It would be irresponsible — intellectually, journalistically — to talk about this baseball offseason as if it is normal, though let’s try for just a minute here, as it relates to the Washington Nationals.
The Nats need competent relievers, a glaring need that could (and should) be addressed in multiple ways, including spending real money in free agency and being savvy on the margins. Their rotation could use a similar upgrade, the caveat being that it will take fewer arms to fill it out, especially since Cade Cavalli, Connelly Early and Andrew Alvarez are back.
After that, the team’s offense, a major strength in 2026, would benefit from a high-upside bat or three, extra points awarded if they can play multiple positions (think Curtis Mead, who broke out last year after arriving in a late March trade that barely nudged the Richter scale, then left in the July trade that brought Early in). A team that finishes 77-85 tends to have a good number of holes.
Now, any analysis of the Nationals short- and long-term outlook hinges on what happens with CJ Abrams. The 26-year-old, an All-Star starter this past summer, is three seasons away from reaching free agency. That means the Nats are squarely in the window of deciding whether to flip him for a massive haul while his value is sky-high.
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The front office, which has been in charge for about a year, moved pitcher MacKenzie Gore for a five-player package last January. At the time, Gore was 27 and two years from free agency. No two situations are the same, nor is this winter and last winter after the Nats overachieved for more than half of 2026. The point, though, is that how the Nationals handle Abrams will be a decent bellwether for when the club plans to truly contend again. And on that front, this offseason could provide a decent bit of clarity, both with the Abrams situation and how Paul Toboni approaches the free-agent market overall.
But.
But, but, but.
It is irresponsible to talk about this baseball offseason as if it is normal. If you hadn’t heard, the sport is in the early stages of a nasty labor battle, which will almost certainly result in the owners locking out the players at midnight on Dec. 2. (Also, if you hadn’t heard that, please reach out to me with your reading and social media habits. I would like to join you under that rock.)
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In practice, the lockout will warp the offseason to the point of being unrecognizable. Per usual, free agency opened Monday evening. But since all transactions would freeze on Dec. 2, if the lockout begins then as expected, teams have a little less than a month to sign players and make trades under the current collective bargaining agreement. After that, there’s no telling how long the lockout will last, which means the next chance to shape major league rosters will likely be in a very compressed period … under different rules … starting at an undetermined date. Fun? Not exactly. But fun house? Yes.
For Nationals fans, the added bummer is twofold, I think: After some surprising success in 2026, the team should have even more payroll flexibility than in recent winters, seeing that Stephen Strasburg’s seven-year, $245 million contract is finally finished (though in typical Lerner family fashion, there are hefty payment deferrals, meaning it’s not totally off the all-knowing books quite yet). And after Toboni and his front office spent most of last offseason remaking the major league, player development and baseball operations staffs, this would have, in a normal year, been their first crack at a full winter together.
All of this will make it harder to gauge how the new group runs an offseason that doesn’t include overhauling the organization. But in the meantime, there is a lot they can and have to do.
Late last month, the Nationals claimed right-handed reliever Braxton Roxby off waivers from the Giants and designated left-handed pitcher Zak Kent for assignment, removing Kent from the 40-man roster. Then on Sunday night, the Nats acquired infielder Nate Furman from the Giants for minor league pitcher Tony Neubeck. Furman, 25, is a left-handed hitter who fills a specific need for the Nationals, either as a fixed bench player or as a swing guy between the majors and AAA. He has three minor-league options remaining, giving the Nats a lot of roster flexibility. He’s a high-contact hitter who struggled in a tiny sample of 39 major-league plate appearances in 2026.
To make room for Furman on the 40-man roster, the Nationals cut left-handed reliever Richard Lovelady loose. The addition of Furman could also complicate infielder Jorbit Vivas’ future with the club, given their similarities as utility infielders who bat from the left side. Furman has mostly played second base in the minors (1,842 ⅓ innings) with his second-most innings at third (245).
Back in the spring, someone described Toboni, the Nationals’ president of operations, as “transaction-y.” He showed that again here, striking a deal with the Giants as they faced a significant 40-man roster crunch. By Monday evening, the Nationals had to set their 40-man roster, too, which meant removing a handful of players from it.
To do that, they placed five players on outright waivers: Lovelady, PJ Poulin and Mitchell Parker, who are all left-handed relievers, plus right-handed relievers Paxton Schultz and Ken Waldichuk. Parker was claimed by the Braves, Schultz by the Reds. Lovelady and Poulin cleared waivers and are now free agents. Waldichuk cleared and was assigned to AAA Rochester, remaining with the organization.
And then the Nats also designated infielder José Tena for assignment, ending his two-and-a-half year run with the team. In that time, Tena, who was out of minor league options, posted an adjusted OPS of 86 in 625 plate appearances. (The league average OPS+ is 100.) To get to an even 40 players, catcher Drew Millas and right-handed pitcher Matt Waldron were activated off the 60-day injured list.
With many other players getting DFA’d around the league, it will be interesting to see if the Nationals leap at any of them, which could mean more roster moves in the coming days. And soon, the Nats will choose who to protect from the Rule 5 Draft, which will trigger yet another round of 40-man shuffling.
But beyond players, the Nats have added and lost staff members on the baseball and business side, which is typical for this time of year. In the front office, Brian Rodgers is getting started as the new director of international scouting, having held that role with the Astros since 2022. For the major league staff, the Nats brought in David Besky as a pitching analyst, making that another hire from the Red Sox, Toboni’s old org.
The Nationals also lost C.J. Gillman, their director of hitting, to the Mariners, who hired him to be their major league hitting coach. That’s an immediate acknowledgement of how well their hitters performed in the majors and minors last season. It’s always a good sign when your coordinators and coaches are getting poached.
Now, for the next few weeks, we’ll see how many more transactions the Nationals will squeeze in before the end times. Another reliever — any reliever, really — would be a solid start.
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