We're getting to the end of the season. What has been answered (I think).
Catcher - After a mid-season Keibert Ruiz slump Ruiz has hit again and no one has pressed him at all. So he'll be the starter next year while they cycle through some of the same guys and some new ones as a back-up/future catchers.
RF - James Wood - duh
??? - Daylen Lile and Andres Chaparro. They've hit and they're cheap. I imagine at least one if not both will be starting next year but with DH open we can't say for sure where.
SP 1 or 2 - Cade Cavalli - It's been way undersold how consistently good Cavalli has been this year. He's a top 20 pitcher for a te
SP 3-5 - Andrew Alvarez - he's been stretched out a bit at the end of the year and he's looked good. I'm not saying that will hold in 2027 but it warrants a trial.
RP - ? - well look there are a handful of decent arms and some of them will be back. But there are no numbers that are wowing you and no super young kids so who? Not sure. I'd bet on Lord, Dion. etc.
What remains questions... well everything else.
I know Abrams is good enough to be starting next year but I can't be sure he won't be traded.
Now this IS better than last year, where it was basically Wood and Abrams and ???. Maybe you were a little more excited about Lile and had a little more hope in the relief arms but catcher was a mess, Cavalli wasn't set and let's face it - relief is just a guess and you can never really know with question marks.
More importantly the minors look a better as well with Willits and King taking the place of Crews and a bit more depth. If and it's a big if, IF Susana and or Sykora come back from injury and look good in 2027, well you'd have to say the Nats will be a step ahead of 2026. 75 wins? There's work that can be done getting from that to the playoffs.
But that's assuming no Abrams trade and that the work will actually be done.
4 comments:
Connelly Early in the SP 3-5?
Generally I'm on the hopeful side, but regardless of how he does in his very brief 2026 cameo with the Nats I can't really regard Early as more than a question mark heading into 2027. Which of course is also question mark given the CBA uncertainty. Early was regarded as a mid-rotation starter prior to the injury/trade. Next season will give us a better idea of what the Nats have in him. And FWIW will also give the Red Sox a better idea of what they have in Mead.
Mostly agree with these takes, but a few quibbles.
One, Lile is clearly a better defender than Wood. Unless Wood is insisting and using his "I'm getting MVP votes" capital, Wood should be the primary DH in most roster scenarios.
Two, JY is a lock either in center or, if the roster is structured this way, as the best OF4 in the league playing in 120 games.
Three, neither Early or Herz can be considered locks on their own, but between the two of them, I think we can count on one additional SP3-4.
But, even still, is that enough for financial support? Probably not if they trade Abrams. But if we don't compete next season, we're in the same boat with Cavalli having only 2 years of service time the following year. And on and on it goes. There's always an excuse to justify rent-seeking, if you're looking for it.
Now is the time to push, frankly.
Don't trade Abrams unless you're getting a haul of high floor arms,
Be in on Skubal, Woodruff, Gray, and any other starters
If you trade Abrams, go get Arraez
It may not be enough to compete next year, but with the glut of offensive talent in the minors (and now in the majors with guys like Yoyo), this team should be looking at the window opening next year for a good number of years. But you gotta stop kicking the can down the road
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