Every year teams set expectations for themselves. While every team wants to win a world series, not every team has World Series expectations. The Washington Nationals are one of those teams that is not expected to make a deep run in October. However, there is pressure both from the fans and internally to win more games. 71 wins will not be good enough in 2025.
We know 71 wins is not good enough, but what is good enough for the 2025 Nats. Well that depends on who you ask. Both Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez have talked about how the rebuild is coming to an end, with Davey even saying it is over. While Rizzo wasn’t as blunt, he was less willing to say the team is rebuilding than he has the past couple years.
Star outfielder Dylan Crews struck a similar tone, saying the future is now. This messaging is different from what he have been hearing the last couple years and that makes sense. We are now deeper into the rebuild and most of the prized assets are now in the MLB. This time last year, James Wood and Dylan Crews had yet to make their MLB debut.
However, this team is still not all in yet. Their behavior in the market showed this. The Nationals did not go after any top end free agents. While Michael Soroka is looking like a shrewd pickup, the team did not break the bank.
This disappointed a lot of people, including myself. ESPN writer David Schoenfield even gave the Nats a D+ offseason grade. While I wouldn’t be that harsh, I see where he is coming from. Patrick Corbin’s money came off the books and the team didn’t take advantage of that. They got some nice players, but didn’t get the big name to make the offseason complete.
Based on Mark Lerner’s interview with the Washington Post, it is clear that he thinks the team isn’t ready yet. One thing that stood out to me is when he talked about not wanting to spend hundreds of millions of dollars just to win three more games. He also talked about how the team was right on the cusp when they signed Jayson Werth.
That part was weird to me because they won more games in 2024 than they did in 2010, the season before they signed Werth. That message just did not really sit well with me. If the young guys improve like they are supposed to and you bring in a star like Alex Bregman, you would think the team would win more than 3 more games.
Mixed messaging has become a bit of a theme with the Nats. In December, Mike Rizzo talked about the need to hit the gas, but in February he talked about how the team did not want to block prospects. This doesn’t quite mesh.
Despite the mixed messaging, I can see a bit of a common thread here. Everyone knows the team needs to win more, but is not ready for prime time yet. That is fair enough, even if I wished they took more steps to becoming ready faster.
The organization sees this as a 2011 style season where they are going to take steps forward and push for .500. We will see if this comes to pass. I think it is certainly possible. Young guys like James Wood, Dylan Crews, Mackenzie Gore and Jose A Ferrer have looked good this spring. Those guys taking a leap along with vets like Josh Bell and Nathaniel Lowe plugging up what were weak spots on last years team will improve the roster.
However, there are still a lot of question marks. If things go wrong, will there be any consequences. Davey Martinez is in the last year of his contract. Outside of his magical 2019 run, Davey has not won a lot. Could this be his last year in DC if things go south? Bringing back the whole staff despite the offensive struggles was a big move by Martinez. If things go south, don’t be surprised to see a fresh face in the dugout.
However, we are still a long way away from that as the season has not even started. We are still in Spring Training and optimism is abound. However, it is important to look at a teams internal expectations. They give you a road map and clues into what they think. Based on their statements, the Nationals brain trust believe that winning baseball is close to coming back to DC, but it is not here yet. Mike Rizzo and Mark Lerner want to see the young core give them a reason to go all in.