The Washington Nationals have had two №1 prospects named as the best in baseball this summer with outfielder James Wood and outfielder Dylan Crews. When Wood graduated to rookie status after he made his 130th at-bat in early August, Crews moved up weeks later into the top spot. With both players called up recently, they have formed a dynamic outfield with rookie Jacob Young. The core of this team has grown beyond the original group of CJ Abrams, Luis Garcia Jr., and Keibert Ruiz. .
There is also a young core of starting pitchers formed with MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, DJ Herz, and Mitchell Parker. That grouping does not even include the injured Josiah Gray and Cade Cavalli nor does it include Top-100 prospects of Travis Sykora and Jarlin Susana, or other promising prospects. Remember, Herz and Parker were not in the 2024 plans until injuries happened.
Add to this some of the new acquisitions like Jose Tena and Andres Chaparro, two players who were acquired at this year’s trade deadline. They are part of the MLB depth that could carryover to next season. On top of that, Brady House is a Nats’ Top-100 prospect infielder who could add to core next year.
With a player payroll projected to start the offseason at $81 million before player benefits, the Nationals will also have money to spend as general manager Mike Rizzo has talked about when he mentioned the team’s “payroll flexibility.” Rizzo also added in another interview that he plans to make a “a couple of shrewd offseason acquisitions.”
“… You can’t tell me that you can’t see the ascension for all these young players. I think when you factor that in — and our young pitching — the way they’re [performing], and the young players coming up, and the payroll flexibility — you have to be enthusiastic about where this franchise is going in the future.”
— Mike Rizzo said in the past two months
“As we take the next progression as a young team, and this young starting rotation comes into their own … you make a couple of shrewd offseason acquisitions — and I think you are right there in the mix.”
“That’s kind of the plan that we have scripted. All of these plans are not linear, as we all know, and they can change on the fly. But I think that’s how I see it, as far as where we’re at, and where we’re going, and how soon we’re going to get there.”
How can you not be excited when you see the Washington Nationals pushing for 70+ wins from their current 68-wins with 13-games remaining to be played. Today it was Gore pitching 6.0 innings with no earned runs, and Wood smashing two home runs for the winning margin. Every day there seems to be a few different stars.
Legitimate star power is what the team needs more of. The types of players who can add WAR that you can count on to accumulate the types of numbers that lead to postseason locks. With true payroll flexibility, the Nats could fill their holes in this offseason and turn a 70+ win season this year into an 80+ win season next year to compete for a Wild Card berth.
What the Nationals need to do is take full advantage of their window opening, and adding some veteran superstar talent with them. Manager Dave Martinez has a right to dream. He saw his 2019 team get old in front of his eyes in 2021 and get ravaged by injuries. All of that happened in less than two years after the World Series. It was the end of that window. At the trade deadline of 2021, his team began this painful rebuild that is just over three years at this point.
But this rebuild is far different than the Manny Acta years when the team had little in starting pitching other than Jordan Zimmermann, and Ryan Zimmerman was the lone position star with few supporting castmates. Slowly the team added players like Ian Desmond from the farm system and some notable draft picks with Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, and Anthony Rendon. With a key free agent signing, Jayson Werth, before the 2011 season, the Nats were all of a sudden a legitimate team in the NL East.
That is a similar plan for Rizzo to follow. Take a homegrown core and add to it — then find that impact free agent signing like Rizzo and the Lerner ownership group did when they paid Werth. Yes, it will take money and making those smart moves — or as Rizzo called it “shrewd acquisitions.”
These final two weeks of the season are the final dress rehearsal for players who want spots on the 2025 roster. You could see at least 20-players as locks on the 2025 roster. You can also see a huge gaping hole at first base, and the need for a veteran starting pitcher to seed in front of the young starters.
“The biggest thing I want them to learn is the mindset of playing in September and getting into October. It’s the mental game right now. … Winning is important. If we’re going to do what we want to do is to get to another championship, we have to learn how to win.”
— Martinez said today in separate comments
“It’s gratifying to see them getting better every day.”
“Every day I see those guys — I dream on the future.”
The future is bright indeed. The Nationals starters’ ERA is 4.36 as an entire squad — and the good news is Herz is at 3.70, Gore is at 4.17, Irvin at 4.19, and Parker at 4.29. If you take the entire staff, they still rank 6th best in starter’s FIP in MLB — which tells you what this team could be with better defense. Keep in mind that the Dodgers starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.21.
With the core of starting pitchers that will be part of the 2024 rotation, those four Nats’ starters are averaging 4.16. That’s better than where the Dodgers are right now. Think about what the Nats could do next year with just some minimal improvement from that quartet of pitchers and adding one veteran starter to seed at the front — and couple that with an emphasis on better defense.
How can you not dream on the future?
