The Washington Nationals are one of the franchises that are going to look to spend this offseason. If they had it their way, their big splash would be a reunion with superstar outfielder Juan Soto.

The four-time All-Star began his career in the nation’s capital, playing there for the first four and a half seasons as a pro. He was an integral part to their 2019 World Series Championship team but was traded during the 2022 season.

The Nationals had done everything in their power to lock Soto in on a long-term deal. He turned down their extension offers, which resulted in the team trading him to the San Diego Padres, along with Josh Bell, for a haul of prospects.

That haul now makes up the foundation of their roster.

Left fielder James Wood, All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams and ace MacKenzie Gore were all part of that package. Outfielder Robert Hassell III, who was the highest-rated prospect included, is looking to get his career back on track after a dominant Arizona Fall League stint.

Bringing Soto back into the fold with that emerging young core would have be a much-needed jolt for the franchise and fan base. There isn’t a single player remaining from that championship team on the roster, with starting pitcher Patrick Corbin hitting free agency.

Having the superstar right fielder fill that void is something the franchise was open to, as they would have loved a reunion. Alas, it doesn’t sound like it will be in the cards.

Despite Washington being named as a fit for Soto, they don’t seem to be in the running. One of the teams who are, the New York Mets, is where Andy McCullough of The Athletic, is predicting he will land.

“Scott Boras referred to Soto as “the Mona Lisa of the museum.” Steve Cohen is baseball’s most prolific art collector. We looked like knuckleheads last year when our galaxy-brained take on Shohei Ohtani led us to forecasting him joining the Texas Rangers. No need to complicate things. Cohen has the deepest pockets. He will dip into them to sign Soto to the richest (present-day value, for sure) contract in baseball history.”

Out of all of the teams Soto has been linked to, which includes the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers, landing in Queens with the Mets is likely the worst.

That would certainly be a bit of a tough blow for the Nationals. Having to play against him in the National League East for likely the next 10-plus years is not how ownership and the front office envisioned things when they traded him out west just over two years ago.

It is a saga that everyone in the baseball world is keeping a close eye on, as Soto’s decision will have a ripple effect on the league. His decision is expected to come by the middle of next week, which is when the Winter Meetings are set to begin.

The UCLA Bruins (7-1) took care of business as they defeated the Washington Huskies (6-2) at home, 69-58, with sensational play all across the roster. The Bruins had three different scorers in double figures, with junior forward Tyler Bilodeau and sophomore guard Sebastian Mack tied for the team-high at 16 each.

The Bruins stay undefeated at Pauley Pavilion this season, earning a 1-0 record in Big Ten play while riding a six-game winning streak. Things are clicking for the Bruins, and their depth and experience are beginning to shine through.

It was a wire-to-wire win for the Bruins as they jumped out to an early lead with BIlodeau scoring the team’s first seven points. They would take a 29-24 lead into halftime and extend it in the final 10 minutes of the game, playing their best basketball of the game.

Bilodeau finished with nine rebounds with his 16 points, nearly giving him his second double-double of the year. The transfer from Oregon State scored in double figures for the sixth time in his first eight games with the Bruins.

UCLA forced turnovers, took charges, found the open shot and knocked it down. All the things that Coach Mick Cronin loves to see from his group and textbook complementary basketball. The final 10 minutes was the difference maker as Mack hit a dagger 3 with 4 minutes left.

Mack went to the line 12 times, connecting on seven of those free throws. He was 4-of-12 from the field and his ability to get past defenders and get fouled at the rim allowed him to score some easy points at the charity stripe. This was Mack’s fifth game scoring in double figures and is become a rising star.

The Bruins were exceptional in handling the basketball, as they only turned it over eight times, which is well below their average. On the defensive end, they forced 12 turnovers that led to 19 points from those giveaways. This team is continuing to get better and showed it against a conference team.

Junior guard Dylan Andrews chipped in with 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from 3-point range. Andrews has continued to receive an increase in minutes as one of the veteran leaders of the team.

The Bruins executed well in nearly every facet but did allow 10 offensive rebounds, resulting in nine second-chance points. The Huskies pulled within three points late in the first half and the Bruins found themselves up by just a handful at the break. They would make the necessary changes.

The tougher games are still ahead for the Bruins as they will hit the road for the first time since they lost New Mexico on a neutral court in Henderson, Nev. It will be yet another conference opponent on the ticket as they will head to play No. 12 Oregon Ducks (8-0) this Sunday afternoon.

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The Washington Nationals showed the world in 2024 that their rebuild this time may not be as lengthy as their previous rebuilds.

While they do still have a long way to go to be competitive in the toughest division in baseball, the National League East, their young core has started to make their Major League debuts and prove that the hype surrounding them was justified.

It is only a matter of time before the Nationals are back on the island of relevancy, and these four contracts on their 2025 payroll are massive boons to their success.

All figures accurate as of December 2

Dylan Crews was the No. 2 overall pick of the 2023 MLB draft and quickly rose through the minor leagues before making his Major League debut on Aug. 26.

While his Major League numbers may not look that promising on the surface, it was a small sample size, and when you dive deeper, things begin to look much better.

First, Crews batted .219/.288/.353 with three home runs, eight RBI, 12 stolen bases, and an 82 OPS+ across 132 plate appearances in 31 games.

However, over the last week of the season, Crews batted a much better .286/.400/.429 with no home runs or RBI, three stolen bases, and a 144 OPS+.

The rookie had an xBA of .253 for his time in the Majors and an xSLG of .418, so there was a good bit of bad luck playing into his results.

Crews is under team control for at least five more years, and after seemingly finding his footing at the Major League level to end 2024, it could be off to the races in 2025.

Pre-Arb, League Minimum

Derek Law is a journeyman relief pitcher, who has been much too good throughout his career to not have a forever home with a contending team.

That was no different in 2024, as the reliever was a free agent until Washington signed him to a one-year, $1.5 million deal on February 21.

Law would go on to pitch to a 2.60 ERA across 90 innings in 75 games with 76 strikeouts and a 155 ERA+.

The 34-year-old is arbitration eligible for one more year and will spend more than one season with a team for only the third time since his Major League debut in 2016.

Arbitration Projection of $3 million

MacKenzie Gore is an interesting piece in the middle of the Nationals rotation.

He joined the club as part of the trade that sent Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres in 2022 and made his team debut in 2023.

He has improved his production and his innings count in each of his three seasons in the Majors, with an 84 ERA+ across 70 innings in 2022, a 96 ERA+ across 136 1/3 innings in 2023, and a 103 ERA+ across 166 1/3 innings in 2024.

His success this year came from an extra mile-per-hour added onto his fastball, seemingly from using it less throughout the campaign.

In 2022 and 2023, Gore used his fastball 61 percent and 59 percent respectively, but dropped down to 55 percent in 2024, mixing his pitches more, and throwing that pitch harder, leading to more whiffs.

If Gore can continue his string of yearly improvements, perhaps even dropping the fastball usage to 50 percent, he will be an even bigger piece of the team’s rotation.

Arbitration Projection of $3.1 Million

Left fielder James Wood was another part of the Soto trade in 2022, but he did not make his Major League debut until this year.

Patience proved to be a virtue, however, as the young star produced a promising 122 OPS+ across 336 plate appearances in 79 games.

When Wood connects with the ball, he does not miss, carrying an elite exit velocity (92.8 MPH) and hard-hit rate (52 percent) while pairing those skills with an elite chase rate (21 percent) and walk rate (11.6 percent).

Wood needs to get under the ball more and try and drive it into the gap if he wants to take that next step forward in his game, as he carried a 2.4 launch angle, showing that he got on top of the ball and drove it into the ground more often than not.

With how hard he can hit baseballs if he can improve that launch angle, he will quickly become one of the preeminent power threats in the game today, all at the low low price of league minimum.

Pre-Arb, League Minimum