The biggest storyline of the Washington Nationals’ offseason remains whether left-handed All-Star pitcher MacKenzie Gore will remain on the 2026 roster by Opening Day. After rumors ramped up ahead of the Winter Meetings to open December, chatter has died down in recent weeks with president of baseball operations turning to a handful of small moves, like trading Jose Ferrar for catcher Harry Ford and signing Foster Griffin after a strong three-year stint in Japan.

Still, what the 2026 rotation looks like remains a question mark.

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Griffin’s signing makes him a candidate to enter the back end of the rotation, though that could depend on how the rest of the offseason fares.

Gore is currently on the roster with three right handers joining him in Jake Irvin, Cade Cavalli and Brad Lord and left hander Andrew Alvarez all back in 2026. The Nationals also avoided arbitration with Josiah Gray to become another candidate in the rotation. Mitchell Parker is capable of stepping in as another potential candidate. There’s also another free agent who the Nationals could turn to if they opt to stand pat in the trade market with general manager Ani Kilambi officially on board.

Former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt was linked to the Nationals earlier this offseason with MLB.com ranking the veteran pitcher the 29th-best free agent this offseason with both the Brewers and Orioles also initially listed among potential fits, though whether Baltimore still makes a move after acquiring Rays pitcher Shane Baz on Friday.

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MLB.com: Bassitt remains a durable innings-eater in his late 30s, topping the 170-inning mark for the fourth consecutive season in 2025. He’s not overpowering hitters — his strikeout percentage (22.6) ranked in the middle of the AL — but he induces weak contact with his sinker-cutter-curveball mix, ranking in the top 20 percent in average exit velocity and hard-hit percentage. Bassitt also ranked in the top third of MLB in ground-ball percentage and walk rate, and he should be able to fill a mid-rotation spot on a one- or two-year deal.

The Athletic also pointed to the San Diego Padres as a potential landing spot with The Athletic noting of the 36-year-old, “the Padres are looking for an inexpensive starter on a shorter-term deal and Bassitt is likely to land a short-term deal.”

But despite the Nationals entering a likely rebuilding season, the status quo was far from acceptable.

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Washington finished the 2025 season with the second-worst ERA (5.35), threw the third-fewest strikeouts (1,248) while allowing the second-most hits (1491) and fifth-most home runs (214) in baseball. Maybe the answer depends on how the MacKenzie Gore saga ends with the Nationals able to likely draw a similar deal that Tampa Bay did when trade Baz to the Orioles.

While it remains among the most pressing questions midway through the offseason, maybe clarity will emerge with Ani Kilambi officially in the fold as the organization’s new general manager.

“I would say it’s a combination of both, honestly,” Kilambi said when asked about evaluating roster movement internally and across the league. “I think that we would be doing ourselves a disservice if we just focused on players internally and didn’t attempt to look at all acquisition avenues available to us. So ultimately, I think that goes back to Paul [Toboni’s] point of just wanting to move fast, being relentless, being thoughtful and learning really, really quickly on the job about a new organization and new acquisition avenues available to us.”