The calendar is 9-days from turning to February, and you can almost smell the green grass being freshly mowed at the Cacti Park of the Palm Beaches . Yes, three weeks from today marks the opening of Spring Training camp to pitchers and catchers on Feb. 12 for the Washington Nationals.
While you might be thinking that the Nats’ roster still needs some additions — sooner than later, keep in mind that the number of unsigned players is still in the hundreds at this point. Players will continue to be signed.
According to the NY Post’s Jon Heyman, “156 MLB players are still waiting for deals as spring training approaches.” That was over the weekend, and that number is closer to 150 today with Anthony Santander signing with Toronto and a few relievers off the board. Even if each team signed three more players from that pool, there would still be 60-players looking for jobs.
Players like Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso, and Max Scherzer unsigned, and so are Ha-Seong Kim, Nick Pivetta, Jurickson Profar, Jack Flaherty, Carlos Estévez, Randal Grichuk, Paul DeJong, Kenley Jansen, and David Robertson. There are others too — but those are Top-10 and Top-50 free agents that are still unemployed.
What are the players and agents waiting for? What are teams waiting for? The Nats have needs to the point that even MLB Trade Rumors is asking whether Bregman makes sense for the Nationals in their latest chat. Of course he does.
Washington has watched the analysts drop top-prospect Brady House out of their Top-100, and MLB Pipeline dropped him to their No. 7 ranked third baseman in their top prospect pool. He was considered the heir apparent. Now it seems apparent that there is no sure thing just like the previous five seasons. Unless you think José Tena is the answer, you are in the group of people asking the question: Who?
This third base discussion can’t be about wishing on a prayer for Tena or House to blossom into a star. The Nats have tried that route since 2019 when they handed the position to rookies and journeymen. Beginning in 2020, the third base position cumulatively posted a -0.9 WAR when you remove the positive production from Jeimer Candelario‘s four months on the Nats in the 2023 season. Even if you left Candelario in those numbers, the Nats cumulatively were a +2.1 with all third baseman which is the worst in all of baseball in that time span of five years.
On top of that, the Nationals could use another trusted arm in the back of their bullpen. Expect that the team will have a few more relievers competing for spot(s) on Minor League deals. That could be the way that ends up unless general manager Mike Rizzo gets a deal he wants.
When the offseason started, a key need identified by Rizzo was to find a veteran leader. While we believed that to be a long-term need, Rizzo added Nathaniel Lowe and re-signed Trevor Williams — both with two years of team control. Rizzo also brought back Josh Bell although that was just a one year deal. Those would be considered short-term deals. While those were moves in the right direction, did it go far enough?
With a young core, the Nationals could benefit from long-term veteran leadership to guide and stabilize the team, especially in crucial clubhouse moments. This is what the Nationals would get additionally from Bregman. To find one player who could fit multiple needs is a key. As they say, we are just preaching to the choir. Ownership needs to see this as a priority and value it as such, just like Ted Lerner did with Jayson Werth back in 2010. Sometimes, these moves include a premium in the salary for intangibles — like leadership.
