Washington Is Finally Turning the Page — Slowly

The Nationals showed legitimate progress in 2025. Young position players emerged and the rebuild finally felt tangible.

But production remains inconsistent. Washington ranked bottom-10 in runs and power. They need impact bats — not just prospects. They have several young players I like and would love to see the organization build around them. James Wood smashed 31 homers and 94 RBIs, and CJ Abrams stole 31 bases and scored 92 runs.

The front office added depth but avoided major splash moves. The Nationals possess four of the Top 100 prospects in baseball and received five players in return for sending MacKenzie Gore to the Texas Rangers, including MLB-ready catcher Harry Ford (#71).

Biggest Need Entering 2026:
Middle-order power development. Since Washington’s shortstop of the future, Eli Willits isn’t close to the majors, and Ford’s offensive ceiling is around 15-18 homers, they should look to continue bolstering their farm system for a run in a couple of years.

They also need to address their pitching staff, since losing Gore. Their top pitching prospects, Travis Sykora (#54) and Jarlin Susana (#80) are still in AA and at least a year away from DC.

Have They Addressed It?
Not yet. As I mentioned, it would behoove the Nats to position their farm system to explode a year or so from now, but at the same time, it would be a shame to waste Abrams and Wood. Additionally, Jacob Young and Robert Hassell III bring a lot of hustle to the diamond. If the Nats are looking for a quick, relatively inexpensive solution to put around this young core, I’m drawn to current free agents Rhys Hoskins and Austin Hays. Huge difference makers? Certainly not. But who knows, with these hypothetical additions, the Nationals could surprise some people and make trouble in the National League

Our Take:
Washington is building responsibly — but cautiously. The next step requires risk. Development alone won’t close the competitive gap.