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Did Nationals Make Mistake Not Following Blueprint of Their Division Rival?

Originally posted on Washington Nationals on SI
By Brad Wakai | Last updated Oct 18, 2025 11:00 AM ET

During this past season, the Washington Nationals seemed poised to take a step forward.

After two straight years where they won 71 games, the organization was ready to make some moves that would help them become more competitive after some of their young stars emerged at the big league level and some of their top prospects arrived to The Show.

While nobody expected the Nationals to actually compete in the loaded NL East division or contend for a playoff spot, by signing some veterans to augment the roster, the hope was they would at least increase their win total in 2025.

Unfortunately, that did not happen for Washington, and it resulted in a seismic regime change where longtime general manager Mike Rizzo and World Series-winning manager Dave Martinez were fired in the middle of the season.

Now, with the benefit of hindsight, it's fair to wonder if the Nationals approached last winter the wrong way. While there were some exciting pieces in place, the overall talent of the roster was not good enough to accomplish their goal of being a competitive ballclub.

Nationals Should Have Followed Blueprint of Marlins

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That's why in the mind of District on Deck's Thomas Carelli, Washington should have done what one of their division rivals did this year, as the Miami Marlins opted to play many of their young players while seeing what some of their top prospects could do in the majors.

"I am no manager, but perhaps if this team did not try to compete in 2025, they could have spared the cash and let the prospects develop all season long. Just take a look at the Miami Marlins... they almost made the playoffs with this method," he wrote.

Again, hindsight is 20/20. But what the Nationals did this season clearly didn't work. Not only did they take a step back when it came to their record, but they also have more questions than answers regarding who is going to be the cornerstones of this franchise going forward alongside CJ Abrams and James Wood in the field.

Some of that was due to injury since Dylan Crews was limited for the majority of the campaign. However, not playing Brady House, Nasim Nunez, Daylen Lile and other young players earlier in the year has given them a smaller sample size to work with heading into this important offseason.

Meanwhile, the Marlins got a look at a ton of different players. And now they know exactly what positions they want to pursue this winter in free agency to upgrade their roster around the pieces they know they can build around.

Washington is entering a new era under the leadership of Paul Toboni, so none of this might have mattered in the long run anyway. But it's interesting to wonder how things might have looked on the field if they opted to follow a similar path that Miami took.