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...
Patrick Corbin could have waited until the Winter Meetings. He could have waited out the market like most free agents do, made prospective teams come to him to make their case for his services and then finally make his selection in January.
Such is the luxury afforded the top free agent pitcher of the offseason, but Corbin didn't feel the need to do any of that. He had his agent, John Courtright, contact the clubs interested in him - three that we know of for sure: the Nationals, Phillies and...
It's been a while since the Nationals held an offseason press conference on South Capitol Street. The last one came more than a year ago, when Davey Martinez was introduced as the club's seventh manager in 14 seasons. None of last year's player acquisitions warranted a full-scale press conference at the ballpark.
So today represents a significant moment for the Nats, who have announced a 12:30 p.m. press conference at Nationals Park for what at this point the club is only saying is "a major...
The Nationals' signing of Patrick Corbin to a six-year, $140 million deal came in fast and furious Tuesday afternoon, the kind of head-spinning transaction that was felt across baseball.
It also produced no shortage of follow-up questions. Now that we've had some time to digest the news, let's see if we can come up with some answers to those questions ...
Did the Nationals really need to spend so much money for a No. 3 starter? Yes. First of all, let's not diminish Corbin by referring to...
The Nationals have agreed to terms with left-hander Patrick Corbin on a six-year, $140 million deal, according to a club source, landing the biggest free agent pitcher on the market to go along with the already formidable (and expensive) one-two punch of Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg.
The signing is still contingent upon Corbin passing a physical, according to the source, but once it becomes official he'll become the first big-name free agent to sign this winter. He should provide a...
There are any number of significant factors the Nationals have to consider in deciding how much they're willing to offer Bryce Harper to stay in D.C. long term. These are huge questions that impact the franchise both on and off the field for years.
There's a seemingly smaller question, though, that should not be forgotten: What would re-signing Harper do to the rest of the Nationals' outfield?
It's actually not an insignificant question, because there's a real domino effect to it that...
Their rotation already features two of the most expensive pitchers in baseball history, and now the Nationals are making a push to add a third high-priced arm.
This doesn't necessarily seem to fit in with the prevailing wisdom in Major League Baseball circa 2018. Teams around the sport are de-emphasizing the classic workhorse starter, investing more in deep bullpens and even eschewing starters altogether in favor of one-inning openers designed to take advantage of lefty-righty matchups right...
It's been more than six months since he ruptured his right Achilles tendon on a fluke play in left field at Nationals Park, and Howie Kendrick is just now starting to run on an anti-gravity treadmill.
That's not necessarily cause for concern. Kendrick insisted he's on schedule in his rehab program from the major injury. His foot feels normal, and he doesn't find himself favoring or thinking about it when he goes through various motions.
But Kendrick also knows he still has several more...