Because the trade occurred late in the Winter Meetings last week, and because the Nationals have made more news since, Tanner Roark's departure for Cincinnati perhaps hasn't received as much attention as it deserves.
Consider this, then, one final acknowledgement of Roark's career in Washington. Because it was significant, it was very good at times and it may not be as easy to replace as some would like to believe.
Did Roark have his faults? Sure. Especially over the last two seasons, he...
From the moment he departed Washington for St. Louis (via a late-August waiver claim) Matt Adams made it clear he'd be interested in returning to the Nationals next season. He wasn't just saying it to be nice to his former employer.
Adams officially rejoined the Nats today after passing a physical, the last step toward finalizing a one-year, $3 million contract that also includes a $4 million mutual option for 2020 (or a $1 million buyout). And the big slugger explained why he was so...
The Nationals' luxury tax bill this season is slightly less than $2.4 million, a not-insignificant amount to pay for exceeding Major League Baseball's pseudo-salary cap, but probably not a steep enough penalty to deter the club from making an offer to Bryce Harper that would catapult it over the threshold again in 2019.
The Nationals' final payroll for luxury tax purposes was roughly $205 million, according to a report over the weekend by the Associated Press, $8 million above MLB's 2018...
The Nationals completed their trade for Yan Gomes today when they announced minor league infielder Andruw Monasterio as the player to be named in their deal with the Indians.
Monasterio, 21, was the prospect the Nationals acquired from the Cubs for Daniel Murphy in August. He wound up playing in only 13 games with the organization, all for Single-A Potomac, hitting .308 with a triple and 5 RBIs.
The Nationals already had sent right-hander Jefry Rodriguez and minor league outfielder Daniel...
The National League East hasn't been decided by fewer than seven games since 2012, and the division race hasn't come down to the season's final weekend since 2008. We have no way of knowing yet how it'll play out in 2019, but this much is safe to say: Right now, four of the division's five clubs are acting like they expect to be in the mix.
No division has been more aggressive so far this winter than the NL East, with the Nationals, Phillies, Mets and reigning champion Braves all making...
The trading of a player months before he becomes a free agent often comes with an important caveat: "We can always re-sign him over the winter." Truth is, it rarely happens. Whether it's the bad blood a player feels toward an organization for dealing him away or a genuine lack of interest from the club in bringing said player back, these reunions just don't take place very often.
In the case of Matt Adams and the Nationals, though, this always felt like a distinct possibility.
For one...
Even after he was traded to the Cardinals as the Nationals' season collapsed in August, Matt Adams spoke glowingly of Washington as an organization and a city and said he'd be interested in returning.
Turns out he'll be coming back next season.
The Nationals and Adams have agreed to a one-year contract with a mutual option for 2020, pending a physical, according to two sources familiar with the signing. The deal, which was first reported by The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, guarantees Adams $4...
Mike Rizzo's public stance on the Nationals' need to acquire a second baseman has been adjusted several times over the last two weeks.
The general manager initially insisted this wasn't a priority and that he was comfortable with a Howie Kendrick-Wilmer Difo combo until prospect Carter Kieboom is ready. Rizzo's tune then changed as he began to suggest he'd be interested in an acquisition, if said player was a clear upgrade over the current group. And by the time he left the Winter Meetings...
The Winter Meetings are now completed, which means the offseason is now half completed. Yep, it's been 10 weeks since the Nationals' season ended in Colorado, and it's 10 weeks until pitchers and catchers report to West Palm Beach.
So this feels like a good opportunity to take a broad look at the state of the roster, figure out what the Nats have accomplished so far and what they still need to accomplish before they assemble in Florida.
Here's where things currently stand ...
* The rotation...
LAS VEGAS - The Nationals came to town Sunday with a short list of roster needs after an aggressive run of moves earlier in the offseason. They leave town today without having filled any of those holes, but having created a brand new one.
Wednesday evening's surprise trade of Tanner Roark to the Reds for minor league reliever Tanner Rainey wasn't what most would have predicted would be the club's lone transaction of the Winter Meetings. It left more than a few folks at the Mandalay Bay...
LAS VEGAS - Asked Tuesday about the possibility of trading Tanner Roark, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo suggested such a move would only happen if the Nationals had already acquired another pitcher to fill that spot in a rotation top-heavy with talent but lacking in quality depth.
This afternoon, Rizzo traded Roark to the Reds for a minor league reliever, leaving his rotation - for the moment - short a proven No. 4 starter.
"Surprised," Roark said during a hastily arranged conference...
LAS VEGAS - Echoing what general manager Mike Rizzo has been saying all week, and not what managing principal owner Mark Lerner said last week, agent Scott Boras today insisted the Nationals are not out of the running to re-sign free agent Bryce Harper.
"I think when they say the door's open, I would certainly pay attention to what they say," Boras said during the early portion of what turned in a more than hour-long scrum with a throng of reporters today at the Winter Meetings.
Despite a...
LAS VEGAS - If Davey Martinez was going to create a motto for the 2019 Nationals, it would be rather simple while also driving home the main point he wants to convey to his players.
"Just one more," the manager said Tuesday during his media session at the Winter Meetings. "One more. One more of everything. One more strikeout. One more stolen base. One more walk. Things like that. If we can do that consistently, we're going to win a lot of ballgames."
Martinez has already mentioned on...
LAS VEGAS - Though multiple teams have approached the Nationals in recent days about Tanner Roark, general manager Mike Rizzo suggested he isn't looking to trade the veteran right-hander and would only do so if he had already bolstered his rotation with another significant acquisition.
Responding to a report early this morning by Yahoo! Sports that the Nationals "have engaged in multiple discussions to trade" Roark, Rizzo admitted there have been some talks this week, but only those...
LAS VEGAS - The Nationals got the frontline starter they've long coveted last week when they doled out $140 million to sign Patrick Corbin. Might they still be in the market for some back-of-the-rotation help, though?
The Nationals, as currently constructed, have four locks to make their opening day rotation (assuming health for all those involved), with Corbin joining ace Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Tanner Roark. The fifth spot, for now, would go to either Joe Ross or Erick Fedde,...
LAS VEGAS - The Nationals made it a priority each of the last two winters to acquire a left-handed backup first baseman, wanting to make sure they had not only a potent bat off the bench but also a capable slugger who could take over everyday duties if Ryan Zimmerman landed on the disabled list.
And each time they struck paydirt, getting major contributions from Adam Lind in 2017 and Matt Adams in 2018 (until he was traded to the Cardinals once the Nats fell out of the race).
The Nationals find...
LAS VEGAS - Mark Lerner's surprising, if honest, revelation last week that he expects Bryce Harper to sign with another club this winter was met with understandably strong emotions from all those invested in the most significant free agent storyline of the offseason.
But within the Nationals front office, it was viewed less as a firm declaration of the club's resignation to move on from Harper and more as an off-the-cuff remark from the man wielding the most power in the organization.
So the...
LAS VEGAS - It's been circled on the calendar for years, this perfect confluence of baseball's signature offseason event, Bryce Harper's first foray into free agency and everything coming together on the Las Vegas Strip, just down the street from Harper's home.
And after all that anticipation and speculation, it's finally time for this long-awaited spectacle to get underway.
The Winter Meetings officially open for business today, and nobody's debating what the top story will be at the...
They've already signed the frontline starter they've coveted for a long time. They've upgraded the catching position with not one but two veteran additions. They've added two experienced late-inning relievers.
And they've done all this before departing for the Winter Meetings. Which begs the question: Do the Nationals even need to go to Las Vegas this week?
"You know I love the Winter Meetings," general manager Mike Rizzo said dismissively when asked the aforementioned question Friday...
The odds of Bryce Harper re-signing with the Nationals once he became a free agent always felt long, not with some of baseball's most iconic and cash-infused franchises certain to be involved in a bidding war for a 26-year-old seeking the biggest contract in American sports history.
But it wasn't until today that a prominent member of the Nationals front office explicitly put into words the expectation that Harper will be playing elsewhere in 2019.
Mark Lerner, the Nationals' managing...