The first night of the Winter Meetings began with breaking news leaking that Juan Soto received a contract for over three-quarters of a billion dollars from the New York Mets. That deal will put his career earnings near $850 million, and that does not include endorsement deals that could put Soto above a billion in earnings. In total, Soto’s new deal with the Mets has more than doubled the contract given to the Mets best player, Francisco Lindor. Now we move into the second evening of the Winter Meetings and see if any major news breaks.
Don’t fret, it was evident weeks ago that the Washington Nationals were not going to enter the Soto auction. On one hand, the Yankees were the runners-up in terms of money on the Soto auction, but they were the big losers in the end because when they traded for Soto before the 2024 season, they did not require a contract extension. They gave up Jhony Brito, Kyle Higashioka, Michael King, Drew Thorpe and Randy Vásquez for Soto in a trade with the Padres. Okay, Higashioka was scheduled to be a free agent and has left San Diego, but King turned into an excellent pitcher, and Thorpe was flipped in a trade for Dylan Cease. And Vásquez is a promising starter. While Soto helped to get the Yankees to the World Series, the goal of winning it was not achieved. In the end, all the Yankees will have to show for it going forward will be a compensation pick after Round 4. That is it.
The biggest winner in the Soto deal was the Washington Nationals. They were smart enough to foresee that if they did not trade Soto — he would head to free agency like he did to the Yankees. Via the 2022 Soto trade to the Padres, the Nats ended up with five blue chip prospects at the time in Robert Hassell III (minors), Jarlin Susana (minors), CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, and James Wood. Three were former Padres first round picks, Wood was a second round pick who was paid first round money for his signing bonus, and Susana is a Top-100 prospect currently.
While the whining is going on by those who just can’t grasp the big picture, the current focused picture is on the Nats’ offseason plans. What will general manager Mike Rizzo get done with the budget that Nats’ principal owner Mark Lerner has given to him? That is the $65 million question -or- maybe much less. We do not know what number Rizzo has to spend. But in the next 60-days we should know by the results what the Nationals spent in this offseason.
First off, Rizzo might have visions of grandeur, but like the Yankees found out with Soto, players and their agents can turn down deals for whatever reason — and rumors are out there as to why Soto chose not to take the Yankees’ money. As petty as it is, Boras clients many times have leaks as to why they turned down a deal. Accurate or not, it just sounds ridiculous to give excuses. So yes, Rizzo could put his best efforts forward and not get the players he wants. So don’t look at the results as a lack of effort.
Before the 2016 season, the Nationals top priority was to get a second baseman to pair with Danny Espinosa at shortstop. They reportedly tried for Ben Zobrist and failed then failed again to trade for Brandon Phillips, and then they got Daniel Murphy as their Plan C. Last year, reportedly the Nats Plan A for third base was a return of Jeimer Candelario, and their Plan B was not disclosed, and they pivoted to Nick Senzel as their Plan C. That did not work-out. It happens.
This offseason, Rizzo has been clear that he is looking for a couple of middle-of-the-order bats. So far, no signings. The rumors have very loosely linked the Nats to Alex Bregman, Christian Walker, Pete Alonso, and Anthony Santander. Get two of those, and Rizzo and Lerner should be applauded. But what if they get none of them? That is where the nervousness in the fanbase is currently.
“We’re going to try to not pigeonhole ourselves, but it’s clear that we have an opportunity to fill in several different spots — first base, designated hitter.”
— Rizzo said in his media session today
Fans are already pessimistic as you saw in a Twitter/X poll that we published yesterday that 80.7 percent of respondents felt that the Nats would not spend enough this offseason to win. Because actions speak louder than words, that is how the offseason will be judged in the short-term. In the long-term, it will be about actual results in the standing with wins and losses.
Play the 2025 season and the actual results will determine how Rizzo and Lerner actually did in this offseason. While there are other factors that affect the numbers, the W/L record is the ultimate standard to assess the success or failures of a season.
