There’s no shortage of reasons the Nationals spent last season feeling like a team stuck between promise and frustration. Washington had young talent making noise, a farm system stocked with forward-looking pieces, and an offense good enough to finish as a top-5 unit in baseball. But the roster also had obvious weak spots, and if Paul Toboni is serious about building a winner, a few names from 2026 look like clear candidates not to stick around.
The simplest way to say it: the Nationals can’t keep carrying dead spots if they want to move from interesting to actually competitive. That means the designated hitter spot needs more punch, the catching depth needs to make more sense, and the bullpen has to stop serving as a nightly stress test.
Jose Tena’s season at DH is the first place the conversation starts. In 114 games, he posted a .222 batting average, a .302 on-base percentage and a .370 slugging percentage, with seven home runs and -0.5 WAR.
He struck out about a third of the time and collected hits in just 57 of his 288 plate appearances. For a team that was productive enough overall to rank among the league’s best offenses, that kind of production at designated hitter is hard to justify.
If Washington wants to keep building toward meaningful September baseball and a legit playoff push, the DH spot has to be better than that. The bat in that role needs to actually carry some weight.
Drew Millas also made his case harder to defend. His 2026 line was rough: .185/.277/.262 with two home runs and -0.6 WAR. That kind of season hurts any argument that he should be the longer-term backup behind Keibert Ruiz, especially after the Nationals brought in Harry Ford before the year even started.
Riley Adams heading to free agency opens the door for the Nationals to need another catcher, but the better bet here feels like an outside addition rather than leaning on Millas. The idea of Ruiz and Ford handling most of the 182 games is a lot more appealing than handing nearly a third of that workload to a bat that couldn’t even reach .200.
Then there’s Max Kranick, and his numbers tell the story plainly. He appeared in 17 games and finished with a 9.33 ERA across 18.1 innings, allowing 13 walks and striking out 11. He gave up 19 earned runs, and with more walks than strikeouts, he simply didn’t do the job relievers are paid to do: get outs.
The Nationals’ bullpen was a moving target all year, especially down the stretch, so not every arm could work out. Some did.
Eddy Yean and Will Dion looked like hits. Kranick was not one of them.
His outings were the kind that kept turning innings sideways, and the 13.3 H/9 number only underscores how often things went wrong when he took the mound.
Washington’s relief group needs real investment this winter, especially after what the team just went through. If the Nationals are going to move forward, players at Kranick’s level won’t be part of the plan.
In Other News...
Nationals Rebuild Looks Smarter After These Low-Cost Bets Paid Off
For a Nationals club still working through a patient rebuild, the 2026 season offered a few reminders that not every useful move has to come with a big price tag. Washington did not make the playoffs, but it found value in a series of low-cost roster bets that fit the larger plan of adding young talent while keeping the payroll lean. Foster Griffin gave the team a useful stretch before becoming a trade chip, Curtis Mead arrived in a trade and provided steady help, and Joey Wiemer was brought in on waivers as another inexpensive flyer.
What makes those moves stand out is how each one created a different kind of return for a roster in transition. Griffin was eventually moved for multiple prospects, Mead was flipped for a young starter, and Wiemer flashed enough early to justify the decision to take a look in the first place. None of it changes the fact that the Nationals are still climbing back, but it does suggest the front office is finding ways to squeeze real value out of short-term bets while the bigger picture keeps taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Got Pulled Into A Washington Sports Snub Fans Will Notice
The Economic Club of Washington, D.C., put together a high-profile panel this week called "Inside the Owners Box," and the setup was as local as it gets: four major Washington sports franchise owners on stage talking business, teams and the state of the market. One owner was conspicuously absent from the invitation list, though, and it was the Lerner family, the principal owner of the Nationals, a detail fans around town are likely to notice.
The event was chaired by David Rubenstein, who owns the Orioles and once tried to buy the Nationals, adding another layer to a scene already thick with regional sports politics. Rubenstein has also drawn criticism lately over layoffs in Baltimore, and at the panel he acknowledged the strain that comes with the Orioles' performance. For a Nationals fan base still measuring where the franchise fits in the citys broader sports picture, being left out of a Washington owner spotlight only sharpened the point. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Found A New Way To Pressure Teams In 2026
The Nationals spent 2026 making life harder on opposing batteries and infields, and the improvement showed up in a category that often gets overlooked until it starts changing games. Washington finished with 178 stolen bases and an 81.7% success rate, a clear jump from the previous season, and the gains went beyond raw volume. Advanced baserunning metrics reflected a club that was not just running more, but running better, with contributions spread across the roster and a coaching staff putting real emphasis on technique.
There was still some tradeoff in the form of more non-steal outs, which comes with the territory when a team gets more aggressive. Even so, the bigger picture points to a Nationals group that found a more consistent way to pressure pitchers, catchers and defenses into quicker decisions. For a team trying to keep stealing free bases in the modern game, it was a meaningful step forward and one that could keep paying off if the same approach holds. [Read more 🡒]