There is plenty of young talent within this Washington Nationals organization that should give hope for how things will look in the upcoming years.

After trading away Juan Soto in a difficult decision at the 2022 trade deadline, it looks like that deal was a home run for them with almost all of their returning pieces looking like they could become franchise cornerstones.

Beyond that, there are others in the pipeline who seem to have bright futures as well, and based on how general manager Mike Rizzo has operated recently, they will get a chance to prove they can be part of this team going forward during the upcoming 2025 season.

However, two of the Nationals past first-round picks are no longer with the team.

According to Mark Zuckerman of MASN, Carter Kieboom and Mason Denaburg have elected to become free agents, ending their tenure within Washington’s organization.

Kieboom was taken 28th overall in the 2016 draft, and early on in his career, he was thought to be their third baseman of the future.

But things didn’t quite work out that way.

He could never get things going at the plate, slashing .199/.297/.301 with 12 homers, 42 RBI and an OPS+ of 65 across his 133 Major League games from 2019-23. The Tommy John surgery he underwent that caused him to miss the entire 2022 campaign didn’t help him either.

At 27 years old, Kieboom will look for his next opportunity elsewhere, hoping he can resurrect his career and live up to the first-round projection he had almost a decade ago.

As for Denaburg, he never came close to reaching the MLB.

Despite being taken 27th overall in 2018, the right-handed pitcher hasn’t even made it to Double-A at any point of his career, having been snake bitten by injuries and poor play throughout.

While the Nationals are certainly brimming with young talent at this stage of their rebuild, the departures of Kieboom and Denaburg this offseason are reminders of how poor they have been at drafting players in the first round over the years.

Hopefully that will come to an end as the front office looks to supplement their pipeline while their star prospects get called up to The Show.

The Washington Commanders entered their Week 10 matchup as a dark horse Super Bowl-contending squad. They added four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore at the trade deadline, though he was dealing with a hamstring that delayed his debut with the team.

With a matchup against another dark horse Super Bowl contender and one of the hottest teams in the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Commanders were able to put 27 points on the board, but it wasn’t enough as they suffered a 28-27 loss.

Bleacher Report released their Week 11 power rankings roundtable from their expert analysts, and the Commanders stood pat ranked No. 7 in the NFL.

“Week 10 was a litmus test for the Washington Commanders—a matchup with one of the AFC’s hottest teams in the Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of a critical NFC East showdown with the rival Eagles in Week 11,” Bleacher Report wrote. “The 27 points Washington scored were fine, but the Commanders logged fewer than 250 yards of offense and Jayden Daniels completed just half of his 34 pass attempts for 202 yards without a touchdown.”

To this point in his young career, data certainly suggests Jayden Daniels will bounce back from his performance. The rookie quarterback was definitely humanized in the loss — as the Steelers’ pressure was too much for him and proved he’s capable of being stopped. However, the LSU product also got a look at a great defense, and hitting the film room can help him prepare for the way the next team will pressure him.

The fact that Washington still nearly came away with a victory proves that they’re a very capable contender this season and are a well-rounded team. It’d be much easier to judge their loss had they had Lattimore or star running back Brian Robinson Jr. healthy.

Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more FREE coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2024 season.

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The Washington Nationals have taken great strides in their player development over the last couple of seasons and could be on the brink of their rebuild being complete and their window for playoff contention once again sliding open.

As with any rebuild, a key free agency acquisition is generally the move that kicks the culmination of the rebuild into overdrive, and with reports dropping late last night, the Nationals may have their eyes on just who they want that acquisition to be.

In a report from Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Washington is among “at least six teams,” that “plan to aggressively pursue” free agent first baseman Christian Walker this offseason.

Walker was described by Nightengale as the “hottest name among free agent players not named Juan Soto,” as the three-time Gold Glove Award winner is believed to come at less than half the price of Pete Alonso while providing better production on both sides of the ball.

Walker spent the past eight seasons of his career with the Arizona Diamondbacks, batting .251/.331/.464 in that time with 146 home runs, 442 RBI, and a 114 OPS+ across 3,239 plate appearances in 819 games.

The veteran has really turned it up a notch at the plate over the last three years, batting .250/.332/.481 with 95 home runs, 281 RBI, and a 123 OPS+ across 1,880 plate appearances in 447 games.

A few of the other teams in the mix for Walker include the New York Yankees, the Diamondbacks, and the New York Mets.

Adding a veteran like Christian Walker to the mix would be a fantastic addition to Washington’s young roster as he would provide leadership in the clubhouse along with stellar defense.