ORLANDO, Fla. – The Nationals entered the 2025 Winter Meetings on the heels of a notable trade, and they continued to be at the center of trade buzz this week in Orlando.
In the Nats’ first Winter Meetings led by president of baseball operations Paul Toboni and manager Blake Butera, the club addressed rumors of interest in left-hander MacKenzie Gore and shortstop CJ Abrams, building around its current roster and filling specific needs via trades or free agency.
Looking at their long-term development, the Nats concluded the Winter Meetings by making seven picks in the Rule 5 Draft to bolster their Minor League system.
BIGGEST REMAINING NEEDS
Starting pitching: While the Nationals have six potential starting pitchers as the roster stands, there is a possibility Gore will be moved, and there is room to improve a rotation that recorded a 5.18 ERA.
“Where my head goes first is pitching – starting pitching and relief pitching,” said Toboni. “That’s not to say that’s the only thing we’re going to tether ourselves or the only positions we’re going to tether ourselves to, but I think that’s probably the most realistic avenue.”
Bullpen: The Nationals traded closer Jose A. Ferrer to Seattle for catcher Harry Ford, leaving a late-inning question mark. Having moved both Ferrer and Kyle Finnegan in 2025, Washington will look at internal and external options as well as a specific closer vs. a by-committee approach.
“This is a conversation we'll have with the staff, but I think we should be open-minded to both paths,” Toboni said. “I think there are really good examples of different organizations doing it different ways and benefiting both ways. We'll be open-minded about it and not pigeonhole ourselves.”
First base: The Nats have spoken with second baseman Luis García Jr. about the possibility of playing time at first (he is getting reps in the Dominican Winter League), but they will look outside the organization, too.
“I know we have some options internally,” Toboni said. “But we’re going to be active in the different spaces that we can externally to potentially bring someone in that can hopefully compete and challenge the folks we have internally for that job.”
HE SAID IT
In his conversations with the team, Butera has gleaned a desire from the players to improve while holding themselves and each other accountable.
“You come out to Nationals Park and we have a 7 o’clock game, and you see guys out there at 2:30, 3 o’clock working on their game,” Butera said. “The more the season goes on, the more you see of that, the more I feel like our culture is moving in the right direction. If these guys continue to improve with how young they are right now, the snowball effect is just going to continue.”
DRAFT LOTTERY
Despite finishing with the third-worst record last season, the Nationals were not eligible for the Draft Lottery because they are a “payor club.” Clubs that give revenue-sharing dollars rather than receive them cannot receive Lottery picks in consecutive years. (Last year, the Nats landed the No. 1 pick.)
The Nationals received the No. 11 overall pick in the 2026 Draft, and Toboni is ready to get to work.
“Excitement,” Toboni said. “And this is probably due to my background -- I kind of came up through the game working in amateur scouting, and it still remains a huge passion of mine no matter how removed you get from it. So I’m really excited.
“This is the time of the year where you really start to sink your teeth into who are players that are going to go in the top 15 picks or top 30 picks, whatever it might be, and you start really doing your homework on who might be a fit at -- in this case -- pick 11 for us.”
RULE 5 DRAFT
The Nationals selected right-hander Griff McGarry from the Phillies’ Triple-A roster with the third pick in the Rule 5 Draft. McGarry, 26, was named Philadelphia’s 2025 Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
Last season, McGarry ranked fourth among all Minor League pitchers with 13.34 strikeouts per nine innings (minimum 80 innings pitched). In 21 starts between Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A, McGarry went 2-5 with a 3.44 ERA. He held opponents to a .166 batting average, but he walked 5.3 per nine. McGarry was a fifth-round pick by the Phillies in the 2021 Draft out of Virginia.
The Nationals also selected right-handers Sandy Gaston (Angels), Brady Hill (Rockies), Dylan Tebrake (Mets), Eiker Huizi (Padres) and Cesar Rojas (Rays) and outfielder Jack Rogers (Reds) in the Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft.
“You only have so many opportunities every year to upgrade the Minor League player pool,” said Toboni. “I think while we went into it with an aggressive mindset, it all comes down to the individual players and the intrigue each of them provides."
MORE FROM THIS WEEK
• Three years ago, the Nationals acquired left-hander MacKenzie Gore and shortstop CJ Abrams from the Padres in the Juan Soto blockbuster with the vision of them becoming centerpieces of the club's future. This offseason, Gore and Abrams were at the forefront of trade buzz at the 2025 Winter Meetings. Read more >>
• In the short time that Butera has assembled his coaching staff, there have already been in-person meetings and introductions around the country and even in the Dominican Republic. Read more >>
• Ford will have the opportunity to contend for a consistent -- if not starting -- role behind the plate. “I love that I’m going to get a chance to fight for a spot on the team,” he said. Read more >>
GM’S BOTTOM LINE
With an emphasis on staying open minded, Toboni is having conversations and listening to other clubs’ interest in players on the Nationals’ roster.
“I think it would just be kind of negligent to not entertain it,” Toboni said. “CJ or otherwise, we’ll have our ears open. And the worst that can happen is we say ‘no’ and we go back to having our regularly scheduled programming and go from there.”