‘Timing is Right’ for Washington Nationals to Add Star Slugger to Lineup

It has been a somewhat busy offseason of late for the Washington Nationals, who have been trying to improve their roster heading into 2025.

For the last two years, the Nationals have won 71 games. While that isn’t ideal, they have been in a rebuilding mode after winning the World Series back in 2019. Now, some of the young talent that they have been stockpiling over the last number of years is starting to come up to the big leagues, or are flourishing in the majors.

Last year, CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. each took a big step forward in their games. Abrams was named to his first All-Star team, and Garcia put up All-Star caliber numbers.

In the outfield, top prospects James Wood and Dylan Crews both made their debuts and performed well.

While the lineup is heading in the right direction, they are still lacking power, which has been an issue for years.

Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report recently spoke about the wish list for the Nationals before the start of spring training. He highlighted the additions that they have made to the lineup being weak solutions to their problems and spoke about the timing being right to add a star.

“The Nationals needed a first baseman and a right-handed hitter as of the winter meetings, but they have since added Nathaniel Lowe and Amed Rosario. However, those are relatively weak solutions, particularly given that this team finished last in the National League for home runs in 2024. It probably won’t happen, but the time is right for them to become a mystery team in Alonso’s market.”

With Pete Alonso’s market not being anywhere near what he was likely hoping for or expecting, seeing a team out of left field signing him really would be that surprise.

When the Nationals were making a similar jump a decade ago, they made a big move to bring in Jayson Werth. This splash ended up helping change the course of the franchise, resulting in their World Series.

This offseason, the Nationals did add first baseman Nathaniel Lowe already. However, Alonso would be helpful to slide into the designated hitter spot, considering he isn’t the same caliber fielder as Lowe.

While his market might not be what he was expecting, this is a player who is one of the best home run hitters in baseball. Unfortunately, a down season by his standards in 2024 has seemingly hurt his value.

Furthermore, even though Washington has spent some money this offseason, it was largely on one-year deals. Their team should have the financial resources to pull off a deal for the slugger, and he would be a big upgrade to the lineup.

If the Nationals are looking to support their young core, adding a player with the ability to hit for power like Alonso would make this lineup one of the better ones in the National League with a ton of upside.