Nationals focus on future at Winter Meetings

SAN DIEGO -- The last time the Winter Meetings were held in person in 2019, the Nationals inked Stephen Strasburg to a record-setting contract. This year, they addressed building their future young core.

After finishing the 2022 season with the worst record in the Majors, the Nationals made the first selection in the Rule 5 Draft and landed the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft through the inaugural MLB Draft Lottery.

The Nationals will return to Washington with a to-do list to enhance both their pitching staff and offensive options.

Biggest remaining needs

1. Starting pitching
The Nationals have at least one vacancy to fill in their starting rotation, which posted the highest ERA (5.97) in the Majors last season. They are prioritizing starters who can pitch deep into games to avoid taxing the bullpen again.

“If you’re making 30 starts, you’ve had a pretty successful season, I think,” general manager Mike Rizzo said. “Durability is a key issue, both with position players and in pitching. We want the best player that gives us the best impact. That could be logging the most innings, performing the best, track record, veteran presence … there’s a lot of things that go into the decision on who to target and who to go after.”

2. Offensive boost
Washington would like to add a left-handed bat. This could come from a corner outfielder, with right or left field to be determined.

“I'd like a guy that could be versatile, if possible,” manager Dave Martinez said. “We're kind of weighing all the options of what we want to do, whether it's an outfielder or we could platoon with -- one could be Stone Garrett that we got from Arizona that we kind of like the way he swings the bat -- or it could be an infielder that we find out there that we can get.”

While the Nationals do not have a specified designated hitter, Martinez believes that role could be filled by committee, if need be.

Draft Lottery
The Nationals entered the weighted MLB Draft Lottery tied with the Pirates and Athletics for the highest chance (16.5 percent) to receive the No. 1 overall pick in July. Pittsburgh will select first, and Washington will follow at No. 2. Prospects to keep an eye on include outfielder Dylan Crews (LSU), right-hander Chase Dollander (Tennessee) and outfielder Wyatt Langford (Florida).

• Full results of the inaugural MLB Draft Lottery

“[At] No. 2, we’re going to get a really good player,” said Rizzo.

Rule 5 Draft
The Nationals selected right-hander Thad Ward from the Red Sox with the first overall pick in the Rule 5 Draft. Ward, who reached Double-A Portland last season, is now ranked as Washington's No. 13 prospect by MLB Pipeline.

The 25-year-old Ward was 0-2 with a 2.28 ERA across 13 starts and 51 1/3 innings (four levels) last season. A fifth-round pick by the Red Sox in the 2018 Draft, Ward was named their Minor League Pitcher of the Year in ‘19. He did not pitch in '20, and he underwent Tommy John surgery in June ‘21.

“When we do these Rule 5 selections, it’s kind of a balance between an upside pitcher that you’re trying to really hit on and kind of a surety of being able to keep the player on the roster all season,” Rizzo said. “So [Ward] kind of blended both of those together for us. He’s got a good four-pitch mix of pitches, he throws enough strikes, he’s a savvy enough pitcher and a competitor that he could stay in the big leagues. We believe there’s still some left in the tank in upside, where his velocity could get back to pre-Tommy John stature.”

The Nationals passed on the first pick of the second round, keeping one open spot on the 40-man roster. They did not lose any players in the Major League phase, but outfielder Josh Palacios was selected by the Pirates in the Minor League phase.

GM's bottom line
“We were quite busy,” said Rizzo on Wednesday. “We’re still quite busy. We haven’t accomplished what we’ve set out to do yet, but we thought that it may not happen at the Winter Meetings. But we’re still optimistic that we’re going to improve the club.”