Hot Stove League Review: Nationals

We'll wrap up the NL half of our Hot Stove League review with the defending World Series Champion Nationals.  Teams that win World Series generally do so because of good players.  Those good players then expect, rightfully so, to get paid for their accomplishments which often leads to some very tough decisions for management.  Do sign those players to long term contracts which may weaken the team 3-5 years down the road or do you let them go and essentially start team building all over again?  Giants fans know the scenario all too well.

The Nationals were faced with a whole raft of free agents at the end of their run including two of their very best players, Anthony Rendon and Steven Strasburg.  They ended up splitting their bet, letting Rendon go while signing Strasburg to a 7 year contract.  They also ended up re-signing several of their veteran role players, but it is unlikely they will not miss Rendon's enormous offensive contributions.  Key Moves:

Free Agents Lost:  Jeremy Hellickson(RHP-retired), Gerardo Parra(OF), Brian Dozier(2B), Anthony Rendon(3B), Fernando Rodney(RHP), Jonny Venters(LHP), Matt Adams(1B), Logan Ondresek(RHP), Koda Glover(RHP- retired), Hunter Strickland(RHP).

Free Agents Retained:  Steven Strasburg(RHP- 7 yrs), Daniel Hudson(RHP), Howie Kendrick(UT), Asdrubal Cabrera(IF), Yan Gomes(C), Ryan Zimmerman(1B), Javy Guerra(RHP).

Free Agents Signed:  Kyle Finnegan(LHP), Will Harris(RHP), Starlin Castro(2B), Eric Thames(1B/LF).

Trades:  Acquired Ryne Harper(RHP) from the Twins for Hunter McMahon(RHP).

Minor League Free Agents:  Fernando Abad(LHP), David Hernandez(RHP), Carlos Tocci(OF), Mac Williamson(OF), Welington Castillo(C), Kevin Quackenbush(RHP), Emilio Bonifacio(UT), JB Shuck(OF), Allen Webster(RHP).

Summary:  The Nationals apparently think they have a replacement for Rendon in rookie Carter Kieboom.  That's big burden to put on a rook.  They will hope Starlin Castro is enough of an upgrade at 2B and for OF's Victor Robles and Juan Soto to progress up their development curve to make up the difference.  Strasburg should be excellent for another 2-3 years and not so good on the back-end of the contract, but the Nationals have never concerned themselves with the back-end years of longterm contracts going all the way back to Jayson Werth.  They will hope they kept the right veteran role players for another run in 2020.

Grade C.