Grading Washington Nationals Offseason Moves After First Quarter of the Season

The Washington Nationals are still in the middle of a rebuild, but were still fairly active in the offseason.

With a quarter of the season now gone, here are some grades for each of the major moves that the Nationals made, with added context:

Signing RHP Trevor Williams

Williams had a breakout season last year before getting injured, so bringing him back to round out the pitching staff made sense. He signed a two -year, $14 million fully guaranteed contract.

He hasn't been able to replicate that success this year as he has a 5.88 ERA with a 1.573 WHIP. He's eating innings during the rebuild, which is the only real job he has until prospects come in to take over. Washington would just likely prefer if he was playing a bit better.

Grade: C+

Signing LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara

Ogasawara was always going to be more of an investment rather than an immediate impact player, but he had a tough spring and has been sidelined for a few weeks with an oblique injury.

Two of his three starts for Triple-A Rochester have been fantastic, but he did get shelled once. It's hard to really grade this one with such little to go on, but it hasn't been a home run so far.

Grade: C+

Trading LHP Robert Garcia for 1B Nathaniel Lowe

This was always an interesting move. Garcia was a promising southpaw reliever that is under team control through 2030. He's a bit older, about to turn 29, but still could have been a factor for a few years.

That potential is being reached with the Texas Rangers this season with a 1.47 ERA and 0.927 WHIP.

Lowe hasn't been bad, but he also hasn't been amazing. He has a .230/.306/.400 slash line with seven home runs and 30 RBI. He has a 100 OPS+, which puts him right at league average. His defense has taken a hit, though, with a -1 FRV.

Grade: C

One-Year Fliers

The Nationals brought back Josh Bell on a one-year deal, likely with the hopes of swapping him for a prospect at the deadline. His .146/.234/.285 slash line with just five home runs will make that hard.

Grade: D

Jorge Lopez had a tumultuous 2024 campaign that ended with him puting up a stellar second half with the Chicago Cubs. If he was able to repeat that this year, he could have netted some nice prospects at the deadline. Instead, he has a 7.50 ERA through 19 games.

Grade: F

Amed Rosario has maybe been the biggest win of their smaller deals. He's posted a .295/.321/.436 slash line and played a number of defensive postions. There will absolutely be a contender interested in him come the trade deadline.

Grade: B+

After non-tendering Kyle Finnegan, he ended up returning for $5.38 million. He's picked up 13 saves with only two blown opportunities and has a 2.87 ERA. They should be able to flip him if they want to.

Grade: B+

Overall

Washington took a lot a swings this offseason and only a handful have worked out. The good news is that their signings and failures on that front have been mitigated by some positive momentum form their prospects.

Grade: D+