An Unofficial Washington Nationals Support Group.
Yesterday, Ryan Zimmerman and Dan Kolko did their podcast with new manager Blake Butera. One thing that stuck out to me was when Zimmerman talked about bringing in a veteran presence on a multi-year deal. The Nats have had a lot of veterans on one-year deals, but everyone in the clubhouse knows those guys will […]
3 months ago | 1 read
When you post on SB Nation, we don’t want you to miss all the conversations and responses that follow. So starting today, whenever a user replies to your comment or to your post on the Feed, you’ll see a notification at the top right corner of the page. And of course, this means that when […]
3 months ago | 1 read
The Nationals are open for business this offseason and are receiving calls for all their top stars, with MacKenzie Gore and CJ Abrams generating the most trade buzz. While a good number of Nats fans have come around on the idea of trading Gore, who is a free agent after the 2027 MLB season, many […]
3 months ago | 2 reads
The deadline to add players to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft is today. Paul Toboni had a few interesting decisions to make, but in the end he added three players to the 40-man roster. Those players are Jake Bennett, Christian Franklin and Riley Cornelio. The Rule 5 […]
3 months ago | 0 reads
One of the highlights of the offseason is the Hall of Fame discourse. Every year a new ballot comes out and voters decide who will head to Cooperstown. This year it will be very intriguing because there are no obvious first ballot Hall of Famers. For my money, Andruw Jones is the most likely of […]
3 months ago | 1 read
Most of the Nationals 2025 coaching staff has been let go by the new regime. However, Sean Doolittle has survived the cuts. Paul Toboni and Blake Butera have decided to keep the pitching strategist and former closer. His role has not been announced though. This is an interesting move because I understand it, but it […]
3 months ago | 0 reads
It was delayed due to the birth of his daughter Blair, but Blake Butera was finally introduced as the 8th manager in Washington Nationals history. He did a joint press conference with new Nationals POBO Paul Toboni. The dynamic young duo took on questions about their age and what direction they will look to take […]
3 months ago | 2 reads
While Blake Butera was named Nationals manager over two weeks ago now, he is just having his introductory press conference today. That is due to the fact that his wife gave birth to their first child the same day he got the job. Now, a couple weeks later, Butera is ready to face the media. […]
3 months ago | 3 reads
The Washington Nationals have made their first free agent signing of the offseason, bringing in Eddy Yean on a Minor League deal. It is far from a big splash, but it interests me for a couple of reasons. For one, Yean has an interesting back story and history with the organization. Also, this should be […]
3 months ago | 1 read
The Nationals had a lot of weaknesses in 2025, but none were worse than the bullpen. They had the worst bullpen ERA in baseball at 5.59, and it was not even close. There were actually a couple of points where the unit looked alright, but as a whole, it was a dumpster fire. Major changes […]
3 months ago | 1 read
The GM meetings are underway in Las Vegas currently, and teams are making and taking calls on all sorts of players and positions of need. In the Nationals case, they have been looking to add to the organization’s catching depth, according to Jim Bowden, and are actively making calls about it, along with the Rays, […]
3 months ago | 3 reads
In the last couple of days, there has been some buzz about a potential CJ Abrams trade. It has not been as loud as the smoke around MacKenzie Gore, but it is out there. Yesterday, MLB Trade Rumors put out a story on finding a match for an Abrams trade, and it got people talking. […]
3 months ago | 4 reads
There are a lot of question marks throughout the Washington Nationals roster, but the most uncertainty lies in the teams starting rotation. This is a stark contrast to last offseason where the rotation felt relatively settled after a few breakout performers in 2024. However, after regression and potential trades, it is anyone’s guess as to […]
3 months ago | 2 reads
After firing 64 year old Mike Rizzo, Nationals owner Mark Lerner has seemingly been searching for the Fountain of Youth. In the past six weeks he has hired a 35 year old GM, a 33 year old manager and a 30 year old pitching coach. Clearly, the Washington Nationals have a new and very young […]
3 months ago | 3 reads
So, the Washington Nationals have a new pitching coach and his name is Simon Mathews. That is right, only one T in Mathews. At 30 years old, he continues the trend of the Nationals hiring young. However, Mathews is deeply knowledgeable about the current trends in modern pitching. He is equipped to bring the Nats […]
3 months ago | 5 reads
In an article yesterday by Jeff Passan of ESPN, he mentions MacKenzie Gore as a possible trade target for the Milwaukee Brewers, who, after winning a league-best 97 games last year and getting bounced in the NLCS, will be looking to make some additions to keep themselves in the hunt entering 2026. The Brewers avoid […]
3 months ago | 5 reads
Blake Butera is starting to assemble his staff for the Washington Nationals. First, he hired Michael Johns to be his bench coach, now he has hired a pitching coach. Multiple reports indicate that the Nationals will be hiring Reds assistant pitching coach Simon Mathews. As has been the trend with many of these hires, the […]
3 months ago | 1 read
While it is possible, I find it unlikely that the Washington Nationals will be shopping at the top of the free agent market. However, I do think and hope that they attack the middle of the free agent market. The Royals 2023/24 offseason is always one I look at and think why can’t the Nationals […]
3 months ago | 6 reads
Daylen Lile was the best thing Washington Nationals fans had in the second half of the 2025 season. As the rest of the team floundered, Lile looked like a star. His September was the most exciting month from a National since Kyle Schwarber’s June in 2021. He got rewarded with a 5th place finish in […]
3 months ago | 8 reads
Blake Butera has made his first big staffing hire as Washington Nationals manager. One of the biggest calls the 33 year old had to make was hiring a bench coach. With Butera being the youngest manager in over 50 years, he needed to put experience around him. He has done that by hiring Michael Johns […]
3 months ago | 1 read
The Washington Nationals rebuild started at the 2021 trade deadline when they traded away a large chunk of their roster. However, 4.5 years later it is clear that those moves set the rebuild back rather than giving it the intended jolt. I wanted to look back and analyze the moves made at that deadline. Let’s […]
3 months ago | 3 reads
Over the years we have seen a few pitchers who struggled in the MLB reinvent themselves in the KBO. A couple recent examples are Merrill Kelly and Erick Fedde. This offseason, there is a former big league pitcher who put up record setting numbers in Korea and his name is Cody Ponce. If you have […]
3 months ago | 4 reads
While Paul Toboni has not made any big splash moves, he signaled that big changes are coming this offseason. Minor League depth has been something the Nationals have been missing for years and Toboni is making it clear that he wants to change that. The Nats had 34 Minor Leaguers elect free agency, the most […]
3 months ago | 7 reads
In a season where the Nationals pitching staff was pretty brutal, Brad Lord was a bright spot. The former Home Depot employee stepped up for the Nationals in a variety of roles. However, as we enter 2026, Lord’s role is still up for debate. As a starter Lord was reliable, but he showed flashes of […]
3 months ago | 5 reads
The Nationals have a glut of outfielders currently in the major leagues, including James Wood, Dylan Crews, and Daylen Lile, as well as others who will be arriving soon, such as Christian Franklin and Andrew Pinckney. James Wood is locked into left field for the Nats, as he is the club’s brightest young star and […]
3 months ago | 5 reads