I wish I could say this is the first time I’ve written one of these columns. But I’ve been a professional sportswriter for 27 years now. It’s part of the job description.

You get hired by one outlet, you hope to do your best work and survive there as long as possible, then inevitably one day you write your farewell column after getting laid off. I did it in 2009. I did it in 2015. And I’m doing it again today, my last day working for MASN.

You might think I’d be bitter and cynical at this point about a profession that keeps squeezing me through the ringer like this, but you’d be wrong. It’s a privilege to do this for a living, and there’s no profession I’d rather call mine.

I try to remind myself of this every time I meet someone who enthusiastically wants to know what the job is like. I could tell them about the long hours and the delayed flights and the family events missed and everything else that makes this life far less glamorous than most imagine. But I don’t. Because in spite of all that, it still is the coolest job in the world. And I know others would give anything to have this job.

I worked a couple weeks shy of 10 years for MASN, and wow what a roller coaster this last decade has been for the Nationals. When I started here in February 2016, Dusty Baker had just taken over as manager. His immediate tasks: Try to get Jonathan Papelbon and Bryce Harper to coexist, try to overcome the losses of Ian Desmond, Denard Span, Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister to free agency and try to lead this franchise back to the postseason after a hugely disappointing 2015.

The changes new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni made to the Nationals’ minor league system and player development department are now known, with the club officially announcing the coaches, coordinators and player development staff this afternoon.

There are still holdovers from previous years, but Toboni, assistant general manager Devin Pearson and special assistant to the president of baseball operations Andrew Wright have made a lot of changes to the system in the hopes of becoming a “player development machine,” as the new head man put it during his introductory press conference back in October.

Some of the biggest changes are the additions of more coaches and athletic training staff at each minor league affiliate, as well as an increased number of hitting and pitching coordinators.

One of the main holdovers is Matt Lecroy, who returns for his sixth season as the manager of Triple-A Rochester and 18th with the Nationals organization. LeCroy becomes the first manager to be the Red Wings skipper for a sixth consecutive year since Joe Altobelli managed the club from 1971-76.

A former big league catcher with the Nats in 2006, LeCroy has previously managed Double-A Harrisburg (2012–13, 2016–19), Single-A Potomac (2011) and Single-A Hagerstown (2009–10), while also serving as the Nats bullpen coach in 2014-15.

The Nationals claimed shortstop Tsung-Che Cheng off waivers from the Mets on Wednesday, adding another infielder to an organization that continues to make transactions on the fringes of the roster while avoiding more significant moves this offseason.

Cheng’s acquisition prompted the club to designate Konnor Pilkington for assignment, dropping the left-hander who became a prominent member of the bullpen last summer from the 40-man roster.

The 24-year-old Cheng, who stands only 5-foot-8, was signed by the Pirates out of his native Taiwan in 2019 at 17. He slowly climbed the organizational ladder, playing 107 games at Triple-A Indianapolis last season. He also made his major league debut in April, appearing in three games and going 0-for-7 with three strikeouts.

Pittsburgh designated Cheng for assignment last month, and he was claimed off waivers by the Rays on Jan. 7. Tampa Bay also designated him for assignment only five days later, with the Mets then claiming him Jan. 16, only to designate him for assignment five days after that.

Cheng can only hope he sticks with the Nationals longer. A versatile infielder who primarily plays shortstop but has also seen action at second and third base, he owns a career .251/.350/.385 slash line with 88 doubles, 21 triples, 35 homers and 112 stolen bases in 507 professional games across five seasons.

Would you believe Nationals pitchers and catchers will be on the field in West Palm Beach for their first official workout of the spring exactly two weeks from now?

Yep, while you can be excused for being focused on more pressing matters (like yelling at snow plow drivers for creating a wall of ice between the street and the driveway you spent hours shoveling) right now, rest assured baseball season is right around the corner.

And though the general feeling around the Nationals at this moment may not be as positive as many would have hoped, this still promises to be one of the more significant springs in club history. There’s an entirely new front office calling the shots. There’s an entirely new coaching staff leading the daily drills. And there are more new faces on the field than you probably realize. (12 players currently on the 40-man roster were not there at season’s end.)

So maybe it’s time to start turning our attention forward and consider some of the most pressing questions the 2026 Nats are going to face when they gather in the warm Florida sun in two weeks …

* HOW DIFFERENT IS CAMP GOING TO BE?
Davey Martinez ran each of the last eight spring trainings. Mike Rizzo was in charge of roster construction each of the last 16 springs. Both are gone, which would lead you to believe things are going to look very different this year.

Several of the Nationals’ top prospects have been given an invitation to participate in major league camp this spring, including infielder Seaver King and pitchers Travis Sykora and Jarlin Susana.

The Nats announced non-roster invitations to 10 players from within the organization, giving them an opportunity to work alongside those already on the 40-man roster.

King is perhaps the most notable name on the list, considering the 22-year-old has only one full season of professional experience at this point. Selected with the 10th overall pick in the 2024 Draft, he played in 20 games for low Single-A Fredericksburg that summer, then returned last season to play 45 games at high Single-A Wilmington and 80 at Double-A Harrisburg.

King struggled at times at the plate during the season, slashing just .244/.294/.337, but he enjoyed a highly productive turn in the Arizona Fall League, slashing a robust .359/.468/.563 in 18 games, scoring 21 runs while driving in 24 and stealing six bases.

The versatile infielder was known for playing all around the field at Wake Forest, but the Nationals so far have kept him exclusively at shortstop, believing they can move him to another position down the road if needed.

As the dust settled from last week’s trade of MacKenzie Gore, with plenty of thoughts coming to the forefront about the five prospects the Nationals got from the Rangers and what this all means about the new front office’s short-term and long-term intentions, another question eventually came to mind: Who exactly is going to fill out the Nats’ 2026 rotation at this point?

It’s a question, quite honestly, that doesn’t come with a very reassuring answer.

Even with Gore, the Nationals’ projected rotation looked thin on sure things. Now, it’s even thinner.

If he had to pick five starters right now to open the season, new manager Blake Butera probably would choose (in no particular order) Cade Cavalli, Brad Lord, Jake Irvin, Foster Griffin and (if healthy and ready to go) Josiah Gray. The options beyond that include Mitchell Parker, Andrew Alvarez and maybe Rule 5 Draft pick Griff McGarry (who you’d think is more likely to open the year as a long reliever). Then there are DJ Herz and Trevor Williams, each still recovering from elbow surgery but perhaps ready to go sometime around May.

Is that what the Nationals rotation will actually look like come late-March? Maybe, though again it would feature a lot more questions than answers.

Oh, how things can change in 3 ½ years. Heck, how things can change in 11 months.

Thursday’s trade of MacKenzie Gore to the Rangers for five prospects not only marked the end of the Nationals’ previous rebuild, but also the beginning of the next one.

As hard as it may be for fans to hear after four years of rebuilding, new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni admitted as much when he spoke to the media over a Zoom call Thursday night to discuss the deal that has now put the Nats even further away from contention.

“I think we’ve got to be honest with ourselves,” Toboni said. “The truth is – and I don’t think this is a mystery to the fan base, the media or anyone – we lost 96 games last year. To turn it around in one year and make the playoffs ... not to say it can’t be done, but it’s a challenge. What we want to do is make sure we build this really strong foundation, so when we do start to push chips in, we can win for an extended period of time. That fits with that strategy for us.”

That’s a harsh reality from the new man in charge, and a direct contrast from what fans heard the previous regime say ahead of last season.

The news got buried in the aftermath of the MacKenzie Gore trade, but the Nationals also made another waiver claim Thursday and in a corresponding move designated Riley Adams for assignment.

The Nats claimed reliever Gus Varland from the Diamondbacks, bringing aboard a 29-year-old right-hander with a 4.82 ERA in 42 career major league games with the Brewers, Dodgers and White Sox. All of those appearances came from 2023-24; Varland spent the majority of the 2025 season on the injured list recovering from a lat strain, able to pitch in only eight minor league games.

Needing to clear a 40-man roster spot for Varland, the Nationals designated Adams, a move that traditionally leads to a departure from the organization but likely won’t in this particular case because of a quirk of the catcher’s contract.

Adams, who has played 251 games for the Nats since his July 2021 acquisition from the Blue Jays for closer Brad Hand, agreed last month to a split contract that guaranteed him $1 million if he was on the major league roster and $500,000 if he accepted an outright assignment to the minors.

We’re seeing now why the Nationals made that offer, and why Adams agreed to it. With Harry Ford expected to join Keibert Ruiz behind the plate, Adams was probably going to be the odd man out. And because he’s out of options, he couldn’t have been sent to Triple-A without first clearing waivers.

On the day he traded Juan Soto, Mike Rizzo acknowledged the raw emotions everyone was feeling at the time but insisted it ultimately would leave the Nationals in a better position to win long-term.

“I think it accelerates the process,” the former general manager said. “I think that you lose a generational talent like that, but you put in five key elements of your future championship roster.”

Not even 3 1/2 years later, the man who replaced Rizzo running baseball operations tried to explain how trading away one of those “key elements of your future championship roster” for five more prospects – long before this franchise has come anywhere close to winning again – will put the Nats in a better position to win long-term, a message that is increasingly difficult for a weary fanbase to accept.

“I hear it, and I empathize with it,” Paul Toboni said Thursday night after trading MacKenzie Gore to the Rangers. “There would be part of me – I think back to my 15-year-old self; I was a Giants fan at the time – bummed to see a player of this caliber leaving, and a leader on the team and that sort of thing.

“But I would paint a much more optimistic picture. I think the excitement that comes with these players we’re getting in return exceeds the disappointment of seeing MacKenzie go. That’s just me talking as the head of baseball operations now. I’m really excited about the package we’ve gotten in return. And I hope fans see it in the same way.”

The Nationals have agreed to trade left-hander MacKenzie Gore to the Rangers for a package of five prospects, including Texas’ first-round pick from last summer’s draft, in Paul Toboni’s first blockbuster deal since becoming the club’s president of baseball operations.

The trade, which was officially announced late this afternoon, sends Gore to Texas with two years of club control remaining and makes the 26-year-old burgeoning ace the first player acquired in the Juan Soto megadeal of 2022 to be dealt away.

As was the case in the Soto deal, the Nats receive five prospects in return for Gore, though this package does not include as many highly rated players.

The return from the Rangers features shortstop Gavin Fien (a 2025 first round pick), right-hander Alejandro Rosario (formerly a top-50 prospect who is expected to miss the entire 2026 season following Tommy John surgery), infielder Devin Fitz-Gerald (drafted in 2024 out of high school), outfielder Yeremy Cabrera (20-year-old signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2022) and first baseman Abimelec Ortiz (23-year-old who posted a .953 OPS in 41 games at Triple-A last season).

Those five players’ most recent rankings among the Rangers’ top prospects, per MLB Pipeline: Fien (No. 2), Rosario (No. 6), Fitz-Gerald (No. 12), Cabrera (No. 16) and Ortiz (No. 18). None made Pipeline’s overall Top-100 list, though that organization has yet to update its rankings for 2026.

As spring training creeps closer – only 19 days until pitchers and catchers report! – we’re starting to see the unveiling of various preseason top prospect rankings from the major outlets who compile such things. And the Nationals’ No. 1 pick from last summer’s draft is all over those rankings.

Eli Willits debuts as the 31st best prospect in the sport, according to Baseball America, which released its 2026 Top 100 list Wednesday. That may sound a bit low for the first player selected in the draft, but keep in mind he just turned 18 and has played only 15 games to date as a professional.

Willits, the dynamic all-around shortstop from Oklahoma, “has a chance for five average or better tools and should be the Nationals’ shortstop of the future,” per Baseball America’s blurb. Consider that a major compliment, touting his lack of weaknesses in all aspects of the game. And if that 15-game debut for Single-A Fredericksburg – a .300 batting average, .397 on-base percentage and .757 OPS – offered a glimpse of things to come, Willits should live up to the billing.

Eleven of the 30 prospects ranked above Willits are also shortstops, which is by far the most loaded position in the minor leagues at the moment. Consider MLB Pipeline’s recent exercise ranking the top 10 shortstop prospects: Willits is eighth on that list, even though he ended the 2025 season as the No. 15 overall prospect in baseball per that outlet.

It’s notable that Willits outranks fellow Oklahoma shortstop and fellow 2025 first rounder Ethan Holliday, who ranks 10th on that MLB Pipeline top shortstops list and 80th overall in the sport on Baseball America’s list.

The Nationals made another under-the-radar roster move Tuesday, claiming utilityman Mickey Gasper off waivers from the Twins. It’s the kind of move that doesn’t garner major headlines, and fan reactions tend to lean more sarcastic than serious.

But it’s the kind of move we should maybe start expecting more regularly from the Nats’ new front office, which seems to be scouring every possible alternative to the traditional free agent market in search of players who can fill out rosters not only at the big league level but the minors as well.

Gasper isn’t close to a high-profile acquisition. He’s 30 years old, he’s taken only 133 MLB plate appearances and he’s produced a measly .445 OPS in the process. He’s a catcher who also plays first base, second base and the outfield. Yeah, he’s not your conventional ballplayer.

What Gasper has done is produce a stout .303/.406/.512 slash line in 490 plate appearances the last three seasons with the Triple-A affiliates of the Yankees, Red Sox and Twins. He appears to own the International League.

And given his ability to play just about anywhere on the field – he’s even pitched three times in the minors – he’s the kind of player who probably won’t have much impact on a major league roster but absolutely could be helpful to a minor league club.

This was always going to be a strange Hall of Fame election. After three players (Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, Billy Wagner) were elected one year ago, the 2026 ballot wasn’t going to include any slam-dunk first-time candidates. And the returning candidates, several of them compelling cases in their own rights, all had some kinds of red flags hurting their cause, whether on the field or off it.

In my case, I knew from the outset I would either need to vote for a first-time nominee or change my past vote on a returning candidate to risk submitting a blank ballot to the Hall of Fame. For the record, voting members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America absolutely are allowed to submit a blank ballot if they don’t believe any candidates are worthy of induction. But that’s not a path I particularly wanted to go down for the first time. (The maximum number of names permitted is 10, a number I have reached multiple times before.)

So, as I mentioned in last year’s column, I had to think long and hard about lowering some of my longstanding criteria for Hall of Fame worthiness. I’ve always believed a player needs to check off three boxes to earn my vote: 1) Excellence, 2) Longevity and 3) No on-field actions that fail to meet the character, integrity and sportsmanship standards the Hall instructs us to consider in addition to actual playing performance.

In the end, I felt it was appropriate to lower the standard for one of those criteria: Longevity. I’ve always believed players needed not only to dominate the sport, but to maintain that dominance over a significant period of time. There’s no magic number of seasons that qualifies, but it probably needed to reach double digits to be safe.

Thing is, it’s probably too much to ask today’s players to live up to that standard. Especially pitchers, whose careers just don’t last as long as they did decades ago because of the max effort most are asked to give and the inevitable injuries and deterioration that’s likely to come once they reach their 30s.

It’s a big day in the baseball world, because it’s Hall of Fame election day. Or, to be more precise, Hall of Fame election results announcement day.

The actual election took place earlier this winter, with BBWAA voters receiving ballots in late-November and required to mail them back no later than Dec. 31. Three weeks later, those ballots will be tallied and the results announced at 6 p.m. EST on MLB Network.

Each year’s ballot is distinctive, with its own individual quirks. This year’s is no different, with 12 first-time nominees (but none of them obvious slam dunks to be elected) and 15 returning nominees (several of them seemingly on the cusp of enshrinement).

As always, I’ll publish my own official ballot and explainer column later this evening after the results are announced. So please be sure to check back and read one of my favorite articles of the year. Until then, here are some of the biggest things to keep an eye on leading up to tonight’s revelation …

IS THIS THE YEAR FOR BELTRAN AND JONES?
The top two returning candidates are the two candidates with the best chance of being elected tonight: Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones. Beltran got awfully close last year, named on 70.3 percent of ballots. Jones was a bit farther back at 66.2 percent. It would not be surprising if both reached the magical 75 percent threshold for induction this time around. Beltran has always had a rock-solid baseball case; he’s mostly been held back by those who believe his role in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal in 2017 disqualifies him based on the Hall’s longstanding instructions that voters consider character, integrity and sportsmanship in addition to playing performance. Jones has perhaps been held back somewhat by the fact he pled guilty in 2013 to domestic violence charges against his wife, probably held back more so because his on-field performance took a nosedive after age 30. But there seems to be growing support for both, and if anyone is going to get voted in this year, these are the two most likely candidates.

The Nationals ultimately did settle with Cade Cavalli to avoid arbitration, in the process agreeing to an unconventional deal that establishes a significant raise for the right-hander in 2027 if he pitches well in 2026.

Cavalli and the Nats agreed Sunday to a contract that will pay him $862,500 this season, with a $4 million club option for next season that could be bought out for a mere $7,000, a source familiar with the terms confirmed.

The 2026 salary figure falls right at the midpoint between the numbers each side formally submitted for arbitration 11 days ago. Cavalli had sought $900,000; the team had offered $825,000. In reality, he’s guaranteed to make at least $869,500 because of the inclusion of the buyout.

It’s a small win for Cavalli, but the bigger win would come if he puts together an impressive first full major league season, convincing the Nationals he’s worth the $4 million option in 2027. (He would still be under club control if the option isn't picked up and would just need to go through the arbitration process again.)

How well would he need to pitch for the club to pick up the option? For comparison’s sake, Jake Irvin will earn $2.8 million this season as a first-time arbitration-eligible player who is coming off a difficult season in which he went 9-13 with a 5.70 ERA and 1.428 WHIP while allowing a league leading 38 homers in 180 innings.

Does it feel like this offseason has gone by really quickly to anyone else, or is it just me? It seems like only yesterday we were watching an epic Game 7 of the World Series between the Blue Jays and the eventual champion Dodgers. And now here we are, less than a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting to West Palm Beach.

Don’t get me wrong, the upcoming start of a new baseball season is exciting. It just seems that every offseason moves quicker and quicker as the years go on.

But I digress …

Though it may not seem like it, the Nationals have been pretty busy this offseason. Yes, I know a lot of fans wish there were more moves made to the major league roster, but new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni has been hard at work rebuilding the whole organization the way he wants. Unfortunately for fans, a lot of that work can’t be seen right now.

The Nats did bring back right-hander Trevor Gott on a minor league deal yesterday, per multiple reports. The 33-year-old pitched in Washington during the 2016-18 seasons after being acquired from the Angels in a trade for infielder Yunel Escobar.

As the vast majority of the Nationals’ front office and coaching staffs were overhauled this fall and winter, one corner of the organization remained intact.

The club’s international scouting department is still under previous management, namely Victor Rodriguez, who was hired in 2023 and for the last two years has been director international operations. Rodriguez was hired by Mike Rizzo, but he continues to serve in the same role under Paul Toboni.

What helped his cause? The fact his first job was with the Red Sox, who employed both Toboni and Justin Horowitz. And the fact his next job was with the Rays, who employed Anirudh Kilambi. Those three men now hold some of the top titles in the Nats front office, with Rodriguez a welcome face running one of baseball operations’ most important departments.

“It’s always good to come and see somebody that you’ve worked with in the past, because that learning curve and that trust gets expedited a little bit better,” Rodriguez said. “It’s really exciting for me to be able to work alongside all these guys again.”

Rodriguez spoke with reporters Thursday, when Major League Baseball’s international signing period officially opened. The Nationals added 15 new players from three Latin American countries, a group headlined by two highly ranked Dominican outfielders: Samil Serrano and Isaias Suarez.

While there’s been plenty of discussion around here about the Nationals’ Opening Day roster and what holes still need to be filled between now and then, there’s been less discussion about some of the organization’s most intriguing young players who aren’t part of the immediate plan but certainly are part of the long term plan.

The Nats’ farm system has experienced some real ups and downs in recent years. What had been one of the sport’s worst systems was reinvigorated with the Juan Soto trade in 2022 and began showing up in the top-10 rankings of several major publications one year later.

The “graduations” of James Wood, Dylan Crews, Daylen Lile, Cade Cavalli and others, though, in the last year-plus have left the organization back towards the bottom of the pile. New 2026 preseason rankings haven’t been published yet, but Baseball America had the Nats at No. 21 last summer and MLB Pipeline had them at No. 23.

We know one of Paul Toboni’s primary goals as president of baseball operations is to build a consistent player development machine that pumps out quality big leaguers year in and year out. That takes time, but the cupboard he inherited isn’t entirely bare, either.

The Nationals have four top-100 prospects in the game, according to MLB Pipeline’s most recent rankings: Eli Willits (15), Harry Ford (42), Travis Sykora (49) and Jarlin Susana (87). The rest of the organization’s current top-10: Luis Perales, Luke Dickerson, Alex Clemmey, Landon Harmon, Seaver King and Ethan Petry.

The Nationals announced today they will begin producing and broadcasting games directly through Major League Baseball this season, ending a 21-year relationship with MASN.

Nationals.tv, as it is being branded, will broadcast all locally televised games in 2026, available through cable and satellite providers in the region as well as through MLB’s direct-to-consumer streaming platform.

The arrangement mirrors those of six other franchises (Padres, Diamondbacks, Mariners, Rockies, Twins, Guardians) who in recent years have left their regional sports networks and partnered directly with MLB to broadcast their games.

“Today’s announcement represents a new chapter for Washington Nationals baseball,” managing principal owner Mark Lerner said in a statement. “We are excited to have already begun work with the talented team at MLB, and the collaboration is off to a strong start as we work together to elevate the viewing experience with world-class broadcasts across television and streaming.

“Partnering with MLB offers us several new opportunities that will greatly improve the on-air product, including technological enhancements, the ability to work more closely with our broadcasters, and create added opportunities for our valued corporate partners. We’re thrilled to be able to offer the kind of presentation that our dedicated fans across the entire Mid-Atlantic region deserve.”

Though most of the moves they’ve made to date haven’t warranted major headlines, the Nationals have made a good number of moves since season’s end 3 1/2 months ago.

Twelve players who ended the 2025 season on the club’s 40-man roster no longer reside there: Jorge Alfaro, Josh Bell, Zach Brzykcy, Paul DeJong, Jose A. Ferrer, Sauryn Lao, Trey Lipscomb, Ryan Loutos, Shinnosuke Ogasawara, Eduardo Salazar, CJ Stubbs, Mason Thompson.

Which means 12 new players have since been added to the 40-man roster: Riley Cornelio, Harry Ford, Christian Franklin, Foster Griffin, Griff McGarry, Luis Perales, Paxton Schultz and Joey Wiemer, plus four guys who were reinstated from the 60-day injured list (Josiah Gray, DJ Herz, Drew Millas, Trevor Williams).

That’s a healthy amount of turnover for an organization, though probably not unexpected considering the turnover that’s also occurred in the front office and coaching staff.

But it can be hard to keep up with all the transactions. So let’s take a moment this morning to run through the entire 40-man roster as currently constructed, understanding there can and will be more changes to come before pitchers and catchers report to West Palm Beach in a mere four weeks.