You don’t go into this annual exercise planning to vote for a certain number of players. I’ve been a Hall of Fame voter for 15 years now, and the number of candidates who got a check mark next to their names has wildly varied in that time. I’ve voted for the maximum 10 players before (and probably would’ve voted for an 11th at least once if allowed). I’ve voted for seven players before. I’ve voted for five players before. I’ve voted for three players before.

It’s never been about the final number of check marks. It’s always been about the individual case of each player on the ballot, which some years has produced only a few yes votes and other years has produced a lot.

Suffice it to say, I didn’t enter the voting process this year planning to only select two candidates. I had a hunch the number would be relatively low, but I didn’t expect it to be this low. When I finished the process and realized I only selected two players, I didn’t feel great about it. I decided to re-examine several of my no votes and see if I could come up with a valid reason to change my mind. In the end, I did not.

This evening’s announcement, though, that three players were elected to the Hall of Fame by receiving at least 75 percent support from 394 voting members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America will cause me to do some real soul searching over the next 12 months. While I’ve admittedly held a higher Cooperstown standard than many of my colleagues for a long time now, I’ve never felt badly about that before. But I may need to reconsider that standard now.

Ichiro Suzuki, Billy Wagner and CC Sabathia all were elected to the Hall of Fame tonight, and I only voted for two of them. That’s great for them, troubling for me.

It was an eventful holiday weekend. Well, not for the Nationals, who were quiet. But there was no shortage of news elsewhere, in the baseball world, in both the professional and collegiate football world and of course in the world in general.

And if you can stomach any more, there’s going to be significant baseball news later today. It’s Hall of Fame election day, when we find out which former players earned enough support from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America to secure enshrinement in Cooperstown this summer.

As always, I’ll publish my ballot and explainer column after the official announcement at 6 p.m. Eastern. But to whet your appetite for what’s to come – or if you simply haven’t had a chance to pay much attention leading into tonight’s announcement – here’s a quick primer on the 2025 ballot and what to watch for this evening …

* HOW CLOSE TO 100 PERCENT DOES ICHIRO GET?
The most obvious, slam-dunk candidate on this year’s ballot is Ichiro Suzuki, who should have no trouble getting elected in his first attempt. The only real question is if the Japanese hitting machine gets unanimous support, or something really close to it. Who wouldn’t vote for Ichiro? Perhaps someone who holds it against him that his major league career didn’t begin until 27 (even though he still surpassed 3,000 hits with the late start following his time at home in Japan). But there can’t be too many holdouts. Mariano Rivera remains the only player ever elected with 100 percent support. Maybe Ichiro joins him tonight?

* DOES WAGNER FINALLY GET OVER THE HUMP?
Billy Wagner appears on the BBWAA ballot for the 10th time. He’s not allowed to appear an 11th time. Way back in 2016, he received only 10.5 percent support. By 2024, he was all the way up to 73.8 percent, a mere 1.2 percent shy. It would be an awfully cruel twist to get that close and then still come up short in his 10th and final attempt. Voting history suggests that won’t happen. Pretty much everyone who gets that close eventually gets over the hump. But it’ll still make for a high-stress afternoon for Wagner as he awaits that long-awaited call.

One of the most joyous days in Nationals history came on a fairly random Saturday afternoon in June 2018.

The Nats won that day, defeating the Giants, 7-5. Bryce Harper homered. Gio Gonzalez lasted only 3 1/3 innings, making him ineligible for the win. Five relievers went the rest of the way to close it out, with Sean Doolittle notching the save. The outcome had zero bearing on the team’s overall fortunes during what proved to be a disappointing season.

You probably remember none of those details. What you probably do remember is who was in attendance that afternoon at Nationals Park: Lord Stanley.

Yes, only 36 hours after he was first hoisted in a hockey arena in Las Vegas, Stanley was hoisted in a ballpark in Washington by the newly crowned champions of the NHL. In their first official D.C. celebration since winning The Cup, the Capitals came to South Capitol Street to be honored before and during the Nats’ matinee game.

Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom shared their joy with Ryan Zimmerman and Max Scherzer. Barry Trotz and Davey Martinez, who had been texting each other for several months, finally met in person and shared coaching philosophies. And two local franchises celebrated together, one congratulating the other one winning its long-awaited first championship, one hoping to help inspire the other to win its long-awaited first title.

We’re less than a month away from the start of spring training and there are still plenty of questions swirling around the baseball offseason.

As it pertains to the Nationals, we know you still have a lot of questions before the team reports to West Palm Beach next month. Mark Zuckerman’s weekly Q&A sessions with readers have been filled with your inquiries on the club’s roster, farm system and projections for the 2025 season.

But this morning, I had the thought to turn the tables on you, the readers.

Here are some Nats-related questions for you to ponder and answer in the comments section below:

Which offseason addition (so far) will have the biggest impact this season?

In search of more experienced catching depth, the Nationals signed veteran Andrew Knizner to a minor league deal, offering the former Cardinals backup an invitation to big league camp and a chance to compete for a major league job.

The deal, which was confirmed by a source familiar with the terms, was first reported by the Washington Post.

Knizner, who turns 30 next month, has 290 games of big league experience, most of that coming from 2019-23 with the Cardinals, where he served as the primary backup to Yadier Molina and later Willson Contreras. His career offensive numbers (a .210/.279/.317 slash line) aren’t great, but he slugged 10 homers in only 241 plate appearances in 2023 and has worked with a number of prominent pitchers from his time in St. Louis.

A native of Glen Allen, Va., who went on to play at North Carolina State, Knizner was let go by the Cardinals after the 2023 season and signed with the Rangers one year ago. He played 35 games for Texas, batting just .167, before getting claimed off waivers in August by the Diamondbacks. He finished the season playing for Arizona’s Triple-A affiliate in Reno, batting .263 with two homers and 12 RBIs.

Knizner will come to West Palm Beach, Fla., with a chance to compete for a spot on the Nationals’ Opening Day roster, but he’ll have to outplay at least two other catchers who seemingly have a leg up for the No. 2 job behind starter Keibert Ruiz.

The Nationals have been fortunate when it comes to pitching injuries the last two seasons. No, they haven’t escaped them altogether. But they’ve managed to suffer fewer significant losses than any other team.

It’s true: Over the last two years, the Nats have used only 10 starting pitchers, fewest in the majors. The Blue Jays are next on the list with 12, followed by the Mariners with 14. Everyone else has used at least 15 starters, with the league median number a whopping 22.

Again, the Nationals have dealt with a few significant injuries. Cade Cavalli was ticketed for the Opening Day 2023 rotation but tore his elbow ligament in spring training and has yet to return. Josiah Gray started Opening Day 2024 but was sidelined after only two outings and ultimately needed Tommy John surgery himself. And Trevor Williams, after an outstanding April and May, wound up missing 3 1/2 months with a flexor strain in his right arm.

But the Nats managed to fill those gaps with productive, in-house alternatives. In 2023, it was Jake Irvin stepping up to make his major league debut in early May and then sticking in the rotation all the way through September. In 2024, it was Mitchell Parker and then DJ Herz emerging from Triple-A to replace Gray and Williams, Parker making 29 starts while Herz took the mound 19 times.

It was an impressive example of organizational depth, the kind of pitching depth this organization hadn’t really possessed in a while. And as the countdown to spring training commences, there’s reason to believe the Nationals are well-positioned again with starting pitchers who could step forward if the need arises.

There’s no more perilous endeavor in baseball than the scouting of 18-year-old high school players, trying to determine who is going to develop into major leaguers and who isn’t. Well, aside from the scouting of 16-year-old Latin American prospects, who have the ability to sign for millions of dollars long before anyone truly knows their chances for professional success.

Victor Rodriguez has been scouting these players for a decade and a half, first for the Red Sox and then for the Rays. Now the newly promoted director of international scouting for the Nationals, Rodriguez on Wednesday was tasked with officially signing his first class of Latin American teenagers.

How does he differentiate between one 16-year-old and another? How can he tell who’s going to make it and who probably won’t at such a young age?

“We try to keep it as simple as possible,” Rodriguez said. “Basically, don’t ignore the obvious here. The big leaguers, they stick out. Hitters stick out. Guys that throw strikes. … We use as much information as we can, but also not lose our instincts as scouts. That’s mainly how I try to simplify it. From a young age, I’ve been able to scout guys that have reached the big leagues. And one thing that always sticks out is: A hitter hits, and a pitcher throws strikes.”

Rodriguez and the Nationals hope as many of the 14 players they signed Wednesday as possible fit that criteria and find their way to Washington in due time. Two, though, stand out from the crowd and were deemed worthy of seven-figure signing bonuses.

Scan the Nationals’ current roster, and it’s easy to lump young, core players into one of three categories: Those who were acquired via the draft, those who were acquired via trade and those who were acquired via international signing.

That final group, the international free agents, is by far the smallest group, which underscores just how difficult it is to discover and sign good players from other countries at age 16 and then develop them into big leaguers. But it is a vital part of roster building, and the Nats know they need to improve in that area just as they’ve been trying to improve in the drafting and developing of young American players.

The two notable homegrown Latin American players currently on the major league roster are Luis García Jr. and Jose A. Ferrer. García, still only 24, was signed out of the Dominican Republic for $1.3 million way back in 2016, making him the longest tenured player in the entire organization. Ferrer, also 24, was signed one year later in 2017 for a mere $100,000.

Also on the 40-man roster is Andry Lara, the Venezuelan right-hander signed in 2019 for $1.25 million who finally enjoyed his breakthrough season and earned a promotion to Double-A Harrisburg.

But that’s it on the 40-man roster. Other recent Latin American signees like Armando Cruz (21), Jeremy De La Rosa (23), Cristhian Vaquero (20) and Victor Hurtado (17) are still either in the lower levels of the minors or haven’t performed well enough yet to climb the organizational ladder.

The Nationals’ projected Opening Day outfield has long been set. Barring some unforeseen development, James Wood and Dylan Crews will man the corners, with Gold Glove Award finalist Jacob Young in center field.

That’s the same outfield the Nats used throughout the final month-plus of the season, from the moment they promoted Crews from Triple-A Rochester to make his major league debut. And none of the three got much time off down the stretch. Aside from a handful of Joey Gallo appearances in right field, the starting trio all played together every night through season’s end.

There’s not much reason to believe that will change heading into the coming season. Wood and Crews, obviously, are two of the top prospects in baseball. Aside from an occasional day off here and there, they’re going to be in the lineup all the time. The same is probably true for Young, provided he produces enough offense to go along with his stellar defensive work.

Which brings us to today’s question: Who’s going to be the fourth outfielder, and do the Nationals need to devote much time and energy to answering that question?

At the moment, there are three other full-time outfielders on the club’s 40-man roster: Alex Call, Stone Garrett and Robert Hassell III. Infielders Amed Rosario, Darren Baker and perhaps Josh Bell could also play the outfield in a pinch, though none would figure to see regular playing time out there.

Though the approach has been somewhat methodical, the Nationals have addressed their most obvious needs so far this winter. They acquired a first baseman and a designated hitter, hopefully adding more power to a lineup that sorely needs it. They acquired one experienced starting pitcher and re-acquired another, giving them rotation depth with at least six (maybe seven) candidates for Opening Day jobs.

And then finally over the weekend they made the first move to address the last remaining obvious hole: the bullpen. In signing right-hander Jorge López for $3 million, they added an experienced late-inning arm to a relief corps woefully short on such things.

That shouldn’t be the end of Mike Rizzo’s to-do list, though. There should be more bullpen moves to come before pitchers and catchers report to West Palm Beach in a mere four weeks.

López is a solid addition, a soon-to-be 32-year-old with 31 career saves, an All-Star selection as recently as 2022 and a 2.89 ERA in 52 games last season with the Mets and Cubs. He fits right into the same mold as Derek Law and Dylan Floro, two experienced right-handers who signed similar deals last winter. (Law’s was officially a minor league contract, but he was a lock to make the club as long as he was healthy.)

Law, of course, returns, having just agreed to a $2.75 million salary to avoid arbitration. Floro is long gone, having been traded to the Diamondbacks in July for Andres Chaparro. In a perfect world, López would take over that role, which would carry some extra irony considering the Twins traded him to the Marlins for Floro less than two years ago.

It’s rare for a player to be traded away and then return to that same team later in his career. It's even rarer still for that to happen and the player becomes teammates with the players he was once traded to acquire.

That will be the case when Josh Bell reports to West Palm Beach for the second time in his career next month. He’ll be back in the clubhouse where he last reported ahead of the 2022 season, only this time he’ll be joined by young players to whom he’s forever linked but have never before been his teammates.

Halfway through that 2022 season, Bell was included in the biggest trade deadline deal in major league history. Joining superstar Juan Soto, the veteran first baseman was sent to the Padres for a historic returning package of prospects: CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, James Wood, Robert Hassell III and Jarlin Susana.

Three of those prospects – Abrams, Gore and Wood – will be key figures for the Nationals this season. As will Bell, who signed a one-year, $6 million deal last week to return to Washington 2 ½ years after his departure.

“It's exciting. It's definitely a lot of people that can be household names here very soon,” Bell said of the young talent on the Nats roster during his re-introductory meeting with the media over Zoom. “Just looking from afar, I've heard great things about James Wood. Obviously, I've seen CJ play. Dylan Crews, you name it. You have superstar talent. Guys that have gotten a taste of the big leagues, had some success and coming back for more time. This is when they can continue to take that step forward and make themselves elite in this game. So I'm excited to hopefully help guide and also learn from them. Also benefit from having speed in front of me. So I'm definitely excited. I know that both parties will benefit, myself and them.”

The Nationals made the sixth addition to their major league roster in the last month Saturday afternoon. The team announced signing reliever Jorge López to a one-year deal, adding the former All-Star closer to the back end of the bullpen.

López, who turns 32 in February, will earn $3 million plus incentives this year, a source confirmed. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman was first with terms of the deal.

Over a nine-year career that includes stops with the Brewers, Royals, Orioles (twice), Twins, Marlins, Mets and Cubs, the right-hander has a 5.25 ERA, 1.462 WHIP, 31 saves and 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings in 282 appearances (58 starts). However, since moving to a full-time reliever with the Orioles in 2022, López has a 3.74 ERA, 30 saves, 21 holds and 171 strikeouts in 183 innings.

Last year, López went 2–3 with a 2.89 ERA, 50 strikeouts and four saves in 52 appearances between the Mets and Cubs. He caused some controversy in New York when he was ejected in the eighth inning of a May 29 game against the Dodgers and threw his glove into the stands while walking off the field. After the game, he was quoted as seemingly calling the Mets “the worst team” in the majors.

Though he tried to clarify that he was calling himself “the worst teammate on the worst team in baseball,” the Mets designated López for assignment the next day and released him on June 5.

The initial reaction for many to the Nationals and Nathaniel Lowe filing for arbitration Thursday night was one of incredulity. This is really how they’re going to treat their biggest offseason acquisition, by haggling over money and taking him to court?

It’s admittedly not a great look when a team can’t work out a contract with any player and has to rely on the arbitration process to determine that player’s salary. Even more so when that player is brand new and doesn’t already have some kind of established relationship with the club.

But let’s not get too worked up about this. It may not look great on the surface, but it’s not the end of the world. It’s actually not that uncommon. And there’s a decent chance this saga doesn’t even end with a hearing.

The Nationals had six arbitration-eligible players they needed to work out 2025 salaries with before Thursday’s deadline. They managed to settle on deals with five of the six: Luis García Jr., MacKenzie Gore, Josiah Gray, Derek Law and Riley Adams. They could not get a deal done with Lowe, the 29-year-old first baseman acquired from the Rangers last month for reliever Robert Garcia.

So the two sides had to formally file for arbitration, with Lowe seeking a salary of $11.1 million and the Nats countering with an offer of $10.3 million, according to MLB.com. A hearing will be set for early February, with a three-judge panel ultimately deciding which side wins.

We are, believe it or not, five weeks away from spring training. The holiday season is over, we're well into January and Nationals pitchers and catchers are starting to make plans to report to West Palm Beach, Fla.

After an awfully slow start to their offseason, the Nats have made a decent amount of news here recently. They've now acquired five major league players in the last three weeks, trading for first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, signing designated hitter Josh Bell and infielder Amed Rosario and signing right-handers Michael Soroka and Trevor Williams. Big splash? No, not yet. But they have addressed five real roster needs, with more likely to come in the next month.

Let's take this opportunity to get back to the Friday Q&A routine. If you've got something you'd like to ask, please submit your question in the comments section below. Then check back throughout the morning for my responses ...

It’s arbitration deadline day across Major League Baseball, the day when hundreds of players either agree with their clubs on 2025 salaries or file for arbitration.

The decisions made today don’t change the contractual status of any player. All are already under club control and don’t have the ability to leave. Teams can’t decide now to release them, having already announced plans to tender them contracts in November. The only thing determined today (or later, if cases go to arbitration) is the players’ salary figures for the upcoming season.

And yet, the way this day proceeds often tells us a lot about the relationship between players and teams, and whether the two sides value each other in a comparable way or not.

Who’s impacted by this deadline? It’s anyone with at least three years but fewer than six years of big league service time, plus the top 22 percent of players with at least two years of service time (the so-called “Super-2” players).

The Nationals entered the offseason with nine arbitration-eligible players: Kyle Finnegan, Luis Garcia Jr., Josiah Gray, Derek Law, MacKenzie Gore, Riley Adams, Ildemaro Vargas, Tanner Rainey and Mason Thompson. Finnegan and Rainey, however, were non-tendered, and Vargas was cut loose as well, bringing the number down to six.

The Nationals signed Amed Rosario to a one-year, $2 million contract this morning, adding an experienced middle infielder who could take over the utilityman role on the 2025 roster.

Rosario, 29, owns a .273 batting average and .706 OPS in 942 career big league games with five clubs, most of those coming with the Mets and Guardians. An everyday shortstop in New York and Cleveland during the first portion of his career, he has shifted into more of a utility role in recent seasons.

Rosario played for three different teams (Rays, Dodgers, Reds) in 2024, finishing with a .280 batting average, .686 OPS, 18 doubles, three homers, 32 RBIs and 13 stolen bases across 346 plate appearances. He played all around the field, with 27 games at second base, 26 in right field, 15 at third base and 14 at shortstop.

To clear space for Rosario on their full 40-man roster, the Nationals designated right-hander Joan Adon for assignment. Adon, who burst onto the scene with a nine-strikeout debut against the Red Sox on the final day of the 2021 season, never rediscovered that magic during the ensuing three years. In 35 total big league games with the Nats (26 of them starts), he went 3-16 with a 6.66 ERA.

Rosario appears poised to take over the utility role previously held by Ildemaro Vargas, who was cut loose in November after 2 1/2 seasons in D.C. Rosario is four years younger than Vargas, with better offensive numbers but less defensive prowess.

The notion of scribbling out potential lineups for the 2025 Nationals has seemed pointless most of the offseason, because there were too many vacancies still to fill, vacancies in prime spots in the batting order.

It may still be too early to attempt this exercise, because more moves are possible between now and the first day of spring training, especially as it pertains to third base. But the recent additions of Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Bell did fill the two most significant holes in the lineup, so it’s not impossible to start thinking about Davey Martinez’s plan for his regular one through nine.

There’s no perfect order to arrange the current group, whether due to a lack of track record for some, a lack of recent power for others and an excess of left-handed hitters who are going to have to be stacked together by default. But here’s one possible look Martinez could consider for Opening Day against the Phillies …

1. SS CJ Abrams (L)
2. RF Dylan Crews (R)
3. LF James Wood (L)
4. 1B Nathaniel Lowe (L)
5. DH Josh Bell (S)
6. 2B Luis Garcia Jr. (L)
7. C Keibert Ruiz (S)
8. 3B Jose Tena (L)
9. CF Jacob Young (R)

The biggest question Martinez faces is at the top of his lineup. The Abrams-Crews-Wood trio is likely to occupy the top three slots, but the order isn’t necessarily a sure thing.

Josh Bell first came to the Nationals, not by choice, on Christmas Eve 2020. Traded to Washington by the Pirates franchise that drafted him nine years earlier, he quickly embraced the team and the town and openly spoke of his desire to stay here for the long haul.

That, of course, didn’t happen. And it again wasn’t by his choice. The Nats included Bell in the blockbuster Juan Soto trade, sending both stars to the Padres in exchange for a horde of prospects. And in the 2 1/2 years since, Bell bounced all around the sport.

He finally got to pick his destination as a free agent following the 2022 season and chose the Guardians, who offered him a two-year, $33 million deal. But within months he was traded again, this time to the Marlins. Who one year later shipped him to the Diamondbacks.

Now, at long last after a nomadic baseball existence, Bell finally got another chance to return to D.C. The Nationals were interested in bringing him back. He was interested in returning. And nearly four years to the day of that initial trade from Pittsburgh, he agreed to a new $6 million contract with the Nats, fulfilling a longstanding wish.

“When I initially got traded, I always told myself I was going to come back,” he said Monday in a Zoom conference call with reporters. “I understood the business part of the game, but different opportunities presented themselves. I kind of bounced around a little bit here and there. I was a little bit of a journeyman the last couple years. But I’m thankful for those opportunities. And when I reached free agency again this year, I talked to (agent Scott Boras) and he told me the Nats liked me. I said: ‘If you can make something happen, let’s do it.’”

You can be forgiven if you missed this news item while paying attention to football, snow prep or both on Sunday, but the Nationals officially announced the Josh Bell signing. That one-year, $6 million deal was agreed to one week earlier but wasn’t done-done until Bell passed his physical, which has now happened.

There’s an important side note to mention with this transaction. Bell’s addition now leaves the Nats’ 40-man roster entirely full for the first time in months. They had maneuvered their way to create four openings heading into the Winter Meetings in December, then proceeded to fill those spots with the signings of free agents Bell, Trevor Williams and Michael Soroka, the selection of Evan Reifert in the Rule 5 Draft and the one-for-one trade of Robert Garcia to the Rangers for Nathaniel Lowe.

What that means: If they want to acquire any more major league players this winter, the Nationals will first need to clear more 40-man spots to make that possible. Considering they are still woefully thin on experienced relievers, while also potentially still looking for a more established third baseman, it’s safe to say moves are forthcoming.

You never want to have to drop someone from the 40-man, but a scan of the Nats’ current roster reveals more than a few names who will probably be under consideration when the time comes.

Here’s a look at the full 40-man roster as it now stands, broken down by position …

It’s been a slow offseason, not only for the Nationals but across the sport. Though teams began to get more active before the holidays, hundreds of free agents remain unsigned as the calendar shifts to 2025.

This isn’t anything new; the market seems to get slower and slower each winter, with more and more players forced to wait until February (or even March) to find out where they’re going to play that season. And we could be headed down a similar path over the next two months.

We’ve talked about the players the Nats have added so far this offseason. We haven’t talked a lot about the players they lost. Most of them remained unsigned at this date, with Trevor Williams (who returned to the club on a new two-year deal last week) a notable exception.

Here’s a look at the seven other members of the 2024 Nationals who became free agents at season’s end, either because their contracts expired or the team decided to part ways with them …

JACOB BARNES
The veteran reliever became a free agent after going 8-3 with a 4.36 ERA in 63 games, serving in a variety of bullpen roles. Barnes, who turns 35 in April, hasn’t signed anywhere yet, with the market for relievers having yet to take off. The Nationals could show interest in bringing him back, though he may have to be willing to accept another minor league deal.