Washington Nationals news & notes: Rumors of interest in 1B & 3B + more Hot Stove talk…

Requested late this previous September if he now thought the Nationals have been deep sufficient into their reboot/rebuild to justify performing some spending in free company to complement the expertise they’ve assembled through trades, signings, and the draft over the past years, Washington’s supervisor Davey Martinez toed the corporate line to an extent however did supply his personal opinion on the place issues stand for the membership.

“I say this on a regular basis,” Martinez defined over the ultimate weekend of the 2024 marketing campaign, “… we now have many, many conversations when the 12 months is over. For me, that’s one thing for [GM and President of Baseball Operations Mike Rizzo] and [the Nats’] possession to resolve. Yeah, I’d like to have a pair veteran guys, however give me 26 gamers, and we’ll do the perfect we are able to.

“I inform the teaching workers that every single day, ‘It doesn’t matter what, we bought to get these guys to play laborious every single day,’ which we’ve finished.

“However I’ll inform you this although, I actually do consider that we’re shut. We actually are. And we bought some items in there which can be going to be actually good.”

ESPN’s Jesse Rogers wrote this previous week that there’s a “… rising buzz within the business that Washington shall be energetic this offseason, and … [Rizzo] isn’t shying away from that form of discuss.”

Rogers writes that the Nationals, “are beginning to see the fruits of their mini retool,” which started in 2021 and was kicked into excessive gear in 2022 when the membership traded Juan Soto to San Diego for a haul of high-end prospects from the Padres’ system, numerous whom (CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, James Wooden) are already up within the majors already contributing.

“I feel it’s necessary to complement that good, younger group of gamers and encompass them with some expertise,” Rizzo informed the ESPN reporter, if the membership goes to compete in a tricky division:

“We predict our time is coming. We’re getting nearer. This factor is cyclical. There was a time they have been wanting up at us, and now we’re wanting up at them. We really feel the time is coming that we are able to play in that finish of the pool.”

If you’re a kind of individuals holding out hope for a return to D.C. for Soto in free company, Rizzo didn’t dismiss the chance, with Rogers writing that Rizzo, “… admits he has talked to Scott Boras about former Nat Soto (and different Boras purchasers).”

So far as a plan for the offseason, Rizzo stated after the GM Conferences, which have been held final week, they’ll have a greater thought of their route:

“Once I get a really feel for the place we’re at after these conferences, we’ll meet with possession and assemble a plan.”

USA Immediately’s Bob Nightengale wrote on Friday in regards to the Nationals’ rumored curiosity in free agent first baseman Christian Walker, 33, who spend the final eight seasons in Arizona, with a 162-game common of 31 doubles and 29 residence runs over that stretch. Walker completed the 2024 season with a .251/.335/.468 line, 26 doubles, and 26 homers in 130 video games and 552 plate appearances, over which he was price 3.0 fWAR.

“There are at the very least six groups who plan to aggressively pursue Walker,” Nightengale wrote, “… with everybody concerned from the New York Yankees to the Diamondbacks to the Washington Nationals, believing he’ll come at lower than half the value of [Pete] Alonso.”

ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel wrote not too long ago in regards to the Nationals’ curiosity in Alex Bregman, noting the Nats have been, “a really extensively rumored touchdown spot” for the third baseman. Bergman put a .260/.315/.453 line up in 2024, with 30 doubles and 26 homers for the Houston Astros in a complete of 145 video games and 634 PAs in a 4.1 fWAR marketing campaign.

The place do you suppose the Nationals will flip in the event that they do bounce again into the excessive(er)-end free agent market? Will they discover the bats they’re reportedly after this winter? How about their pitching wants?

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