Presumed Plan :
Luis Garcia plays second base. Some FA pick-up and/or Nunez back him up, similar to 2025.
Reasoning behind Presumed Plan :
Arguably every IF position but SS including catcher and both starting and relief pitching are bigger issues than what's going on at second base. There is no reason for the Nats to make a change for likely minimal gain.
My Take :
There are some interesting ideas on what to do with Luis with Nunez having his hot finish and Abrams' inability to field SS holding down an otherwise good player. Moving Luis to first and Abrams to second so Nunez (an actual good fielder) might make sense. A .252 / .289 / .412 16 homer line for a first baseman would probably put him at about the same 20-25 range he sits now. The big difference is while at 2nd best he's about 3 wins worse than the 3rd or 4th best 2B despite being 15+ ranks below them, at 1B he'd likely be 4-5 wins worse. Not THAT much worse but you'd probably HAVE to get that offensive improvement you'd hope to see. And we assume shifting two guys to easier positions would hide their glove issues but they are still playing new positions. It's a gamble. Might be worth it if the Nats commit to fixing the pitching in the off-season, but if not it's more shifting deck chairs.
I think the general idea with Luis is you try to get his head focused on hitting and fielding better with the new regime, who he might gel with, and then you evaluate if you want to keep him around. At only 26 next year there's still a chance he becomes a better player and I'm interested to see what another group can do with him, having seen Robles, a similar question mark, blossom in his limited time away from Rizzo and Davey. Plus a better 2B would likely get you more back than a 1B with the same stats.
Let Garcia keep being not a big problem and maybe he surprises.
10 comments:
Garcia is the poster child for the question: was the most egregious Rizzo/Martinez deficiency in player selection or player development? So many of our players regress that I am hopeful that it is development and the new crew can make an immediate difference.
Agreed! I don't trust Luis to buckle down and get at it in the off season. I think we need to move on, or have him on the bench.
I'd like to give him another season to see what he can do. Garcia could improve a bit with the new regime, there was always a disconnect between him and Davey.
Yes, there are more pressing problems. BUT there's a simple solution -- move Abrams to 2B where he should be at least a good fielder and a good hitter. Move Nunez to short where he's a great fielder and... well someone's gotta hit 9th. And then you only have to solve a 1B problem, which is really easy if you have a checkbook. I still think it's ludicrous to not put Wood at 1B when he can probably do the job really well, he hits really well, and we have plenty of outfielders.
Before you start touting Victor Robles's awakening in Seattle as a ringing indictment of the Nats player development, beware of Austin Voth syndrome. Robles had a great 77 game run with Seattle after getting cut loose in 2024. But in 2025 he kinda went back to being Victor Robles. 77 OPS+. 75 wRC+. -0.2 by both fWAR and bWAR. His BB% cratered, his K% spiked, and then he got hurt. I'm rooting for VR, but 2026 is going to be an important year for him.
This is probably my biggest wish on the position player side: that they move Abrams to 2B. His bat and his baserunning are things that I want to see in the lineup, but his glove is awful and has been awful. The combination of an easier position and the (hopefully) superior coaching from the new regime has the possibility of improving that glove to meh, and "meh" from a 2B that hits and runs like Abrams can is perfectly fine.
Then Nunez plays SS, turning IF defense into a plus. Maybe he has turned a corner on hitting (or can be taught), and maybe he hasn't/can't, but it's not like the Nats are awash in major league infielders insisting on a place to play and Nunez can at least do one thing well.
Maybe Garcia can be moved to 1B, maybe Wood or Lile moves there, maybe they sign another player, maybe Garcia DHes, or maybe Garcia gets traded.
Alternatively, if the FO trades Abrams for whatever reason, Garcia can hold down 2B as the one-season veteran placeholder who you hope to move at the deadline. I'd prefer that not be the outcome, but hey, it's there.
yeah but 2025 was also marred by injury, he only played in 32 games, and the injury in question was a fractured left shoulder after running into a brick wall. any judgment based on his performance this year is pretty suspect. we'll see how next year goes when he's had a full year of recovery time
I agree with this.
The team should be considering a bunch of potential defensive configurations and trying to build reliable projections for what each delivers in terms of team defense.
Maybe Wood or Lile can improve in the OF. Maybe Garcia can improve at 2B or Abrams at SS. Maybe Abrams would show well if shifted to 2B. Maybe Wood or Garcia or Lile can play 1B. But in all of those cases, both "yes" and "no" are plausible answers and we can just hope the new coaches and analysts are up to the challenge.
Unless his numbers of late last season are real, Nunez is not a Major League starter, especially on a team as offensively weak as the Nationals. He is still useful as a late-inning sub for any position that needs a wizard glove to hold a close lead.
Thinking about 1B options (I realized this is a 2B post), is there a package the Nats could put together for Bryce Eldridge? Plenty of pop, local kid, and a position of need for us. SFG has stated that SP is a top priority for them this offseason. Given extension talk with Gore have gone nowhere (or not even materialized) and Toboni has already listened to offers from other clubs about our “ace”… I’m curious if there a Gore+ package for Eldridge that makes sense for both clubs. Thoughts?
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