The Nationals didn’t finish 2026 empty-handed. They won 77 games, jumped 11 from the year before and posted their best total since 2019. But by the time the season ended, the mood was less about progress and more about unfinished business.
“We’ve got to figure out how to get better because we just felt like we left a lot of meat on the bone,” said manager Blake Butera.
That’s the feeling carrying into a winter that matters a little more than most. It’s the first offseason with Butera, president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, general manager Ani Kilambi and several other top front-office voices all having gone through a full year together. Now comes the real test: turning a promising season into a stronger one in 2027.
One of the biggest questions is how aggressive the Nationals will be in free agency. In recent years, they’ve leaned toward short-term additions, then moved those players later for depth at the Trade Deadline.
All-Star Foster Griffin was one example after a breakout year. Whether that approach shows up again this winter remains to be seen.
“Generally speaking, future payroll flexibility is a really good thing,” said Toboni. “I'm happy that we're in this spot that we're in.
What I would say is that there are creative ways to actually use that payroll, whether it's actually going out and signing free agents or extensions or whatever it might be. What we want to do is -- regardless of how we're going to use the payroll -- do it in a way that sets us up, hopefully, to be a much better team next year, but then be a really good team into the future.”
Then there’s CJ Abrams, who is once again set to be a central offseason topic. He was in trade conversations last winter and should be there again after a career year that brought his second All-Star nod, first as a starter, and numbers that put him near the top of the offensive leaderboards.
If Abrams stays, the Nationals still have a big infield decision to sort through. They moved him from shortstop to second base in August, and Toboni said he sees Gold Glove potential there. Abrams logged 14 games at second and finished with a .987 fielding percentage.
Seaver King, the Nationals’ No. 3 prospect and MLB’s No. 51 overall, played most of this season at shortstop and is projected to arrive in 2027.
“We're going to see what [Abrams] looks like in Spring Training,” said Butera. “I think what he's shown us at second base, he's been unbelievable over there.
But he's also been unbelievable at shortstop since we had that conversation, right? So I think that he's absolutely earned an opportunity to continue to work at that this offseason.
And if he plays shortstop the way that he did these last, whatever it is, six weeks or so, that's a good shortstop.”
The Nationals’ young roster also brings another issue: who helps guide it. They had the youngest average age of position players in the league, and unlike the previous season, there wasn’t a veteran like Josh Bell around to steady the clubhouse while players such as James Wood and Abrams kept growing into bigger roles.
Butera said the group handled itself well overall, though he pointed to a few moments when a seasoned voice might have helped - specifically three straight blown saves against the Phillies in June and the Trade Deadline skid.
“There were times that I spoke to the team that I would have loved, maybe, that being taken care of by someone that has gone through something similar,” Butera said. “But I also think these guys have gone through that now, so I think we're going to have some of that happening internally, organically.”
Pitching is another major piece of the puzzle. The Nationals still need five starters for 2027, even after extending Cade Cavalli last month.
Toboni said Cavalli has earned a place, and he also singled out Andrew Alvarez and Connelly Early as pitchers who have put themselves in position to take meaningful innings. Beyond that, the team is keeping an open mind.
“Cade we obviously believe in, and I think he's earned a spot,” Toboni said. “I think Alvy [Andrew Alvarez] has thrown great, and he's put himself in a position where he's going to be throwing, hopefully, a bunch of high-quality innings for us next year.
We're very optimistic about Connelly [Early] and what he's shown. Beyond that, we're going to be pretty open-minded.”
Jake Irvin is arbitration-eligible after going 2-10 with a 5.48 ERA in 22 appearances, including 20 starts and two outings behind an opener. DJ Herz, back from Tommy John surgery, made two starts, and Josiah Gray returned after nearly three years away but worked three games out of the bullpen.
And at the back end of the bullpen, the Nationals have to fix a problem that became impossible to ignore. They set a Major League record for blown saves in a season. Twenty-one different pitchers appeared in save situations, and 16 of them recorded a save.
Clayton Beeter led the club in saves but finished the year in Triple-A Rochester, while rookie Erik Tolman emerged late as a steady ninth-inning option.
“I wouldn't want to pigeonhole us into just going after guys that have ninth-inning experience,” said Toboni. “Not to say it's not important; it's just that there are countless relievers across the league that aren't throwing in the ninth inning that are really good arms that we'd love to have.”
In Other News...
Nationals Face A Big Offseason Question As Young Core Emerges
The Nationals have spent years watching their payroll slide from the heights of the 2010s, and the result has been a roster built less for headline spending than for patience. After the club was still in the wild card conversation near the trade deadline, the front office shifted even more firmly toward development, leaning into a younger core while keeping one eye on a future in which money might again matter more in Washington.
Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin remain the clearest reminders of how expensive missteps can linger, but the bigger question now is whether the Nationals will finally have the flexibility to change course once the offseason opens. There is a sense around the organization that spending could move in a different direction, though any real shift will have to be weighed against the uncertainty hanging over collective bargaining talks and the broader shape of what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Are Quietly Turning The Page On A Troubling Bullpen Mess
Washingtons bullpen reset is continuing in small but telling ways, with two familiar arms now moving on after difficult 2026 seasons. Justin Lawrence and Max Kranick, both former Nationals relievers, have elected minor league free agency and will be looking for new minor league contracts for 2027 after being outrighted off the 40-man roster.
The departures fit the larger picture of a relief group that never really settled last season, and both pitchers were part of the churn that forced the club to keep searching for answers. Lawrence struggled badly in his time with Washington, and Kranick never got much traction after coming back from injury, leaving the Nationals with another pair of vacancies to sort through as the offseason keeps unfolding. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Free Agency Case Gets Tricky With One Intriguing Arm
The Nationals are expected to shop for pitching this offseason, and Tyler Mahle has emerged as the kind of arm that could fit the search. The 32-year-old right-hander made a strong impression after being traded to the Atlanta Braves, settling in quickly enough to help himself in both the regular season and the postseason while reminding teams what he can look like when healthy.
For Washington, though, this is the sort of free-agent case that invites caution as much as interest. Mahles talent is not really in question, but his injury history and uneven track record have made consistency hard to bank on, leaving the Nationals to weigh upside against the risk that comes with any pitcher whose recent workload has been limited. [Read more 🡒]