It’s a tough time to be a Washington, D.C. sports fan, as my colleague Mark Zuckerman pointed out yesterday. If you look around at the standings across the various sports leagues, Washington teams don’t sit very high.

The Nationals, of course, just finished fifth in the National League East for the fourth consecutive season following their 2019 World Series championship, despite a 16-win improvement from 2022. At the end of the NFL regular season, the Commanders finished last in their division and now own the No. 2 pick in the upcoming draft. In the NBA, the Wizards currently own the league’s third-worst record and are on track for a lottery pick, possibly the No. 1 selection. The Capitals are treading water in the middle of the NHL standings, trying to avoid the first back-to-back seasons of missing the playoffs since the start of the Alex Ovechkin era.

The Mystics, who also won a championship in 2019, made the WNBA playoffs despite a sub-.500 record and were swept out of the first round. The local soccer clubs – MLS’ D.C. United and NWSL’s Washington Spirit – finished in the middle of the pack without postseason appearances in their respective campaigns.

By most accounts, all of Washington’s professional sports teams are either in a rebuild or barely toeing the line of competitiveness.

The Commanders’ new ownership group has already begun to clean house and rebuild the entire organization. They are taking steps to hire a new general manager and head coach, who will use the No. 2 pick in the draft to start building the roster in their image. Although turnarounds in the NFL have been proven to take less time, the local football team is just beginning the long journey back to being one of the best franchises in the league.

As the first week of the new year comes to a close, we’ve done our fair share of looking back at the Nationals’ 2023 season and ahead to the 2024 campaign. At the major league level.

During this week’s “The Hot Stove Show” on MASN All Access (which you can watch here), Brendan Mortensen and I talked a lot about the Nats’ top prospects in the minor league system and what to expect from some of them this year.

That got me thinking: We haven’t really looked back at the most significant stories from last year on the farm.

So to briefly coincide with Mark Zuckerman’s “Most significant stories of 2023” series from the week leading up New Year’s Day, here are seven of the most important headlines from the Nationals’ minor league side of the past year …

1) Dylan Crews drafted No. 2 overall
This one is the most obvious selection. At this time a year ago, one of the main focuses heading into the season was who the Nationals would select with the No. 2 pick in the MLB Draft.

It’s Christmas Eve in Washington and we are fewer than 100 days from Opening Day 2024. This offseason is progressing rapidly.

Before we check to see what Santa Claus left under our trees tomorrow morning and ring in the new year next week, let’s look at what remains on the Nationals’ offseason wish list, in hopes that some could be crossed off soon.

As expected, the Nationals have been relatively quiet this offseason, limiting spending and not dealing away prospects in hopes the budding stars can make an impact at the major league level next year and put the team in position to be spenders next offseason.

But they have made a couple of moves to fill some roster holes.

Before officially departing the Winter Meetings in Nashville, the Nats agreed to a one-year, $2 million deal, plus incentives, with former Reds utility man Nick Senzel to be their everyday third baseman.

Much has already been made of Nick Senzel’s friendship with Lane Thomas (with more to come) and how that factored into his decision to sign a one-year, $2 million deal with the Nationals that includes an extra $1 million in incentives.

But there were other enticing aspects of joining the Nats that the 28-year-old considered when making his decision.

Of course, the opportunity to play third base, his natural position, every day after moving all over the field during his five-year career with the Reds was one.

Another factor was who he would be playing alongside on the left side of the infield.

CJ Abrams emerged as the Nats’ shortstop of the future this season after putting together a promising campaign. The 23-year-old slashed .245/.300/.412 with a .712 OPS, 28 doubles, six triples, 18 home runs, 64 RBIs and a new Nats single-season club record 47 stolen bases. Defensively, he posted a 4 Defensive Runs Saved at shortstop.

The Nationals went to last week’s Winter Meetings in Nashville with a list of needs that included an everyday third baseman.

They left Thursday morning after signing former Reds utilityman Nick Senzel for $2 million plus an extra $1 million in incentives.

Senzel, 28, was non-tendered by the Reds last month after slashing .236/.297/.399 with a .696 OPS, 10 doubles, a career-high 13 home runs and 42 RBIs, and six stolen bases while playing third base, second base and all three outfield spots. The 2016 No. 2 overall pick from the University of Tennessee finished his five-year career in Cincinnati with a .239 average, .671 OPS, 33 homers and 125 RBIs.

The Nationals believe Senzel’s subpar results were partially a product of moving around the field too much and that they could improve if he is given the chance to play one position consistently alongside his childhood best friend, Lane Thomas.

“I'd like to say both,” Senzel said in a Zoom meeting with reporters when asked how much his decision to sign with the Nats was based on what they could offer and the chance to play with Thomas. “Obviously, me and Lane, we grew up playing together. And this opportunity that was brought to me, an opportunity to be able to play every day and get a new start in a historic franchise, was just kind of just kind of a no-brainer for me. And just having Lane, one of my best buddies I grew up with, playing right field, it's really insane, to be honest.”

When the Nationals selected outfielder Elijah Green with the fifth-overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, it was thought to be a steal for the rebuilding club.

How did MLB Pipeline’s No. 3 draft prospect fall to the Nats at No. 5? This would be the second year in a row one of the top high school bats seemingly slipped to the Nats after Brady House fell to them at No. 11 overall in the previous summer’s draft.

After posting a .939 OPS with four doubles, two homers and nine RBIs in 12 Rookie-level Florida Complex League games last year, we got the first glimpse of what Green brings to the table during his 75 games at Single-A Fredericksburg this year. And we potentially saw why four teams passed on him in the 2022 draft that made him available to the Nats at No. 5.

Green, who just turned 20 this last week, flashed his athletic skill set that made him a top draft prospect. He is an elite, yet raw athlete with speed, power and a strong arm. Per MLB Pipeline, his power (60), run (70), arm (60) and field (60) are all above average on a 20-80 grading scale.

He stole 30 bases in 35 attempts with the FredNats while also posting a .982 fielding percentage in 607 innings in center field.

Last month, the Nationals promoted longtime front office staffer Eddie Longosz to vice president and assistant general manager of player development and administration after spending the last 13 years in the club’s scouting department, most recently as the director of scouting operations for the last eight.

Before the promotion, Longosz, a D.C. native, assisted general manager Mike Rizzo on all aspects of the organization's amateur, professional and international scouting operations.

That means he is now in charge of developing the players in the Nats’ farm system that he helped scout and draft.

The upper echelon of the farm system is now loaded, especially with position players, thanks to high draft picks, numerous trades and impressive international signings over the last three years, all with Longosz’s input.

At the top of the board is top prospect Dylan Crews, this year’s No. 2 overall draft pick, reigning national champion from LSU and Golden Spikes Award winner. The other recent first-round picks include third baseman and No. 3 prospect Brady House (No. 11 overall pick in 2021) and outfielder and No. 5 prospect Elijah Green (No. 5 overall pick in 2022).

The Nationals almost left the Winter Meetings at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville without a major league signing.

On Wednesday, the last official day of the meetings, they added infielder Nasim Nuñez through the Rule 5 Draft and signed first baseman/outfielder Juan Yepez to a minor league deal.

But in the wee hours of Thursday morning, before the Nationals braintrust left for the Nashville airport, they finally made one major addition by signing former Reds utilityman Nick Senzel to a $2 million contract that includes an extra $1 million in incentives.

Parallels have already been drawn from this signing to the addition of Dominic Smith last offseason.

They both were former first-round picks: Smith out of high school by the Mets in 2013 and Senzel out of the University of Tennessee by the Reds in 2016. Both were non-tendered by their respective clubs after not realizing their full potential and then signed with the Nats for $2 million with another year of club control.

NASHVILLE – This afternoon’s Rule 5 draft marks the end of the Winter Meetings at the Gaylord Opryland Resort. Typically held on Thursday morning the week of the Meetings, the league bumped it up to Wednesday afternoon last year, much to the delight of beat reporters who get to travel home a day early.

The Nationals historically haven’t utilized this avenue of roster building. Designed to keep teams from stashing prospects in the minor leagues, general manager Mike Rizzo has usually turned to acquiring established major leaguers instead of taking a flier on an unproven prospect that has to take up a roster spot for the entirety of next season.

But the Nats did stray away from that last year by selecting Thaddeus Ward from the Red Sox with the first-overall pick in the Rule 5 draft, their first selection in 12 years.

Although they hold the No. 5 overall pick this afternoon and have two open spots on the 40-man roster, the Nats aren’t assured of making a selection. But that doesn’t mean the Rule 5 draft will definitely be uneventful for them.

The Nats, of course, can lose players in this event and they have already taken steps to assure they keep the ones they definitely want.

NASHVILLE – The Nationals found themselves in a tricky situation as they arrived at the Gaylord Opryland Resort for this year’s Winter Meetings.

After a 16-win improvement from last year, the team is looking to take another significant step toward competing in 2024. In order to do that, they need to fill some holes on their roster, especially in the power department.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us this year, and I think we’re going to take our aggressive approach when it suits us and wait for the market when it suits us,” said general manager Mike Rizzo on Monday. “I think we’re going to be busy here. We’ve already been semi-busy since we got here, and I think it’s going to be a busy time.”

But with one of the best farm systems in baseball, they know they also have some top prospects coming to the major leagues soon.

How, then, do Rizzo and Co. improve the current roster at first base/designated hitter, third base and the outfield at a low cost that won’t be an issue once one or more of the aforementioned top prospects are deemed ready for the big leagues?

NASHVILLE – Teams arrived at the Gaylord Opryland Resort with their wish lists as they prepare to construct their rosters for next season. Whether through trades or free agency, each major league club has holes to fill.

When speaking to the media during baseball’s biggest offseason event, general managers usually mention what they’re looking to add. Managers discuss what they already have on the roster and what they wish they did.

Davey Martinez touched on all of the above when speaking to a group of local media members on Monday afternoon for his only scheduled session this week.

It’s no secret the Nats are looking to add more power to their lineup next season after hitting a league-worst 151 home runs, second only to the Guardians for the fewest in the majors. Martinez believes it can come from both within and outside the organization.

“I think it's going to be both. I really do,” the skipper said. “As you can see, some of our young players started getting it towards the end there. I think there's still a lot more out of CJ (Abrams), out of Keibert (Ruiz) and some of our younger guys.”

While not officially prospects anymore, my last two review posts are going to be on two young players who contributed a good amount of time to the Nationals’ major league club in 2023 but didn’t get player reviews of their own.

PLAYER REVIEW: JOAN ADON

Age on opening day 2024: 25

How acquired: Signed as international free agent, July 2016

MLB debut: Oct. 3, 2021

While not officially prospects anymore, my last two review posts are going to be on two young players who contributed a good amount of time to the Nationals’ major league club in 2023 but didn’t get player reviews of their own.

PLAYER REVIEW: JOSE A. FERRER

Age on opening day 2024: 24

How acquired: Signed as international free agent, July 2017

MLB debut: July 1, 2023

PROSPECT REVIEW: RODDERY MUÑOZ

Age on opening day 2024: 23

How acquired: Claimed off waivers from Braves, July 2023; originally signed as international free agent by Braves from Dominican Republic, June 2018

Ranking: No. 30 per MLB Pipeline, NR per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2024
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

PROSPECT REVIEW: ANDREW ALVAREZ

Age on opening day 2024: 24

How acquired: Drafted in 12th round in 2021 from California Polytechnic State University

Ranking: NR per MLB Pipeline, NR per Baseball America

MLB ETA: TBD
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

PROSPECT REVIEW: MATT CRONIN

Age on opening day 2024: 26

How acquired: Drafted in fourth round in 2019 from University of Arkansas

Ranking: NR per MLB Pipeline, No. 29 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2023
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

PROSPECT REVIEW: ZACH BRZYKCY

Age on opening day 2024: 24

How acquired: Signed as undrafted free agent in 2020 from Virginia Tech

Ranking: No. 28 per MLB Pipeline, No. 22 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2024
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

PROSPECT REVIEW: MITCHELL PARKER

Age on opening day 2024: 24

How acquired: Drafted in fifth round in 2020 from San Jacinto College (Houston)

Ranking: No. 25 per MLB Pipeline, No. 30 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2024
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

PROSPECT REVIEW: ANDRY LARA

Age on opening day 2024: 21

How acquired: Signed as international free agent, July 2019

Ranking: No. 23 per MLB Pipeline, No. 18 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2025
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

The 2023 holiday season officially kicked off yesterday with Thanksgiving, but the Nationals got a head start to the season of giving earlier this week.

This week Washington Nationals Philanthropies hosted Turkeypalooza, its now sixth annual food distribution event across the D.C. area.

“Turkeypalooza is an annual event that Washington Nationals Philanthropies hosts, in partnership with BetMGM now for the second year,” said Tal Alter, CEO of Nationals Philanthropies. “We're going to distribute 900 turkeys over the next few days, which means 3,600 different meal units being presented to members of the community who are unfortunately food insecure. At this time of year, it's just incredibly important for everyone to be able to celebrate the holidays with dignity, and food is the fundamental piece of that.”

The event started on Monday in front of the BetMGM sportsbook outside Nationals Park with volunteers handing out turkeys and bags filled with shelf-stable items and fresh produce. Nats outfielder Stone Garrett was even in attendance to help out with the distribution.

“Our fans support us all season long, so to give back to the community, it means a lot,” Garrett said. “It means a lot, especially during the holiday season.”