WASHINGTON NATIONALS
2025 finish: 66-96 (5th in NL East)
Manager: Blake Butera (1st season)
Leading the front office: Paul Toboni, president of baseball operations (1st season)
DOLLARS AND SENSE
Largest luxury tax hit: RHP Trevor Williams ($7 million)
Top returning players: OF James Wood (3.3 fWAR), SS CJ Abrams (3.1), OF Daylen Lile (1.4)
Top returning starting pitchers: RHP Brad Lord (1.2), RHP Trevor Williams (1.2), RHP Cade Cavalli (0.5)
Top returning relievers: RHP Clayton Beeter (0.5), LHP PJ Poulin (0.2), RHP Julian Fernandez (0.0)
ROSTER WATCH
Key additions: OF Joey Wiemer (waivers), LHP Richard Lovelady (waivers), RHP Gus Varland (waivers), RHP George Soriano (waivers), C Harry Ford (trade), 1B Matt Mervis (minors), INF Warming Bernabel (minors), INF Kervin Pichardo (minors)
Key losses: LHP MacKenzie Gore (trade), C Jorge Alfaro (free agent), 1B Josh Bell (free agent), 3B Paul DeJong (free agent), RHP Derek Law (free agent), LHP Jose Ferrer (trade)
Baseball America top-100 prospect(s): SS Eli Willits (31), RHP Jarlin Susana (68)
FILE – New Washington Nationals Manager Blake Butera looks on during a baseball news conference Nov. 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)
KEEP AN EYE ON
New baseball ops chief Paul Toboni has made some bold moves early in his tenure. First, he hired former minor league infielder Blake Butera to manage his team, a surprise hire. Then he traded All-Star LHP MacKenzie Gore with two years of control left to add even more bodies to the Nationals rebuild. Gore was due to make only $4.7 million this year. In return, the Nationals received five prospects, including 18-year-old 3B Gavin Fien, the 12th overall pick last year.
Without Gore, the rotation is wide open. Three starting pitching candidates — RHPs Josiah Gray and Trevor Williams and LHP DJ Herz — are recovering from significant injuries. RHP Jake Irvin led the team with 180 innings last year but had a 5.70 ERA. The only other incumbents with workloads of at least 100 innings were LHP Mitchell Parker (5.68 ERA, 164 ⅔ IP) and RHP Brad Lord (4.34 ERA, 130 ⅔ IP).
With Gore gone, former Padres prospects SS CJ Abrams and OF James Wood are the established regulars from the Juan Soto trade in the majors. Abrams is a .250/.307/.417 hitter as a National who has averaged 19 homers and 36 steals in his three years as a full-time starter, while Wood hit 31 homers last year but led the majors with 221 strikeouts in his first full year in the majors. OF Robert Hassell III (.572 OPS) made his debut last year and should compete for a bench job and RHP Jarlin Susana remains a top prospect climbing the ranks.
Fangraphs projection: 68.6 wins