Nationals president of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo said recently that his club this offseason, in an effort to supplement a growing young core. The Nats a reunion with unsurprisingly so; who wouldnt at least be interested? and the free agent market will have big-name bats ranging from corner infielders , and , to shortstop ,to slugging corner outfielders like and . Multi-year free agent deals of any real magnitude havent been a focus for the Nationals throughout the past three years of their rebuild, but Rizzo suggested in his weekly appearance on 106.7 The Fans Sports Junkies show that a return to the deeper waters of free agency could be po sible this winter ( ). Asked if ownership will be open to going out and giving bigger money to guys who are established (as opposed to the recent run of one-year deals and reclamation-project hitters), Rizzo replied: I think if the opportunity arises and the right fit arises, I dont see any reason they wouldnt. Theyve done it in the past when theres players out there that are available that fit what were looking for. The Lerner family, which owns the Nats, has indeed been willing to spend at top-of-the-market levels in offseasons past. Washington has twice doled out more than $200MM on single free-agent deals: s seven-year, $210MM contract and s seven-year, $245MM pact. The latter of those two signings, of course, did not pan out. The former stands as one of the best and most succe sful major free agent signings in history. The Lerners have also given the green light to another pair of nine-figure signings in (six years, $140MM) and, way back in 2010, (seven years, $126MM a ma sive contract at the time). Certainly, the Nationals havent spent at the level that will be required to sign Soto this offseason, but Soto figures to command a historic contract. No team has really gone to that length arguably not even the Dodgers, given the unique and deferral-laden structure of the 10-year contract they gave to last winter. (MLBTRs Darragh McDonald and I discu sed Owen White Jersey the po sibility of a Nationals pursuit of Soto , which was recorded prior to Rizzos comments.) With regard to the rest of the free agent cla s, none of Bregman, Alonso, Santander, Hernandez or any of the other big bats in free agency figure to exceed the limits at which the Nationals have spent in the past. That doesnt ensure that the Nationals will pony up for a top-of-the-market bat, but theres precedent for them spending at or even in exce s of most of those levels. Add in the fact that the only guaranteed contracts on the Nationals books beyond the current season are the remaining two seasons of that Strasburg deal and s eight-year, $50MM extension (spanning the 2023-30 seasons), and theres room for the Nats to engage with any free agent they deem a fit Soto included. Rizzo noted that expenditures to bolster the lineup neednt only come on the free-agent side of things. He listed both the trade level and the development level of player acquisition as well, noting that between the three he expects an active, interesting winter for his club. Rizzo stopped short of declaring the teams rebuild entirely over and proclaiming the 2025 campaign a clear win-now season, but the general tone of his comments Wednesday painted a team on the rise with increased expectations of contending sooner than later. Much of that has to do with the strides Washington has seen from its collection of in-house starting pitchers, for whom Rizzo effused praise. Right-hander and lefties and will all finish with 30-plus starts and more than 150 innings. Southpaw , called up later in the season, will close out the year with 19 big league starts, in all likelihood. All four pitchers currently have an ERA between 4.04 and 4.30. Broadly speaking, their earned run averages have ticked up late in the season as their workloads have reached previously uncharted waters. Each is already at least 27 innings past his previous single-season career-high mark. In Irvins case, his 183 1/3 innings are 40 more than his previous highwater mark. Some fatigue and growing pains are to be expected. Still, Rizzo made clear that the simultaneous development of that quartet is among the organizations biggest succe ses this season and serves as a great measuring stick going forward. Presumably, the Nats hope that top pitching prospect , who mi sed the 2023 season and much of 2024 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, can join that group in 2025. Its a solid-looking collection of arms, although given the general volatility and attrition rate of pitchers, its easy to envision Rizzo and his staff considering at least one veteran addition this winter to supplement the group and safeguard against injuries and/or regre sion. Rizzo didnt specifically call out rotation support as an area of need, but virtually any team would be reluctant to head into a season with five starters under the age of 28 and with three or fewer years of big league service atop the depth chart. Rizzo was also naturally asked about the recent demotion of shortstop , whom the Nationals . At the time of the move, the team only indicated that it was for an off-the-field i sue. Subsequent reports have suggested that Abrams demotion was a disciplinary measure the night before a day game against the Cubs. Rizzo unsurprisingly declined to delve into specifics but confirmed it was an off-field i sue and voiced support for Abrams moving forward: It was not performance-based. We felt it was in the best interest of the player and the organization to do so. Its an internal i sue that were going to keep internal. Its not the end of the world for CJ. Its not the end of the world for the Nationals. Its something that happens over the course of time, especially with young players. We love CJ. We care for CJ. Were in constant communication with he and his agent, and we still have a great relationship. We have a standard here. Weve had it for a lot of years. When players dont reach those standards, we have to do whats in the best interest of the organization. And when players fail to reach those standards, we have to do something to get them back into the mode of Nationals, and teammate, big leagues. We felt that it was warranted in this case. Like I said, not the end of the world. Not the end of CJ Abrams. Not the end of the Nats. Abrams, wholl turn 24 in a couple weeks, came to the Nationals alongside Gore, , and in the trade sending Soto to the Padres. The former top prospect looked to be in the midst of a full-fledged breakout for the first half of the season, slashing .282/.353/.506 through early July. Hes since fallen into a protracted slump, hitting just .191/.254/.321 over his past 236 turns at the plate. (Hed picked up the pace again of late, going 11-for-28 with a pair of homers and three doubles in his past eight games.) The demotion to the minors wont cost Abrams in terms of big league service, arbitration trajectory or free agent timeline. Hed already accrued a full year of service in 2024 at the time he was sent down. Hell finish the year with 2.130 years of service, making him a very likely Super Two player wholl be eligible for arbitration four times rather than the standard three. The first of those four a suming he indeed qualifies as a Super Two player will come this offseason. Hes under club control through the 2028 season. Dane Dunning Jersey