 16 games (11 of those starts) for the Guardians in 2022-23 with decent results. He sports a 3.75 ERA with 52 strikeouts in 60 innings, though he also walked 33 batters while compiling a 1.450 WHIP.

Originally a third-round pick of the White Sox in 2018 out of Mississippi State, Pilkington was traded three years later to Cleveland for a name familiar to Nationals fans: César Hernández (who played in D.C. in 2022). The Diamondbacks then purchased him in May 2023, and he spent the majority of the last two seasons at Triple-A Reno, going 3-5 with a 5.91 ERA, 1.764 WHIP and 79 strikeouts in 77 2/3 innings in 2024.

Pilkington, whose fastball averages 92-93 mph, has mostly run into trouble when he can’t throw strikes. He has averaged 4.6 walks per nine innings throughout his minor league career.

Good morning, everyone. We hoped this would be an eventful week, with the Winter Meetings offering an opportunity for news. And it was more eventful than any previous week this offseason, just not necessarily in a way anyone would have guessed.

Juan Soto signed with the Mets for an insane $765 million. The Nationals selected reliever Evan Reifert from the Rays in the Rule 5 Draft. Oh, and they won the Draft Lottery and surprisingly now hold the No. 1 pick next summer.

What they haven't done yet is sign any major league free agents or completed any trades. Hopefully that's on the horizon, sooner rather than later. In the meantime, we'll take another opportunity to answer your questions about what has - and what hasn't - happened so far.

If you've got something you'd like to ask, please submit it in the comments section below. Then check back throughout the morning for my responses ...

Juan Soto stole the biggest headline at the now-completed Winter Meetings – and for $765 million, rightfully so – but the most significant broader storyline to develop out of Dallas might well have been the shape of the pitching market.

In short, it’s expensive. Really expensive.

While only a handful of top position players have signed so far this offseason, a good number of free agent starters have found new homes. And they’ve been paid handsomely for their services.

The real eye-opener so far was Max Fried, who parlayed the Yankees’ frustration at losing Soto to the Mets into a gargantuan, eight-year, $218 million contract. That shattered most predictions for the left-hander, who undoubtedly is one of the league’s better starters but has dealt with some injuries in recent years and isn’t a prototypical power pitcher.

Fried’s deal, which runs through his age-38 season, was the biggest one given to a pitcher so far this winter. But it’s not the only one that exceeded expectations.

Success in the Rule 5 Draft is never assured. It’s actually quite rare. The Nationals, though, were willing to take a shot on an unprotected prospect for the third straight year, hoping Evan Reifert bucks the trend and proves himself a valuable member of their pitching staff for years to come.

The Nats selected Reifert today in the final official event of the Winter Meetings in Dallas, using the No. 6 pick in the draft to snag the right-hander reliever away from the Rays.

Reifert, 25, has never pitched above Double-A, but he’s coming off a dominant 2024 season for Tampa Bay’s affiliate in Montgomery. In 34 appearances, he posted a sparkling 1.96 ERA and 0.919 WHIP, striking out 65 batters in only 41 1/3 innings.

Originally a 30th-round pick of the Rangers in 2018 from North Iowa Area Community College, Reifert chose not to sign with Texas and instead transferred to Central Missouri. He wasn’t selected in the pandemic-condensed 2020 draft, but signed with the Brewers and began his professional career.

After a strong 2021 season in Single-A ball, Reifert was traded to the Rays in a deal for big leaguer Mike Brosseau, then spent the last three seasons in Tampa Bay’s farm system. A shoulder injury derailed most of his 2023 campaign, but he returned strong this year at the Double-A level.

The Washington Nationals selected right-handed pitcher Evan Reifert in the Major League phase of the 2024 Rule 5 Draft on Wednesday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

Reifert, 25, joins the Nationals after spending the last three seasons in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. He pitched in 35 games for Double-A Montgomery in 2024, going 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA (9 ER/41.1 IP). He struck out 65 and allowed just 22 hits, holding opponents to a .155  batting average, earning a Southern League All-Star nod at season’s end.

Following the 2023 season, the Wilton, Iowa native struck out 25 and allowed just one hit in 11.2 scoreless innings in the Arizona Fall League, earning the league’s Pitcher of the Year Award.

The hard-throwing reliever ranks sixth in all of Minor League Baseball (min. 140.0 IP) since 2018, holding opponents to a .165 batting average in those six seasons.

Reifert is 12-5 with a 3.01 ERA in 112 Minor League games in his career after he was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 30th round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft. He has struck out 242 in 146.1 innings of work.

Fans who purchase tickets from Dec. 11-22 will be entered into the
‘Cheers to 20 Years’ Sweepstakes, the biggest giveaway in Club history 
Highlights Include Team Road Trip, 20^th Anniversary Ring,
Spring Training Experience and Free Tickets

Single-game tickets for the Washington Nationals 20^th Anniversary season are now on sale to the general public, and fans who purchase at least one ticket from Wednesday, Dec. 11, through Sunday, Dec. 22, will be automatically entered into the Cheers to 20 Years Sweepstakes for the chance to win one of 20 incredible prizes. Fans can purchase tickets and learn more about the sweepstakes at nats.com/Cheers.

The Cheers to 20 Years Sweepstakes – the biggest sweepstakes in Club history – is part of the Nationals’ season-long NATS20 celebration, which will thank fans for two decades of #NATITUDE. One grand prize winner and a guest will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience a road trip like a Major Leaguer, from travel on the official team charter, hotel accommodations, game tickets and even per diem for food and drinks during the trip. Additionally, one grand prize winner will receive an authentic 20^th Anniversary ring, commissioned specially for the season, with a retail value of nearly $6,000. One second place winner will receive an all-inclusive Spring Training package for two people, including travel, hotel accommodations, food and premium tickets at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. Eighteen other winners will each receive 20 tickets to use at any point during the 2025 regular season.

The Nationals’ 20^th Anniversary season begins at Nationals Park on Thursday, March 27, at 4:05 p.m. versus the Philadelphia Phillies. The NATS20 campaign will feature alumni appearances, the chance for fans to relive their favorite moments from the first 20 years of Nationals baseball and special giveaways:

• Friday, April 4 – Replica commemorative ring (20,000 fans)
• Among the 20,000 replicas, 20 lucky fans will find a special “golden ticket” in their giveaway box, which can be redeemed for an authentic commemorative ring valued at nearly $6,000.
• Saturday, April 5 – Replica 2005 jersey (20,000 fans)
• Saturday, April 26 – NATS20 cap (20,000 fans)
• Saturday, May 24 – Mystery moments bobblehead (20,000 fans)
• Fans will receive one of three “mystery moments” bobbleheads, each highlighting a special memory from the first 20 years of Nationals baseball
• Sunday, June 15 – NATS20 Hawaiian shirt (20,000 fans)

The full promotional schedule is available now at nats.com/Promotions. Single-game tickets for the 2025 season, as well as details about the Cheers to 20 Years Sweepstakes, are available now at nats.com/Cheers.