As GM Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez both discussed this week at MLB's Winter Meetings in Nashville, TN, there are obvious needs at both corner infield spots and in left field the club is looking to address this offseason. With Dom Smith DFA'd after a season at first in D.C., and Carter Kieboom, who got another look at third base after the club traded Jeimer Candelario at the trade deadline last summer, still trying to establish himself as an everyday major leaguer, the Nationals need to address both first and third base, and a power bat in left field makes sense as well after their club struggled to hit for power in 2023.

On Tuesday, the White Sox added to their starting rotation, signing Erick Fedde to a two-year deal worth $15 million. The move drew quick reservations, as Fedde has notoriously performed poorly over his career with the Washington Nationals. Although, he rejuvenated his career in the KBO in Korea during his 2023 campaign. In 30 total starts, Fedde posted a 20-6...

The MLB Draft lottery has some weird rules, and they came up big Tuesday.

On Day 1 of the 2023 MLB Winter Meetings in Nashville, TN, a reporter pointed out how all five outfielders currently on the Washington Nationals' 40-man are right-handed hitters. It seems an obvious area the club is going to address this winter.

Talking with reporters after he'd signed his multi-year extension with the Nationals this past summer, Washington's GM and President of Baseball Ops Mike Rizzo said the potential sale of the ballclub did not factor into his thinking in signing on to stay in the nation's capital. Rizzo also said he has had the full support of their ownership group throughout his tenure in D.C., and especially as they've gone through the reboot they kicked off at the trade deadline in 2021.

The Pirates announced Friday evening that they signed catcher Ali Sanchez to a one-year deal and claimed right-handed pitcher Roddery Munoz off waivers from the Washington Nationals. Additionally, they formally announced the release of right-handed pitcher Thomas Hatch, who intends on signing with the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league.

Up for election this year are managers Cito Gaston, Dave Johnson, Lou Piniella and Jim Leyland, umpires Joe West and Ed Montague, and executives Hank Peters and Bill White. Guys like Joe Torre, Jim Kaat and Tim McCarver, for example, great players who went on to another phase of the game and excelled. The panel includes several members already enshrined in Coopertown — Torre, Jim Thome, Chipper Jones, Jeff Bagwell, Tom Glavine, Ted Simmons and Bud Selig — and the announcement is set for Sunday night.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed catcher Ali Sánchez to a 1-year deal. The move gives Pittsburgh another player to throw in the mix behind the plate with Endy Rodriguez and Henry Davis. The 26-year-old Sánchez spent all of last season with Arizona's Triple-A affiliate in Reno. Sánchez also threw out 22 base runners.

A little over a year removed from Tommy John surgery, Tanner Rainey got back on the hill in the minors this past August on a rehab stint. Nationals' manager Davey Martinez told reporters he was happy to have the 30-year-old working his way back in the club's system, as Rainey tried to get his mechanics in order, while building up his arm. Acquired by Washington from Cincinnati in a straight-up deal for Tanner Roark back in 2018, Rainey had a breakout year in 2020's COVID campaign, and bounced back from a rough '21 season with a strong showing in 2022 before the elbow injury. Rainey made 13 appearances in the Nationals' system before the front office tried to find a way to get him back up on the major league roster at the end of the season this past year.

Washington's front office staff was obviously thrilled to get Dylan Crews with the No. 2 pick in this year's first-year player draft, and his success in three years at LSU made Crews a big-name, close-to-major-league-ready get for the Nationals in their latest draft class. Special Assistant to the GM Kris Kline, (then VP and Director of Scouting Ops for the club), was equally excited about the Nats' second round pick, recently-turned 22-year-old third baseman Yohandy Morales, who was selected out of the University of Miami with the 40th overall pick.

Patrick Corbin finished up the 2023 campaign (his 11th season in the majors, and the fifth year on his six-year/$140M deal with Washington) with his ERA at 5.20, a 5.28 FIP, 57 walks (2.85 BB/9), 124 strikeouts (6.20 K/9), a .293/.344/.481 line against, and 33 home runs allowed in 180 IP (1.65 HR/9). “I think he has pitched better,” GM Mike Rizzo told 106.7 the FAN in D.C.'s Sports Junkies late this past season. Corbin did make 30+ starts for the fourth time in four full seasons in the Nationals' rotation. “You know, the numbers don't indicate that he did well,” Nats' manager Davey Martinez said after Corbin's final outing of the year, “... but he's got more wins than a lot of other starting pitchers in the major leagues.”

Earlier this month, the Washington Nationals MLB team announced that evening games would have the first pitch at 6:45 p.m. instead of 7:05 p.m. ET. The reason why was because baseball games have some more time-bound rules to speed up pace of play, and so more fans can stay for a full nine inning game. Would it make sense for the Washington Wizards to have an earlier start time for evening games as well? If Wizards games started a little earlier, like 6:30 p.m., most games would end at around 9 p.m. if there is no overtime.

Have you ever wondered who is inside the Racing Presidents at Washington Nationals games? The Washington Nationals held auditions for the Racing Presidents on Saturday morning at the Washington Nationals Philanthropies Youth Baseball Academy. Each candidate got to put on one of the presidential suits of Tom, George and Abe – Teddy was "taking the offseason to rest and bulk up," according to John Wagner, the Nationals' manager of mascots and entertainment. The lucky few who get chosen to join the Racing Presidents for the 2024 season will have their debut on April 1 against the Pirates.

Davey Martinez talked to Jake Irvin the day before the Washington Nationals' 26-year-old, 2018 4th Round pick made his MLB debut so he could go through his usual routine the day of his first outing. The sixth-year manager told the right-hander to do what he'd been doing in the minors on the way up and keep pounding the strike zone and attacking hitters. Irvin put up a 3.80 ERA overall in four seasons in the Nats' system, though he missed the '21 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and had a 5.64 ERA and a 5.27 FIP, 4.43 BB/9, and 8.06 K/9 in five starts at Triple-A Rochester early this season before he learned he got the call.

On Tuesday, Washington's Nationals added four pitchers to their 40-Man roster, protecting them from selection in the 2023 Rule 5 Draft (December 6th). Right-handed pitchers Zach Brzykcy and Cole Henry, and lefties DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker were added ahead of the 6:00 PM ET deadline to do so or leave eligible players available for selection.

Hyde led Baltimore to an AL-best 101 wins, while Schumaker guided Miami to an 84-78 record in his first season at the helm.

The Washington Nationals are on a quest to avenge their disappointing 2023 MLB season. The Nationals finished the year with a 71-91 record and were last in the NL East. The team is making many changes to eventually make it back to the MLB Playoffs, starting with Dominic Smith. Washington decided to designate Smith and Cory Abbott for assignment, per Andrew Goldman.

Matt Williams is returning to the San Francisco Giants as the third-base coach on new manager Bob Melvin's staff. The team announced its coaching staff Friday. Williams spent the first 10 of his 17 major league seasons as an infielder with San Francisco, making four All-Star teams while winning three Gold Gloves and three Silver Slugger awards.

Gerardo Parra — of “Baby Shark” fame — will be the new first base coach for the Washington Nationals as part of a series of changes to manager Dave Martinez's staff announced by the club on Friday after a fourth consecutive last-place finish in the NL East. Miguel Cairo will be Martinez's bench coach and Ricky Gutierrez is shifting to third base coach after holding the title of run prevention coordinator in 2023. Chris Johnson was hired as assistant hitting coach.

Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. secured his first American League Silver Slugger Award following an exceptional 2023 season.

Washington becomes the oldest current manager in Major League Baseball.