The Nationals need to swing big this offseason

Mired in mediocrity since winning the World Series in 2019, the Washington Nationals have gone 354-516 since 2020 and have had five consecutive losing seasons.

The Nationals are heading into an offseason surrounded by questions about the organization's direction. President of baseball operations Paul Toboni is charged with rebuilding the team after taking over for former executive Mike Rizzo, whom ownership felt could no longer get the job done. 

The Nationals need to swing big this offseason 

The Nationals are a few free agent signings and possibly a trade or two away from repeating what they did in 2019. With a solid group of talented young position players like left fielder James Wood, shortstop CJ Abrams and right fielder Dylan Crews, they also have a few decent arms in their starting rotation, highlighted by MacKenzie Gore and Cade Cavalli. The foundation is there, and now the team must look to make the additions that will help it take the next step.

Swinging big means signing a slugger, like first baseman Pete Alonso, who would add power the Nationals lack. They h ad just one 30+ home run hitter in 2025 (Wood, with 31). Josh Bell is their current first baseman, and signing Alonso would be a massive upgrade.

Alonso is expected to seek a seven-year deal in the neighborhood of $200 million. The Nationals have the payroll flexibility to sign Alonso to such a deal, having roughly $47 million committed to payroll next season. 

Alonso has been incredibly durable and consistent, never playing in fewer than 152 games or hitting fewer than 34 home runs in a season (excluding 2020 COVID-shortened season). Penciling Alonso into the four hole gives the Nationals a perfect balance of speed, contact and power at the top of their order. 

The Nationals could also go out to sign someone like Dylan Cease to give them an ace in the rotation, which would take some pressure off Gore. Coming off a down season (8-12, 4.55 ERA in 168.0 innings), the Nationals could get him on a “pillow contract,” being that he’s a Scott Boras client, or see if he's interested in a longer-term but more team-friendly deal.

Pete Alonso can be the Jayson Werth of this next Nationals core 

The Nationals signed Werth in 2011, three years after he won a World Series with the divisional rival Philadelphia Phillies. Though he retired two years before the Nats won it all in 2019, he was the mentor to the core of that World Series team that featured Juan Soto, Trea Turner and Anthony Rendon. 

Werth joined a franchise that hadn't finished above .500 in six seasons since moving to D.C. from Montreal and helped it win 90+ games four times and earn four playoff appearances in seven seasons with the team.

Alonso could be that for this young Nationals team, having playoff experience that would help when they get into the playoffs for the first time since 2019 and helping push them into their next window of contention.