Times flies when you’re having fun. Are you? Fans of the Washington Nationals are still probably a little unsettled at this point in the offseason. Building a roster is tedious work for a team trying to transition out of a rebuild. There still seems to be unfilled needs on the roster. Two weeks from today, the offseason officially ends as the team opens up their 2025 Spring Training camp at the Cacti Park of the Palm Beaches .
The obvious options are five starting pitchers on the 26-man and two to Triple-A Rochester; or one/two could be part of a trade; or one/two to the bullpen.
Maybe it is time to think outside the box. MLB has a history of changing and redefining roles. The first closer was Bruce Sutter in 1979 and in 1988, Tony La Russa started using Dennis Eckersley in the ninth inning when the Athletics were in the lead. It was the same time period when the use of relief pitchers became more prominent. However, relief pitchers were used well before that. It was around 1904 when New York Giants manager John McGraw essentially invented relief pitching.
Today was the annual Hot Stove event at Nationals Park for season ticket holders. This was different from the second we arrived. Gates were not supposed to open until 1:30 pm, and they opened up gates at 1:10 pm since people arrived early — and the weather was cold. We were expecting snacks (as advertised) and were pleasantly surprised that they were serving lunch — and not just any lunch — this was an assortment of gourmet hotdogs wrapped in bacon, barbecue brisket sliders, and Asian chicken dumplings. Each food item was from new vendors that we will see at Nationals Park in 2025.
The Washington Nationals surprised baseball today when they inked a two-year deal for Japanese left-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara. This is the first time in team history that the Nats signed a player directly from Asia. The team has had Asian born players on their roster before and most notably with Chien-Ming Wang from Taiwan. Both Tomo Ohka of Japan, and Sun-Woo Kim from South Korea came to the Nats via their relocation as the Montreal Expos.
Principal owner Mark Lerner and GM Mike Rizzo in a suite (Photo by Sol Tucker)
As they say, you might not like the process in how the sausage is made, and that has a parallel to how a roster is built. The behind-the-scenes process isn’t pretty. So let’s deal with some facts and not the same tired fiction to fit the narrative that gets tagged on the Washington Nationals that they don’t spend money. What am I talking about? It is the daily grind in the social media that the Nationals haven’t spent any money this offseason. The team has already committed $37.7 million so far on player acquisitions for the 2025 payroll. It doesn’t take but a few minutes to add up the numbers, but why do the work when you can keyboard smash the old tired narrative.
On that $37.7 million number, the only variable is Nathaniel Lowe‘s actual salary which will be set at either $10.3 million or $11.1 million if he goes to an arbitration hearing or somewhere in-between if they settle before that point on a number. That number might be $38.1 million or $37.4 million. By the way, MLB Trade Rumors had Lowe’s number at $10.4 million for their arb projection.
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.
The comments from the previous TalkNats article contained an interesting discussion regarding whether MLB was broken. Looking forward to the next CBA, is a Cap/Floor needed? Here’s my 2cents: ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY YES. MLB Trade Rumors did a poll on this subject with over 35,000 votes.
The issue is, how does MLB and the MLBPA get there? MLB likely wants a salary cap ceiling; the MLBPA does not. MLBPA likely wants a salary floor; MLB does not.
These days, the quickest route to 10-digit wealth is software. Geniuses with little business sense — but the right connections — just needed to program the right algorithm. In the old days, wealth was built by taking chances on tangible assets. Steel, automobiles, and real estate. Many risked every dollar they had — and went broke. Not every business idea will succeed. Have you ever seen the show Shark Tank?
The sun rises over the Cacti Park of the Palm Beaches as hopes and dreams are encapsulated in a new season of promise. That complex is the home to the Washington Nationals’ facility in West Palm Beach, Florida. In 26-days, pitchers and catchers are set to officially open Spring Training camp on Feb. 12. But according to Jon Heyman, “156 MLB players are still waiting for deals as spring training approaches.” Even if each team signed three more players from that pool, there would still be 66-players looking for jobs.
Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNatsPhoto by Marlene Koenig for TalkNatsPhoto by Marlene Koenig for TalkNatsPhoto by Sol Tucker for TalkNats
The Statcast™ math on Jacob Young has already highlighted some of his impressive tools. He is not a 5-tool player as nobody expects him to be a power hitter. Is he a 3½-tool player? He will have to show he can hit at better than .256 with more walks at the MLB level — but it’s really just one more hit a week that separates Young from being an All-Star.