SAN DIEGO – With their first Rule 5 draft pick in a dozen years, the Nationals took a flyer on a right-hander who recently returned from Tommy John surgery, hoping he can make it through the entire 2023 season on the major league roster, most likely as a multi-inning reliever before ultimately joining the rotation.

Thad Ward, who spent the last five seasons in the Red Sox organization, was the Nats’ pick of the litter, going No. 1 in today’s Rule 5 draft, which unofficially wraps up the Winter Meetings.

"It makes you feel good as a player to know that other teams value you," Ward said in a conference call with reporters. "It’s really rewarding to see your hard work get seen. … Honestly, I’m just thankful. I’m going to leave it at that. I’m thankful for the opportunity, and I’m ready to get to work with the Nats and get this thing going.”

Ward, who turns 26 next month, was Boston’s organizational pitcher of the year in 2019 after posting a 2.14 ERA and 157 strikeouts in 25 combined starts between both levels of Single-A. He hasn’t pitched much since then, though, missing the 2020 season (along with all other minor leaguers) because of the pandemic, then missing most of the 2021 and 2022 campaigns while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Ward returned strong this summer, producing a 2.28 ERA and 66 strikeouts across 51 1/3 innings at three levels of the Red Sox system. Seven of his starts came at Double-A Portland, where he had a 2.43 ERA and 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings.

SAN DIEGO – It’s been 12 long years since the Nationals last selected a player in the Rule 5 draft. Such was life for a franchise that spent the better part of a decade contending for a division title and October glory.

These days, though, the Nats aren’t talking about contention anytime soon. They finished with the majors’ worst record this season. That earned them a shot at the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft (they found out Tuesday night they’ll pick second instead of first). And it guaranteed them the No. 1 pick in today’s Rule 5 draft, which promises to bring an end to that long drought of inactivity.

“We’ve got a list of players that we’re going over,” general manager Mike Rizzo said earlier this week at the Winter Meetings. “If they’re players that fit what we’re trying to do right now, we’ve crafted the roster that we can take a player on. We’re going to go through the list and see if there’s someone that we really like. And if we like somebody, we’ll take them.”

There’s every reason to believe the Nationals will take somebody. Maybe even two somebodies if they want to use both of their vacant 40-man roster spots on low-risk prospects left unprotected by other organizations.

For those who don’t remember how this works: The Rule 5 draft allows teams to acquire players with at least four or five years of minor league service who aren’t currently on 40-man rosters. For the bargain-basement price of $100,000 apiece, teams can snatch those players away with one big condition: They must remain on the major league roster for the entire season (including at least 90 days on the active roster, not the injured list).

SAN DIEGO – The worst record in baseball in 2022 wasn’t enough to get the Nationals the best pick in the draft in 2023. But it did at least get them the next-best pick.

The Nats learned tonight they will hold the No. 2 selection next summer after losing out to the Pirates in Major League Baseball’s inaugural draft lottery.

“I’m good. I’ll live with it,” general manager Mike Rizzo said. “No. 2 is a high pick, and I’m very comfortable with it. We’re going to get a very good, impactful player.”

For decades, MLB guaranteed the No. 1 pick to the franchise that finished the previous season with the league’s worst record. That’s how the Nationals were able to draft Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper back-to-back in 2009 and 2010 after back-to-back 100-loss seasons. But amid complaints from players that teams were purposely tanking in search of the best draft position, MLB instituted a lottery for the first time this year.

The Nats, despite an major league-worst 55-107 record this season, wound up paying the price for that dramatic change. Though nobody had a better chance of winning the No. 1 pick, they were on equal footing with the Athletics (60-102) and Pirates (62-100), and even then they only had 16.5 percent odds. In fact, they actually had a better chance of emerging with the No. 7 pick (19 percent) than any other slot under the new system.

SAN DIEGO – The Nationals, as they made abundantly clear Monday, are in the market for a starting pitcher. They would love to acquire a proven arm who can make 30-plus starts next season and take pressure off the organization’s three projected young starters.

Those young starters – MacKenzie Gore, Cade Cavalli, Josiah Gray – all will open the season in the rotation, provided they’re all healthy. And manager Davey Martinez said Monday all three are healthy and will be full-go for spring training.

Martinez also said Patrick Corbin is part of the 2023 rotation, looking for a major bounce back after a dreadful 2022 season on the heels of a dreadful 2021 season.

So, in theory, that’s a five-man rotation right there, with the expected new addition joining the four holdovers.

What, though, about Stephen Strasburg? Is it even conceivable he’s part of the mix? For now, the Nationals are making no such proclamations. Neither are they ruling out the possibility, though.

SAN DIEGO – As he watches the rest of the baseball world spend hundreds of millions of dollars on top free agents, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo says he has at least been told by ownership how much he can spend to address his club’s roster needs on the heels of a 107-loss season.

That, in itself, is a significant development, given the uncertainty surrounding the organization as the Lerner family continues to try to sell the franchise.

“Yeah, we’ve got payroll clarity, and we’re marching ahead with our blueprint and our plan for this offseason,” Rizzo said today in his first session of the Winter Meetings with reporters. “I think we’ve scheduled a lot of things we’re trying to get done here. Hopefully we can do something here, or shortly thereafter, to improve our club.”

Though Rizzo didn’t specify how large (or small) that budget is, the types of additions he mentioned suggest they are likely to be short-term moves for moderately priced veterans. He certainly wasn’t in the market for Trea Turner, the free agent shortstop who today agreed to a reported 11-year, $300 million deal with the Phillies, becoming the latest former Nationals star to sign a monster contract with a division rival.

“I’m happy for Trea,” Rizzo said. “I’m glad he got paid a lot of money. He’s a winner.”

SAN DIEGO – Another former Nationals star is signing another mega deal with another division rival.

Trea Turner has agreed to an 11-year, $300 million contract with the Phillies, as first reported by ESPN and confirmed by multiple other outlets. It’s a huge payout for the free agent shortstop, now under contract through the 2033 season, during which he will turn 40.

In Philadelphia, Turner reunites with Bryce Harper (still under contract and due to earn $242 million through the 2031 season), not to mention Kyle Schwarber and hitting coach Kevin Long, all of them former Nationals.

And thus did yet another National League East rival lock up yet another former Nats star, leading to yet another decade of awkward return trips to South Capitol Street, where a demoralized fan base will have to decide whether to cheer or boo a once-beloved player who chose to sign long-term with a rival.

All of this came on the same day the Mets reportedly signed Justin Verlander to a two-year, $86 million deal, reuniting the two-time Cy Young Award winner with three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer. The two previously were teammates in Detroit; now they headline the rotation in Queens, where the pressure to win the franchise’s first World Series since 1986 will be immense.

SAN DIEGO – Though most everyone from the baseball world arrived here Sunday, the Winter Meetings actually get underway today.

Aside from the announcement of the Hall of Fame’s Contemporary Era Players Committee vote – more on that shortly – nothing official happened Sunday at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. That will change today with a flurry of activity, announcements and media availabilities.

We will hear from both Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez this afternoon (Pacific Time), and there are no shortage of questions to ask them.

Rizzo surely will be pressed on his overall plan for the offseason, which of course depends on what kind of budget he’s been allotted by an ownership group that has been trying to sell the Nationals the last eight months. Even if he doesn’t provide concrete answers to every question, there should be plenty to interpret from the longtime general manager’s words.

Are the Nats in a position to add another big bat to a lineup that is still lacking in the wake of last week’s signing of Jeimer Candelario? Are they willing to spend the kind of money a proven starting pitcher is commanding this winter in an attempt to boost a rotation that sorely needs it?

When last the baseball world gathered in San Diego for the Winter Meetings, the Nationals were the talk of the town. The defending World Series champions not only were basking in the glow of their recent title, they also found themselves right in the thick of two of the biggest free agent races of that offseason, ultimately re-signing Stephen Strasburg while watching Anthony Rendon leave for the Angels.

Three years later, the baseball world gathers again this week in San Diego for the first full-fledged Winter Meetings since the 2019 version. The pandemic wiped out the planned 2020 event. The lockout wiped out the 2021 version.

Aside from the location, this one will bear zero resemblance to the last one for the Nationals.

As they prepare to gather at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, the Nats are coming off a 107-loss season, not a World Series title. They’re probably not in the market for any major free agents, let alone two of them. The biggest news they might make this week could come in Tuesday’s inaugural draft lottery or Wednesday’s annual Rule 5 draft.

Oh, how times have changed.

This week’s signings of Jeimer Candelario and Stone Garrett left the Nationals with a full 40-man roster. Knowing more acquisitions are likely to come at next week’s Winter Meetings, they knew they’d need to clear some more roster spots.

The Nats took care of that Thursday, announcing outfielders Yasel Antuna and Josh Palacios each cleared waivers and was outrighted to the minors. That removed both players from the 40-man roster, leaving two open slots heading into the Winter Meetings.

Both Antuna and Palacios seemed to be on thin ice heading into the offseason, with both players in danger of losing their roster spots last month when the Nationals needed to add several players to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. Though they both survived that round of cuts, they didn’t survive this one.

Antuna has been regarded as one of the organization’s better offensive prospects since he was signed out of the Dominican Republic in July 2016 for a hefty $3.9 million. But outside of a strong 2017 debut in rookie ball in which he batted .301/.382/.399, he hasn’t been able to hit consistently in the minors. Over the course of five professional seasons spanning 1,548 plate appearances, Antuna owns a .231/.329/.358 slash line with 65 doubles, 30 homers and 157 RBIs.

The Nationals hoped a position switch this year might help after Antuna was charged with 36 errors in only 96 games at shortstop in 2021. But even playing with less defensive pressure as an outfielder this season, he still struggled at the plate.

The Hot Stove is finally starting to percolate a bit. The Nationals have made their first two major league acquisitions of the offseason (corner infielder Jeimer Candelario, outfielder Stone Garrett). The Winter Meetings begin Sunday in San Diego, with the brand-new MLB Draft Lottery and the traditional Rule 5 Draft of particular importance this year.

We've even got a brand-new offseason show set to debut on MASN: Watch "The Hot Stove Show" Fridays at 9:30 p.m., co-hosted by Brendan Mortensen and yours truly. We'll have news, analysis and interviews with club personnel and players every week.

This morning, though, we've got another version of the Q&A. Hopefully, there's no shortage of topics you're interested in, so please submit your questions in the comments section below, then check back throughout the morning for my replies ...

The additions of Jeimer Candelario and Stone Garrett aren’t going to dramatically alter the Nationals’ 2023 lineup. The two players, signed as free agents Tuesday, aren’t big enough bats to turn one of the majors’ least-productive batting orders into one of the sport’s best.

What the signings do provide the Nats, though, are depth and options for manager Davey Martinez, especially in the case of Candelario.

The 29-year-old switch-hitter, non-tendered by the Tigers two weeks ago, is coming off a rough season in which he hit a weak .217 with 19 doubles, 13 homers, 50 RBIs and a .633 OPS. That’s roughly comparable to what the Nationals got from all of their third basemen in 2022: a .237 average, 26 doubles, 12 homers, 64 RBIs and a .613 OPS.

If the Nats get the 2022 version of Candelario, they will have wasted $5 million. If, however, they get anything resembling the 2020-21 versions of him, they’ll get a significant upgrade, not to mention a guy who doesn’t have to play exclusively at third base.

In those two previous seasons, Candelario hit .278 with a .356 on-base percentage, .458 slugging percentage and .814 OPS. On a 162-game basis – you have to do this to account for the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign – he averaged 43 doubles, 19 homers and 77 RBIs. Do you think the Nats would take that? Uh, yeah.

The Nationals made their first major league acquisitions of the offseason today, signing free agent Jeimer Candelario to a one-year deal to add an experienced third baseman coming off a rough season to a lineup that needs plenty of added production, then signing power-hitting outfielder Stone Garrett to a major league deal.

Candelario contract guarantees the 29-year-old a $5 million salary, with another $1 million available in incentives, according to the New York Post's Jon Heyman. Garrett, who appeared in 27 games for the Diamondbacks after making his major league debut this summer, gets a league minimum deal but is under the club's control for six years.

A switch-hitter originally signed by the Cubs in 2010 as an amateur free agent, Candelario went to the Tigers in a July 2017 trade deadline deal that sent veterans Alex Avila and Justin Wilson to Chicago. Over the ensuing six seasons, he hit .243 with 124 doubles, 65 homers, 245 RBIs and a .728 OPS.

Candelario peaked during the 2020-21 seasons, posting a combined slash line of .278/.356/.458 for a well-above-average OPS-plus of 125. He tied for the major league lead with 42 doubles to go along with 16 homers in 2021 and finished that season with 3.8 bWAR.

Candelario’s production dropped significantly this season, though. In 124 games, he batted just .217/.272/.361 with 19 doubles, 13 homers and 50 RBIs, his bWAR plummeting to 0.6. Entering his final year of arbitration and due to earn a raise from his $5.8 million salary, the Tigers chose not to tender him a contract at the Nov. 18 deadline, making him a free agent.

The last two seasons of Nationals baseball have been defined by one particular type of transaction: the trade.

From July 29, 2021 through Aug. 2, 2022, general manager Mike Rizzo made eight deals with other clubs, sending 11 veterans to contenders in exchange for 19 players (all but one of them prospects).

It’s not hyperbole to say those trades completely changed the complexion of the Nationals franchise. Gone were the likes of Juan Soto, Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Josh Bell, Daniel Hudson, Yan Gomes and others. In were a host of potential young building blocks who remade a barren farm system and have begun to take over the major league roster, including Keibert Ruiz, Josiah Gray, CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, James Wood, Lane Thomas, Mason Thompson and more.

Now, Rizzo is attempting to supplement that new core group of youngsters with a few free agents who could help fill holes in the rotation and lineup. But is the free agent market his only path to address those needs?

Is it even possible for the Nats to make more trades this winter?

The Nationals were bad in a lot of ways this season. You don’t lose 107 games because of a deficiency in one single department. You lose that many games because of multiple problem areas.

And one of the Nats’ most notable problems in 2022 was a lack of power. Like, a complete lack of power.

They hit only 136 home runs, fewest in the National League. That represented the team’s lowest total for any scheduled 162-game season since 2008, when they finished with a league-worst 117 homers.

The Nationals hadn’t resided anywhere close to the bottom of the league in all the years since. Only once did they rank 10th in the NL, and that came during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. From 2011-19, they always ranked in the top half of the league in homers, and five times ranked among the top four power-hitting teams in the NL.

Suffice it to say, they’re going to need to improve in this area next season if they’re going to make some real strides in their rebuilding efforts.

There weren’t a lot of prominent Nationals prospects who participated in this year’s Arizona Fall League, and the most prominent of the lot appeared in only two games due to injury. So you’re forgiven if you didn’t pay much attention to the month-long showcase of top minor leaguers that wrapped up Nov. 12.

That’s what we’re here for: To provide a recap for you.

Of the 10 players the Nats sent to Arizona to join the Peoria Javelinas, only two appear on the organization’s top 30 prospects list compiled by MLB Pipeline, and wouldn’t you know it’s the guy at the top of the list and the guy at the bottom of the list.

No. 1 prospect Robert Hassell III was hoping to spend a month facing elite pitching and establishing his credentials for a possible big league debut sometime in 2023. But the 21-year-old outfielder, acquired from the Padres in the Juan Soto blockbuster trade, played in only two games (he went 1-for-6 with an RBI) before a fractured hamate bone in his right wrist brought everything to a screeching halt.

Hassell had surgery to remove the bone, a fairly common procedure that typically carries a recovery time of 6-8 weeks. So there’s no real concern about him heading into spring training. But it’s still disappointing he didn’t get more of a chance to see how he stacked up against other top prospects.

Finding something to be thankful about the Washington Nationals this year? Seriously?

Yes, seriously.

Maybe it wasn’t the best year in Nationals history. OK, actually it was officially the worst season in Nationals history, with not only a club record 107 losses but the trade of Juan Soto, the continued injury woes of Stephen Strasburg and the pending sale of the franchise by the Lerner family.

But even with all that negativity, there are still some things to be thankful for right now, if you look hard enough.

Like a restocked farm system that no longer ranks among the worst in baseball. In particular, there’s some legitimate outfield depth in the organization now, from Robert Hassell III to James Wood to Elijah Green to Cristhian Vaquero to Jeremy De La Rosa.

We noted the other day how the Nationals intend to pursue at least one starting pitcher this winter, trying to add some much-needed depth to what was baseball’s worst rotation this season. If that’s priority No. 1 over the next few months, priority No. 2 is the addition of a middle-of-the-order hitter.

Er, make that two middle-of-the-order hitters.

Last week’s decision to non-tender Luke Voit leaves the Nats with a couple of pretty big holes in the heart of their lineup. They already were going to need a corner outfielder after parting ways with Yadiel Hernandez. Now they’re going to need somebody to take Voit’s spot, whether that’s as designated hitter or first baseman.

Think of it this way: Between first base, left field and DH, the Nationals currently have one capable answer in Joey Meneses (who, it should be noted, is anything but a sure thing after only two months in the majors, no matter how impressive those two months were).

That’s two spots that need to be addressed, and there just don’t appear to be any viable in-house options, at least not anybody who could be trusted to play every day.

The Nationals have existed for 18 seasons now, but to date there’s only one Hall of Famer who played for them: Ivan Rodriguez.

And though 13 former Nats players have appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot, the vast majority of them were never really thought of as Nationals: Rick Ankiel, Brad Lidge, Matt Stairs, Aaron Boone, Paul Lo Duca, Alfonso Soriano, Mike Stanton, Royce Clayton, Vinny Castilla, Lenny Harris, Carlos Baerga and of course Jonathan Papelbon.

You can make a case for Adam Dunn and Livan Hernandez having made a name for themselves as Nationals, but Dunn still is thought of more as a Red and Hernandez is forever linked to the Marlins team he helped win a World Series title.

This year, though, we finally get a legitimate former National on the Hall of Fame ballot: Jayson Werth.

Though he debuted with the Blue Jays and Dodgers, then won a championship with the Phillies, Werth wound up spending the entire second half of his career in Washington. He’s fifth all-time in games played (808), plate appearances (3,427), hits (781) and RBIs (393) for the Nationals, fourth in runs scored (450), sixth in home runs (109).

Though there’s been a bit of movement on the free agent market elsewhere, we’re still in the preliminary stages of the offseason around here. The Nationals have yet to add anybody to the fold, focusing instead on which players to add to their 40-man roster and which players to remove from the equation.

But now that they’ve completed those tasks, it’s fair to wonder when they’ll start moving onto free agency and addressing a handful of significant needs. (It’s also fair to wonder if they’ll be able to address any of those needs while the club is still for sale, but we’ve already raised that question and there’s not much more to say about that for now.)

So let’s proceed as if Mark Lerner has given Mike Rizzo the green light to spend some money this winter. Not gobs of money, but enough money to fill roster holes with actual free agents, not just bargain-basement pickups.

The Nationals have multiple needs. We’ll focus today on a particularly important one: starting pitching.

The 2022 rotation ranked dead-last in the majors in ERA (5.97) by a longshot, last in WHIP (1.563), last in walks per nine innings (3.76), last in strikeouts per walk (1.97), last in homers allowed (161). It’s hard to believe they finished with the majors’ worst record as well, isn’t it?

Stability in baseball is a rare thing. It’s rare in the clubhouse. It’s rare in the manager’s office. And it’s certainly rare in the front office, where heads of baseball operations routinely find themselves under pressure to create success and then sustain it.

When Mike Rizzo took over as general manager in 2009, the Nationals had no stability. The Lerner family was only in its third year of ownership. Likewise for Stan Kasten, the team’s president. Jim Bowden had just resigned amid a Latin American prospect scandal. Manny Acta, who replaced Frank Robinson as manager in 2007, was on the hot seat and would be fired during the All-Star break.

A whole lot has changed since then, in both good and bad ways. What hasn’t changed is the man still in charge of baseball operations.

Come spring training, Rizzo will be entering his 15th season as GM. In his line of work, that’s an eternity.

And at this point, hardly anyone else in baseball has been in that position as long.