The Nationals have plenty to sort through this winter, and the clearest path forward starts with trimming away the pieces that didn’t hold up in 2026.
Washington had real positives last season. Cade Cavalli emerged, CJ Abrams and James Wood became All-Stars, and the farm system got a boost with a long list of forward-looking prospects, including first-round pick Chris Hacopian.
Connelly Early also came in as a notable addition, one who projects to be a consistent rotation arm for all five of his remaining years of team control. The team was competitive too, at least until August.
But the rough edges were impossible to ignore. The bullpen was a source of frustration from April through September.
The Miles Mikolas and Zach Littell experiments fell flat. Dylan Crews didn’t make the kind of jump many expected, and that has created uncertainty about where he fits long term.
That leaves Paul Toboni with a clear job: make this roster better. With the farm system upgraded and young talent already making noise, the expectation is that Washington will look to free agency for proven big league help to support the core already in place. Not a reckless all-in move, but a real effort to add players who can help the Nationals win more meaningful games and get closer to October.
If that’s the plan, there are at least three players from last year’s roster who should not be back.
Jose Tena’s season at designated hitter was hard to defend. In 114 games, he hit .222 with a .302 on-base percentage and a .370 slugging percentage, along with 7 home runs and -0.5 WAR.
He struck out about one-third of the time and collected hits in only 57 of his 288 plate appearances. For a Nationals offense that still finished as a top-five group in baseball, the DH spot should be adding thump, not dragging things down.
Drew Millas also made a weak case to stick around as a long-term backup behind Keibert Ruiz. He finished with a .185 batting average, a .277 OBP, a .262 SLG, 2 home runs and -0.6 WAR in 2026.
The Nationals brought in Harry Ford before the season, and Riley Adams’ move into free agency leaves the club needing another catcher, but the cleaner answer looks like an outside addition. A more established pairing of Ruiz and Ford handling most of the 182 games would make a lot more sense than handing that much work to a bat that never got going.
Then there’s Max Kranick, who simply had too rough a year to feel secure. In 17 games, he posted a 9.33 ERA over 18.1 innings, with 13 walks and 11 strikeouts.
He allowed 19 earned runs and carried a 13.3/H9 mark, a brutal combination for a reliever whose main job is to get outs and stop innings from spiraling. The bullpen was a revolving door all year, especially down the stretch, and not every arm was a miss - Eddy Yean and Will Dion looked like hits - but Kranick was not one of them.
Washington’s bullpen needs major attention after shattering the all-time blown saves record, and players at Kranick’s level do not fit on a team trying to win. If Toboni makes only limited changes around the edges, even that might not be enough to bring Kranick back into the fold.
In Other News...
Maryland Finally Got Tight End Production And It Still Wasn't Enough
Marylands tight end room gave the offense a lift in the first half of its homecoming game, which is the kind of development the Terrapins had been searching for as conference play kept grinding on. Preston Howard came up with a 25-yard catch, Damon Hall Jr. found the end zone for the first time in his career, and Dorian Fleming was again a steady presence in the passing game as Maryland tried to keep pace at home.
Fleming finished with two touchdown catches and extended his consecutive-catch streak to 16 games, a reminder that the position has become one of the more reliable parts of the offense. Even with that boost, Maryland still came up short in a 37-30 loss, a defeat that stretched its conference losing streak to 12 games and left the team looking for answers despite finally getting the production it wanted from tight end. [Read more 🡒]
Marylands New-Look Offense Just Raised A Bigger Question
Marylands exhibition win over West Virginia offered an early glimpse of how much this new-look offense can change the feel of a game. Pharrel Payne and Andre Mills drove the scoring with big nights, and the Terps got something else out of the matchup too: a chance to work through a variety of game situations before the results start counting for real. Even in a game that required a comeback, the tempo and shot creation suggested this group has more options than last seasons version.
The bigger question, though, is how cleanly Maryland can sustain that style once the competition tightens and the turnovers start to matter even more. The Terps have already shown some early issues in that area, and an exhibition that tested their composure from start to finish should give the staff plenty to sort through. For a team trying to build around new pieces, the talent is obvious. The challenge now is turning those flashes into something steadier. [Read more 🡒]