NEW YORK -- The Nationals’ 2022 season included its second roster overhaul in as many years, the departure of the franchise centerpiece, the acquisition of future core pieces and a battle against injuries to key players. It culminated in triple digits in the loss column.

On Tuesday at Citi Field, general manager Mike Rizzo reflected on the season and looked ahead to both the immediate and the long-term future of the club.

“Suffice to say that we’re not comfortable with losing 100-plus games, and that’s something that I want to avoid again in the near future,” Rizzo said. “We’re going to put together an offseason that we’re going to be aggressively attacking the free-agent market, the trade market, the international market and any other market that helps us acquire impactful players that help us get better soon.”

The Nationals are 55-106 after dropping both games of a doubleheader -- 4-2 in the opener and 8-0 in the nightcap -- against the Mets on Tuesday. It is their worst record since relocating to Washington in 2005.

“I look at the season as a disappointment,” said Rizzo. “I’ve always said that you are what your record says you are, and our record says we’re the worst team in the league right now. And it’s hard to argue with that. But the flip side of that is we’re in a process, and the process is tried and true. We’ve done it before. Not a lot of teams can say that. The process is moving forward, it’s ongoing and I think it’s a productive process.”

After sending Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to the Dodgers in July 2021, the Nats completed another blockbuster deal at the Trade Deadline on Aug. 2 by swapping Juan Soto and Josh Bell for a package stacked with highly touted prospects from the Padres. Soto had two full seasons remaining on his contract, and the team believed it would not have been able to reach an extension with him before he became a free agent.

“I think the most significant step that we made this season was at the Trade Deadline, getting the players that we had to get in return for Juan Soto,” said Rizzo. “I think that was the biggest step that we made. I thought it was a courageous move by ownership to allow us to do a Soto deal if we got the deal that we needed to get, and I think it was very important to the organization to do that deal and to get the players that we needed to get to trade such a special player in Juan.”

The Nationals have previewed what they hope is their future core during the two months following the massive trade. On the Major League level, CJ Abrams has become the everyday starting shortstop, left-hander MacKenzie Gore rehabbed from left shoulder inflammation and Luke Voit has played both first base and designated hitter. In the Minor Leagues, Robert Hassell III was named the Nats’ top prospect by MLB Pipeline, James Wood (No. 3 prospect) was named Nationals’ Co-Minor League hitter of the year, and 18-year-old right-hander Jarlin Susana (No. 8 prospect) advanced to Single-A.

In a related emergence, 30-year-old rookie Joey Meneses, who was called up for his Major League debut the same day the Nats dealt Soto, has had a breakout season.

“It's always frustrating to lose,” Rizzo said. “It was never good. It wasn't fun in [2009], ‘10 or ‘11 for me. It's not fun now. But what keeps me going is seeing what's on the horizon, putting our plan in place and sticking to it. It's the most important part of what we're doing right now. We have to believe in the blueprint and stick to the plan. To have the support from above us to do that has been huge, and I think that it's something that the fan base has embraced, and I think they trust the process because they've seen it before."

The Nationals will depart New York for the offseason on Wednesday evening. After completing 162 games, it won’t be long before the work begins to prepare for 2023. 

"It's a terrible year, it's no fun,” said Rizzo. “It's a daily grind to come here and to lose baseball games. But when things are at their worst, I’ve got to be at my best. I try to be as supportive as I can along with giving honest evaluations to the players. We're having exit interviews, we're talking to each and every player about what they need to do to come back next year and to help have this team get better. So I think that it's a learning experience for me. This is something that you don't like to do. We've done it many, many years ago and then produced 10 years of successful baseball after that. So that's our hope, that's the blueprint and that's the plan we have moving forward."