And so we have reached the final installment of a series 20 years in the making. It’s time to reveal the five greatest players in Nationals history. Thanks again to everyone who has read and commented on the previous editions. It’s always great to hear the diverse set of opinions on such a fun topic. For those who haven’t read them yet, here are links to the articles on Nos. 16-20, Nos. 11-15 and Nos. 6-10.
These final five share a lot of things in common. Every one of them excelled while in Washington, all of them performing not only at an All-Star level but at times a Hall of Fame level. All played here for at least parts of five seasons, two of them for more than a decade. Four were homegrown, one acquired in a massive free agent deal. Most importantly, all five played in and were significant contributors to the first World Series title in franchise history.
There will be plenty of discussion about the final order selected below. There’s a reasonable case for everyone from this group to rank anywhere in the top five. In the end, it came down to a combination of excellence, longevity and legacy …
NO. 5 – JUAN SOTO
Outfielder, 2018-22
Stats: 565 G, 2439 PA, 1954 AB, 399 R, 569 H, 108 2B, 9 3B, 119 HR, 358 RBI, 38 SB, 14 CS, 464 BB, 414 SO, .291 AVG, .427 OBP, .538 SLG, .966 OPS, 159 OPS+, 21.3 bWAR, 21.0 fWAR
Soto didn’t come out of nowhere; the Nationals gave him a $1.5 million bonus when they signed him at 16 out of the Dominican Republic. And they always knew he had elite hitting skills and a patient eye to go along with it. But his rise to the majors was shockingly quick. In the span of three weeks in April-May 2018, he was promoted from low Single-A Hagerstown to high Single-A Potomac to Double-A Harrisburg to the big leagues. And then immediately thrived and never looked back.