Finnegan, 33, spent the past five years with the Nats. He made 291 appearances for the club in that time, allowing 3.56 earned runs per nine innings. He struck out 23.5% of batters faced, gave out walks at a 9.5% clip and got grounders on 47.5% of balls in play. He also took over the closer’s job in that time. He earned 11 saves in both 2021 and 2022, then got that number to 28 in 2023 and 38 last year.

The Nats could have retained Finnegan for 2025 via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a salary of $8.6MM, a bump from the $5.1MM he made in 2024. They somewhat surprisingly decided to walk away instead, non-tendering him back in November.

Though that move initially raised some eyebrows, there were some concerning numbers under the hood. His ERA has held fairly steady recently but his strikeout rate has been ticking down. He struck out 26.1% of batters faced in 2022, but that number fell to the 22% range in each of the past two seasons. His 2024 campaign was also fairly lopsided. He had a 2.45 ERA and 26.1% strikeout rate in the first half but a 5.79 ERA and 16.4% strikeout rate in the second.

He has also been susceptible to some loud contact in his career, especially lately. His 91.3 mile per hour exit velocity last year was considered by Statcast to be in the first percentile of qualified pitchers. His 48.1% hard hit rate was in the second percentile. In 2023, he allowed a 92.2 mph average exit velo (first percentile) and 47.5% hard hit rate (fourth percentile).

In hindsight, the decision not to tender him a contract looks like a wise one for the Nats. Though the righty received interest from some other clubs this winter, the Nats stayed in contact with Finnegan and were able to bring him back while saving a few million bucks relative to his projected price range.

The Nats have been rebuilding for the past few years and their offseason has mostly been about adding solid short-term veterans to their young core. Those vets can stabilize the roster and will ideally turn themselves into deadline trade chips if Washington isn’t contending in July.

In the bullpen, they have signed Jorge López and Lucas Sims to one-year deals, with Finnegan now joining them in that category. Derek Law is back for his final season of club control, retained via arbitration. Colin Poche is in camp as a non-roster invitee and is just about two months shy of six years of big league service time. If he’s added to the roster, the Nats would have five experienced bullpen arms slated for free agency after the season, making them logical summer trade candidates.

In the interim, there will be opportunities for younger arms to pitch around those guys. Jose A. Ferrer has just 66 big league innings but has posted huge ground ball rates in that time. Rule 5 pick Evan Reifert has to hold a spot or else be offered back to the Rays. Perhaps one of the club’s many starting candidates will end up in the bullpen as a long reliever. Eduardo Salazar, Zach Brzykcy and Orlando Ribalta are also on the 40-man but each has less than a year of big league service and can be optioned to the minors.

“I thought that it was gonna be my last year,” Sale said to the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast about where he was at before getting traded to Atlanta. “So I went into that offseason on a mission like ’one more year left.’… ’cause in my mind, I wasn’t walking away from baseball. I was walking away from getting hurt.”

The Red Sox traded Sale to Atlanta for Vaughn Grissom in December of 2023. At the time, as mentioned, he had been battling significant injuries for five years. Tommy John surgery in 2020 was the big one but Sale also had a stress reaction in his ribs, a fractured finger, a broken wrist suffered in a bicycle accident and a stress reaction in his shoulder blade over that span. He had a 4.16 ERA in 298 1/3 innings over those five seasons.

2024 was the final year of his extension with the Red Sox and the mounting injuries apparently had him looking towards hanging up his spikes. But he was traded to Atlanta, signed an extension that covered 2024 and 2025 with a club option for 2026, and then went on to have an excellent season in 2024. It makes for an interesting “what if” but Sale is clearly in a better spot now. The injury bug hasn’t left him entirely alone, however. He missed the final two weeks of 2024 due to back spasms and was also left off Atlanta’s postseason roster. 2024 was still a big improvement over prior years but time will tell if he can keep the good health going into his age-36 season.

Some more spring training tidbits from the NL East…

• It was reported earlier this week that Mets righty Frankie Montas has a lat strain and will be shut down for six to eight weeks. The righty is apparently a bit more optimistic than his club, however. He told members of the media today, including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, that he’s already feeling better from his platelet-rich plasma injection and expects to be throwing again in four to six weeks. That’s still a notable period of time but it’s a bit less dire than the other timeline. He had a 4.84 ERA last year and then signed a two-year, $34MM deal with the Mets this winter. He will have the chance to opt out after the first year, though returning healthy and productive will be important if he is to consider that possibility. For now, the Mets’ rotation mix includes Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Paul Blackburn, Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill.
• Nationals outfielder James Wood has some quad tendinitis, per Andrew Golden of The Washington Post. It doesn’t bother him when he hits, so he’s been able to take batting practice but has skipped some defensive drills. Per Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com, Wood says he has “zero” concern but the club did send him for an MRI, which showed no structural damage. With still over a month before Opening Day, there’s plenty of time to get things in order, with Wood and the Nats both surely hoping for a clean bill of health by then. Now just 22 years old, Wood hit .264/.354/.427 in his major league debut last year and is slated to be a big part of the club’s future.

10:03am: The Nationals made a late addition to their bullpen Wednesday, announcing the signing of right-hander Lucas Sims to a one-year contract. Righty Mason Thompson, who had Tommy John surgery last March, was placed on the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Sims is represented by TWC Sports.

Sims, 31 in May, has spent most of his career with the Reds but was traded to the Red Sox at last year’s deadline. That deal didn’t work out especially well for Boston, as they gave up prospect Ovis Portes in exchange, while Sims then posted a 6.43 earned run average over 15 appearances around a three-week absence for a lat strain.

The Nats are surely looking beyond that unfortunate finish to his 2024 campaign. From 2019 to 2021, Sims tossed 115 2/3 innings for Cincinnati with a 4.05 ERA. He had a huge 35.2% strikeout rate over those seasons, though he undercut that somewhat with his 10.1% walk rate and some long balls.

He had a 50.6% fly ball rate in that stretch, with league average usually falling in the 35-40% range. For a guy who played his home games in homer-friendly Great American Ball Park, that wasn’t ideal and perhaps masked his true talents. He had a 3.69 FIP and 3.15 SIERA in that time. However, he strangely had a 3.75 ERA at home in those seasons but a 4.34 mark on the road.

Since then, his results have been a bit less impressive. His 2022 was largely wiped out by back issues, which culminated in surgery to repair a herniated disc. He only made six appearances that year. He returned to have a healthy 2023, tossing 61 innings with a 3.10 ERA, but his strikeout rate dropped to 27.9%. That was still above average but a notable drop from his previous work. His walk rate also ticked way up to 15.1%. A tiny .212 batting average on balls in play seemed to help him that year, which is why he had a 4.37 FIP and 4.58 SIERA.

He then posted a 3.57 ERA with the Reds last year, though with his strikeout rate falling again to 26%. His walk rate improved to 13%, a drop from the prior year but still a few ticks above average. As mentioned, he was then dealt to the Red Sox and finished the year on a down note.

Sims is a risky bet given that inconsistency but it will presumably be a fairly modest investment on the heels of his 2024 season. If he can engineer a bounceback this year, it would turn into a nice buy-low move for the Nats.

Some observers expected Washington to have an aggressive winter, but that hasn’t really come to pass. The rebuilding club has graduated a number of young players to the majors in recent years but that hasn’t pushed them to slam on the gas pedal. They have made a few additions but mostly of the short-term variety. Nathaniel Lowe was acquired to play first base and can be controlled through 2026, though he could also be traded or non-tendered depending on how things go this year. The Nats also signed Trevor Williams and Shinnosuke Ogasawara to relatively modest two-year deals and gave one-year pacts to Michael Soroka, Josh Bell, Amed Rosario, Jorge López and Paul DeJong.

In the bullpen, López and Derek Law figure to be the veteran anchors. Apart from that, it’s fairly wide open. Colin Poche is in camp as a non-roster invitee and could give them a bit more experience. Guys like Jose A. Ferrer, Eduardo Salazar, Zach Brzykcy, Evan Reifert and Orlando Ribalta are on the 40-man but no one in that group has more than 66 innings of big league experience. If the Nats and Sims get a deal done, he can join Law, López and Poche as the experienced arms in the group.

If the Nats aren’t in contention at the deadline, all of those veteran arms would be logical trade candidates. Both Law and López are slated for free agency at season’s end. Assuming Sims is only talking about a one-year deal, that would be true of him as well. Poche’s service time count is at five years and 114 days, meaning he’s just 58 shy of the six years needed for automatic free agency. If he’s on the roster before the deadline, then he would be on pace for free agency at season’s end as well.

MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo first reported that the Nats and Sims were closing in on a deal. Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reported that Sims had arrived at Nats camp and was signing a major league contract.

“When Mike calls me in and says, ‘We really need to think about it,’ for next winter, we’ll talk about it,” Lerner said, per Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post. “Right now, he doesn’t think — and I agree with him: There’s no point in getting a superstar and paying him hundreds of millions of dollars to win two or three more games. You’ve got to wait until — like Jayson [Werth]. Jayson was right on the cusp of [the team] being really good, and it took us to the next level. That’s the ideal situation. It’s always on our mind.”

The Nationals have been firmly in rebuild mode for a while now. At the 2021 deadline, with their competitive window closing, they traded Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and others. The following summer, Juan Soto and Josh Bell were out the door. Though they won the World Series in 2019, they have finished well below .500 in the five seasons since then.

There have been some positive developments in that rebuild process lately. Young players like Dylan Crews, James Wood, CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin and others have had some big league success, to varying degrees, and are affordable as well as controllable for multiple years.

In addition to that emerging core, the club’s payroll situation looked to be in decent shape going into this winter. The six-year Patrick Corbin deal helped the Nats win a title in 2019 but his performance fell off for the final five years. That deal was backloaded, with a $12.5MM salary in the first year but a $35MM salary in the sixth. It was therefore taking up a big chunk of the payroll for a rebuilding club but finally came off the books a few months ago.

That left the Nats with few commitments going into the offseason. Catcher Keibert Ruiz is signed through 2030 but with his salary not reaching eight-figure territory unless the club picks up a 2031 option. Stephen Strasburg’s deal is still technically on the books through 2026 at $35MM annually, though there were deferrals in there and he also agreed to some unspecified deferral package as part of a retirement settlement.

With the fairly light slate of investments and the talent percolating up from the minors, there was an argument for a big splash to signal the end of the rebuild, like the Werth deal that Lerner referenced. Going into 2011, the Nats signed Werth to a seven-year, $126MM pact after five straight losing seasons. The Nats hovered around .500 in the first season of that deal but made the postseason in 2012, the first of five they would make in that decade, culminating with their aforementioned World Series win in 2019.

That’s not how the club played it this winter, however. They did sign some veterans, inking Trevor Williams, Shinnosuke Ogasawara, Michael Soroka, Bell, Amed Rosario, Jorge López, and Paul DeJong, but most of those guys got one-year deals. Williams and Ogasawara were the only guys to get two years and no one got to three. Williams got the largest guarantee at $14MM. The club’s most significant trade pickup was Nathaniel Lowe, who is going to make $10.3MM this year. He’s controllable for 2026 and will be due another arbitration raise, but the Nats will have the ability to trade him or non-tender him, depending on how things go this year.

In short, they didn’t make the big move to signal the end of the rebuild. As Lerner alluded to, the club’s odds are long this year. The division has three stronger teams in Atlanta, the Mets and Phillies. The FanGraphs Projected Standings have the Nats coming in at 73 wins, 14 games out of third place. The PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus are even less optimistic, projecting the Nats for just under 68 wins, 18 games back of third.

Those are just estimates and aren’t gospel, but it’s probable that the Nats had an internal view of their club that was somewhat similar to those numbers. While signing someone like Pete Alonso may have been exciting, he couldn’t have single-handedly made up that gap of 14-18 wins. It’s also debatable whether he’s even an upgrade over Lowe in a vacuum.

Based on Lerner’s comments, however, it does seem like such a move will come at some point. For now, they will continue to focus on developing their internal players. That should include more reps for the aforementioned youngplayers on the roster, as well as pushing prospects like Brady House, Jarlin Susana, Travis Sykora and others into the mix. They can also add to their stock of future talent in a few months, as they won the top pick in the 2025 draft lottery.

6:54am: The Nationals are in agreement with infielder Paul DeJong on a one-year deal that guarantees him $1MM, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, DeJong’s deal includes $600K in potential incentives. The Nationals’ 40-man roster is full, but the club has multiple candidates for the 60-day IL who can be placed on the shelf to make room for DeJong once the signing becomes official.

DeJong, 31, was a fourth-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2015 and rose through the minors quickly to make his big league debut in 2017 at the age of 23. DeJong looked quite good in his first season in the majors, slashing .285/.325/.532 (123 wRC+) and clubbing 25 homers in just 108 games while splitting time between shortstop and second base. DeJong finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting to Cody Bellinger that year, and by the time 2018 rolled around he had established himself as the Cardinals’ everyday shortstop.

Prior to DeJong’s second season with St. Louis, the sides agreed to a six-year extension that ran through the 2023 season with club options for 2024 and ’25 that guaranteed him $26MM. Over the next two seasons, DeJong clubbed 49 homers in 274 games but hit just .237/.316/.440 (102 wRC+) overall as the .349 BABIP that sustained his star-caliber rookie season crashed down to a below average .271 BABIP. Even as his bat fell to something closer to league average, however, DeJong’s strong work on defense was enough to justify his extension and place in the Cardinals’ lineup as an everyday fixture.

DeJong’s offense continued to take a tumble from there, however. While his defense remained respectable, DeJong hit just .200/.273/.352 (72 wRC+) from 2020 to 2023, and ultimately found himself bouncing between the Cardinals, Blue Jays, and Giants in the final guaranteed year of his contract extension. DeJong eventually signed with the White Sox on a one-year, $1.75MM deal last winter, hoping to rebuild his value while taking over for Tim Anderson as the regular shortstop on the south side of Chicago. 2024 turned into a solid rebound season for DeJong, as he ultimately posted a decent .227/.276/.427 (95 wRC+) slash line with 24 homers in 139 games, his best power output in half a decade. DeJong split his season between the White Sox and Royals. He moved to third base in deference to Bobby Witt Jr. upon being dealt to Kansas City and proved to be a superlative defender at the position despite his glove work at shortstop hovering around the league average.

Now that DeJong is set to join the Nationals for the 2025 season, it seems likely he’ll serve as the club’s everyday third baseman. It’s a role that previously seemed likely to go to a platoon of Jose Tena and Amed Rosario, but Tena’s career wRC+ of just 80 does not inspire confidence in him as a starting caliber player while Rosario has the versatility to move around the infield and outfield as needed while playing primarily against left-handed pitchers. It’s possible Rosario could even be tasked with spelling DeJong against some lefties, as while both veterans are right-handed hitters Rosario is a career .298/.337/.460 hitter against southpaws while DeJong actually has reverse splits both for his career and in 2024. In addition to likely serving as the club’s primary third baseman, DeJong gives the Nationals a viable backup to CJ Abrams at shortstop with better defense at the position than either Abrams or Rosario.

The signing should significantly raise the floor for the Nationals on the infield, offering the club a solid defender at third base who has enough pop in his bat to provide 20 homers a year in spite of below-average on-base ability. That’s an undeniably useful player for a Nationals club that saw its third basemen finish third from the bottom in both wRC+ (67) and fWAR (-0.4) last year. DeJong should be able to easily clear both of those benchmarks, and in doing so allow the club to be patient with top third base prospect Brady House as he establishes himself against Triple-A pitchers this season with an eye toward making his big league debut later this year. Once House is ready to take over at the hot corner, DeJong could become impressive bench depth for the Nationals or a potential trade piece over the summer, depending on where the club is in the standings at that point.

First base was a major target area for D.C. this offseason, and the Nats addressed this need by acquiring Lowe from the Rangers for reliever Robert Garcia back in December.  Lowe hit .274/.359/.432 over 2576 plate appearances (123 wRC+) in his four seasons in Texas, with a resume that includes a Silver Slugger Award in 2022, and both a Gold Glove and a World Series ring in 2023.  Since the Rangers were looking to create room in their lineup and bolster their pen, the Garcia-for-Lowe trade helped both Texas and Washington check some boxes on their winter to-do lists.

Money was also a factor, as the Rangers were able to re-allocate Lowe’s projected salary towards other needs.  MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Lowe to earn $10.7MM, with that predicted salary falling right in between Lowe’s desired $11.1MM payday and the Rangers’ figure of $10.3MM.

An arbitration hearing is something of an awkward way for a player and a team to kick off a new partnership, yet even in defeat, Lowe’s $10.3MM salary is still a nice raise over the $7.5MM he earned in 2024.  He’ll have another year of arbitration eligibility before becoming eligible for free agency following the 2026 season.

Lowe’s hearing officially wraps up the 2024-25 arbitration class.  Of the 17 players who didn’t reach an agreement before the January 9 figure-filing deadline, nine went to hearings, with teams winning five of those nine cases.

That’s a price the Nats were unwilling to pay. Washington has seemingly had interest in bringing Finnegan back at a lesser number. The sides reportedly had some conversations before the non-tender. General manager Mike Rizzo told reporters on Thursday that the Nats have “been talking to Finnegan throughout the offseason” about a potential reunion (link via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com). There’s evidently still a financial gap. Rizzo declined to specify what kind of contract has been discussed beyond noting that “it takes two to tango.”

Finnegan has topped 60 innings with a sub-4.00 ERA in four consecutive seasons. He has been Dave Martinez’s primary closer for most of that time, recording 88 career saves. That includes a career-high 38 saves in 43 attempts last year. Only Ryan Helsley and Emmanuel Clase locked down more games. Finnegan concluded the season with a 3.68 earned run average across 63 2/3 innings.

Despite the gaudy save total, Finnegan’s peripherals were about average. He struck out 22.1% of opponents against an 8.9% walk rate. His 10.8% swinging strike percentage was a bit below the 11.6% league mark for relievers. That combined with a rough second half to lead the Nationals to non-tender him. Finnegan carried a 2.45 ERA and 26.1% strikeout rate into the All-Star Break. He lost nearly 10 percentage points off the strikeout rate while allowing 5.79 earned runs per nine after that.

That didn’t come with any kind of velocity drop. The 33-year-old averaged 97 MPH on his fastball in each month of the season. Opponents make a lot of hard contact against the heater, though, and they had increasing success differentiating the pitch from his splitter as the year progressed.

The Nats haven’t done much to address the bullpen. In addition to cutting Finnegan, they traded Robert Garcia to Texas for first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. They added Jorge López on a $3MM free agent deal. Japanese southpaw Shinnosuke Ogasawara could pitch in long relief, while Rule 5 pick Evan Reifert is trying to hold a middle relief job. Washington could certainly use more stability in a late-innings mix led by López, Jose A. Ferrer and Derek Law. Righty David Robertson is the top unsigned reliever, while Andrew Chafin and Phil Maton are among the next tier.

Poche, 31, has spent his entire big league career with the Rays to this point. He’s pitched in parts of four seasons, logging a collective 3.63 ERA with a sharp 27% strikeout rate, a 9.2% walk rate and a 30% ground-ball rate. His best season came in 2023, when he tossed 60 1/3 innings of 2.23 ERA ball while fanning about one-quarter of his opponents and issuing walks at a 9.8% clip.

Strong as Poche’s track record is, the 2024 season clearly wasn’t his best. He spent time on the injured list due to back and shoulder troubles, ultimately pitching only 37 1/3 innings. Poche’s 3.86 ERA was still solid, but his 21.6% strikeout rate was a career-low mark, while his 1.69 HR/9 rate was the highest of his career.

Poche’s four-seam fastball, which averaged 92.9 mph in his first three big league seasons, sat at just 91.2 mph in 2024, further suggesting that he wasn’t right physically. His slider was down about 1.5 mph from peak velocity, too, sitting at an average of 83.1 mph. Unsurprisingly, given the reduced stuff, he allowed more contact, recorded a career-low swinging-strike rate and saw opponents produce career-best exit velocity and hard-hit rates against him. The always cost-conscious Rays opted to move on a year early rather than pay Poche a projected $3.4MM salary in his final season of club control.

If Poche is back to full strength, he should have a good chance to not only make the Nationals’ bullpen but pitch in a key role. He’s been a high-leverage setup man for Kevin Cash in Tampa Bay throughout his career, logging 81 holds and a dozen saves in 225 career appearances (208 1/3 innings). Washington’s bullpen is lacking in experienced lefties — and, more broadly, just experienced relievers in general. Jorge Lopez and Derek Law are the only two Nats relievers with even two years of MLB service. Only one other, Jose A. Ferrer, even has one full year of service time.

“We need a couple of bats that can hit in the middle of the lineup and take the onus off some of these good young core players and assist them in the run creation of our offense. We have the core players to be middle-of-the-lineup hitters,” Rizzo told MLB.com’s Bill Ladson. That provided some hope that the Nats would make a big free agent push, but that has not come to be.

Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Bell have been Washington’s biggest lineup acquisitions. Lowe, whom the Nats acquired from Texas for reliever Robert Garcia, has been a well above-average hitter in three consecutive seasons. He’s a legitimate middle-of-the-order bat. A reunion with Bell, who has been one of the game’s streakiest hitters throughout his career, on a $6MM free agent deal is less exciting.

Lowe, who will make between $10.3MM and $11.1MM in his penultimate arbitration season, has been Washington’s costliest acquisition for 2025. They took a $9MM flier on Michael Soroka and brought back Trevor Williams for two years and $14MM. They’ve made minimal commitments to Shinnosuke Ogasawara ($3.5MM over two years), Jorge López ($3MM) and Amed Rosario ($2MM). Williams and Ogasawara are the only players to whom they’ve committed multiple years. The latter’s contract pays him like a seventh or eighth starter. Lowe is under arbitration control for another season that could cost upwards of $15MM, but the Nationals could trade or non-tender him if they’re not keen on that price.

It wasn’t the kind of headline-grabbing offseason that suggests the front office felt they were a move or two away from pushing the top three teams in the NL East. They remain the fourth-best team in the division on paper. Lowe could be a legitimate 2-3 win upgrade over last year’s collection of first basemen, who hit just .241/.310/.376. Beyond that, they’re mostly relying on internal improvements.

The Nationals dramatically cut spending during their rebuild. The Lerner family considered selling the franchise and didn’t want to saddle potential buyers with long-term deals. While they’re no longer actively exploring the sale possibility, maybe they haven’t given Rizzo and his front office leeway to make a significant splash.

If that’s the case, the front office’s actions have been understandable if largely unexciting. This roster still seems to be a year away from viable playoff contention. Pursuits of even upper middle tier free agents like Anthony Santander or Sean Manaea were unlikely to change that. They were never going to seriously threaten the Mets, Yankees, etc. on Juan Soto. A top-of-the-rotation arm like Corbin Burnes or Max Fried might have provided the ceiling boost needed in the rotation, but that requires an ownership group willing to approve a $200MM+ free agent deal.

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Per R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports, most clubs have a report date of February 12th or 13th. The Cubs and Dodgers are a bit earlier than most, on the 9th and 11th, respectively. That’s due to the fact that those clubs are heading to Tokyo, with exhibition games in mid-March, followed by regular season games against each other on March 18th and 19th. All the other teams have Opening Day scheduled for March 27th.

It’s worth pointing out that the 60 days don’t start being counted until Opening Day. Although a team can transfer a player to the 60-day IL quite soon, they will likely only do so if they aren’t expecting the player back until end of May or later. A team also must have a full 40-man roster in order to move a player to the 60-day IL.

There are still plenty of free agents still out there, including big names like Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso, as well as Nick Pivetta, Andrew Heaney, David Robertson, Randal Grichuk, Kenley Jansen, Harrison Bader, Lance Lynn, Jose Quintana and many more. Perhaps the extra roster flexibility will spur some deals to come together in the next week or so. It could also increase the ability of some clubs to make waiver claims or small trades for players who have been designated for assignment.

Here are some players who are expected to miss some significant time and could find themselves transferred soon.

Angels: Robert Stephenson

Stephenson underwent a hybrid Tommy John surgery with internal brace in late April. Given the 14-plus months required to recovery from such a procedure, he’s not likely to be ready in the early parts of the 2025 season.

Astros: Cristian Javier, J.P. France, Bennett Sousa

Javier underwent Tommy John surgery in June and is targeting a return in the second half of 2025. France is recovering from shoulder surgery and hoping to return in July. Sousa’s timeline is less clear but he underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in April. Other possibilities include Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr., who are expected to start the season on the IL but returning in April or May still seems possible.

Athletics: Luis Medina, Ken Waldichuk

Medina underwent Tommy John surgery in August and Waldichuk in May. Medina might miss the entire season while Waldichuk is likely to miss a few months at least.

Blue Jays: Angel Bastardo, Alek Manoah

The Jays grabbed Bastardo from the Red Sox in the Rule 5 draft in December, even though he had Tommy John surgery in June. Manoah also had Tommy John around that time and is hoping to be back by August.

Braves: Joe Jiménez

Jimenez had knee surgery in November with a timeline of eight to twelve months, so he might miss the entire season. Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. are also possibilities, though those will be more borderline. Strider had internal brace surgery in April, so returning in May is somewhat possible. Acuña is recovering from a torn ACL last year and it’s possible he’ll miss the first month or so of the season. Given how important both of those players are, Atlanta probably won’t put them on the 60-day IL unless it’s 100% certain that they can’t come back in the first 60 days of the season.

Brewers: Robert Gasser

Gasser had Tommy John surgery in June and will be looking at a late 2025 return even in a best-case scenario.

Diamondbacks: Kyle Nelson

Nelson’s timeline is unclear, but he underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in May and missed the remainder of the 2024 season.

Dodgers: Gavin Stone, Brusdar Graterol, River Ryan, Kyle Hurt, Emmet Sheehan

Stone underwent shoulder surgery in October that will cause him to miss the entire year. Graterol also underwent shoulder surgery and isn’t expected back until the second half of 2025. Each of Ryan, Hurt and Sheehan required Tommy John surgery in 2024: Ryan in August, Hurt in July and Sheehan in May.

Guardians: Sam Hentges, David Fry, Shane Bieber, Trevor Stephan

Hentges required shoulder surgery in September, with an expected recovery timeline of 12 to 14 months. Fry underwent UCL surgery in November with a more fluid timeline. He won’t be able to throw at all in 2025 but could be cleared for designated hitter action six to eight months from that surgery. Bieber is perhaps a borderline case, as he underwent Tommy John surgery in April. Given his importance, the Guards may not transfer him to the 60-day IL until it’s assured that he won’t be back in the first 60 days of the season. Stephen underwent Tommy John surgery in March and perhaps has a chance to avoid the 60-day IL, depending on his progression.

Mariners: Matt Brash, Jackson Kowar

Brash underwent Tommy John surgery in May. Given the typical 14-month recovery timeline from that procedure, he would be looking at a midsummer return. However, it was reported in November that he’s ahead of schedule and could be back by the end of April. That’s an optimistic timeline but the Mariners will probably hold off moving him to the 60-day IL until the door is closed to an early return. Kowar underwent Tommy John in March, so an early return in 2025 is possible for him, depending on how his recovery is going.

Marlins: Braxton Garrett, Eury Pérez

Garrett just underwent UCL surgery last month and is going to miss the entire 2025 season. Pérez underwent Tommy John surgery in April of last year and will miss at least part of the beginning of the 2025 campaign.

Mets: Christian Scott

Scott required a Tommy John surgery and internal brace hybrid procedure in September and will likely miss the entire 2025 season.

Nationals: Josiah Gray, Mason Thompson

Gray required a Tommy John surgery and internal brace hybrid procedure in July, meaning he’ll miss most or perhaps all of the 2025 season. Thompson required Tommy John surgery in March, so he has a better chance to make an early-season return if his recovery is going well.

Orioles: Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells

Bradish and Wells each required UCL surgery in June, so they’re both slated to miss the first half of the upcoming campaign.

Padres: Joe Musgrove

Musgrove had Tommy John surgery in October and will therefore miss the entire 2025 season. However, the Padres only have 36 guys on their 40-man roster at the moment, so they’ll need to fill those spots before moving Musgrove to the 60-day IL.

Pirates: Dauri Moreta

Moreta required UCL surgery in March, so an early-season return is possible if his rehab is going well, though he could end up on the 60-day if the club goes easy with his ramp-up or he suffers any kind of setback.

Rangers: Josh Sborz

Sborz underwent shoulder surgery in November and is expected to miss the first two to three months of the upcoming season.

Rays: Nate Lavender, Ha-Seong Kim

The Rays took Lavender from the Mets in the Rule 5 draft, even though he had Tommy John in May and will miss the start of the season. Kim’s status is more up in the air after he had shoulder surgery in October. Various reports have suggested he could return anywhere from April to July. The Rays made a sizable investment in Kim, their largest ever for a position player, so they probably won’t shelve him until they get more clarity on his status.

Red Sox: Patrick Sandoval, Garrett Whitlock, Chris Murphy

Sandoval had internal brace surgery in June of last year and should miss the first half of the season. Whitlock had the same surgery in May, so he could have a bit of a better chance to return in the first 60 days of the season. Murphy underwent a fully Tommy John surgery in April and will certainly miss the beginning of the upcoming season. Another possibility is Lucas Giolito, who had internal brace surgery in March, though he expects to be ready by Opening Day.

Reds: Julian Aguiar, Brandon Williamson

Aguiar underwent Tommy John surgery in October and Williamson in September, so both are likely slated to miss the entire 2025 season.

Tigers: Sawyer Gipson-Long

Gipson-Long underwent internal brace surgery in April. On top of that, he underwent left hip labral repair surgery in July, with the club hoping to address both issues at the same time. It seems likely that he’ll miss some of the early 2025 schedule, but his IL placement will depend on how he’s been progressing.

White Sox: Jesse Scholtens

Scholtens underwent Tommy John surgery in early March. Whether he goes on the 60-day IL or not will depend on how he’s progressed since then and when the White Sox expect him back.

Yankees: Jonathan Loáisiga

Loáisiga underwent internal brace surgery in April, so he could potentially be back on the mound early in the 2025 season. It was reported in December that the Yankees are expecting him to be in the bullpen by late April or early May, so he’ll only end up on the 60-day IL if he suffers a bit of a setback.

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies entered the offseason in need of some late-inning relief help after Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez both hit free agency at the outset of the winter. The club signed right-hander Jordan Romano to a one-year deal after he was non-tendered by the Blue Jays in November, but the club’s other pitching additions have actually been focused on the starting rotation. The addition of versatile swing man Joe Ross creates some much-needed depth and fills the role Spencer Turnbull played on the 2024 club, but the club’s biggest move this winter was swinging a deal with the Marlins for Jesus Luzardo. Luzardo will fit right into the Phillies’ powerhouse rotation alongside while also lessening the club’s reliance on right-hander Taijuan Walker after a disastrous 2024 campaign.

Things have been very quiet for the club on the positional side of things, however, with the addition of outfielder Max Kepler as their regular left fielder being the only notable addition so far. Kepler should help bolster the club’s outfield depth and push Johan Rojas into a part-time role after a difficult 2024 campaign, but it’s still somewhat surprising to see the club make so few alterations to its lineup in spite of rumors earlier this winter that the club could look to move on from third baseman Alec Bohm or right fielder Nick Castellanos in order to more drastically reshape the lineup.

New York Mets

It’s undeniable that the Mets made the single most significant addition of anyone in the division this winter when they signed Juan Soto to a record-shattering $765MM deal just before the Winter Meetings began. Soto is a transformational player with an MVP-caliber ceiling, and even without other supplemental moves landing him is a feat for the organization to be proud of. With that being said, however, the club’s approach to the rest of its offseason since signing Soto has been surprisingly modest. They reunited with veteran southpaw Sean Manaea in free agency, but opted to replace Jose Quintana and Luis Severino in the rotation by bringing in Manaea’s longtime A’s teammate Frankie Montas as he searches for a bounceback and converting Clay Holmes into a starter after several years of success as a late-inning reliever in the Bronx.

Meanwhile, they made something of a splash in the bullpen by adding lefty set-up man A.J. Minter to the mix behind closer Edwin Diaz while also bolstering the club’s depth with deals for Justin Hagenman, Dylan Covey, and Griffin Canning. Additions to the lineup beyond Soto have been fairly muted as well. The club swung a trade to acquire Jose Siri from the Rays in a move that should help the club weather the loss of Harrison Bader in free agency, while adding Nick Madrigal and Jared Young to the mix has helped improve the club’s bench depth. Noticeably absent from the club’s spending spree this winter, however, is a reunion with fan favorite slugger Pete Alonso. That’s left New York with plenty of questions about the infield corners, where Mark Vientos figures to handle one position with internal youngsters like Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio also in the conversation for playing time.

Atlanta Braves

Despite the club’s history of striking early on the free agent and trade markets, the early part of this winter was extremely quiet for the Braves outside of them moving the salary of slugger Jorge Soler to the Angels on the first day of the offseason. The club watched Max Fried and Charlie Morton depart in free agency from their rotation but have not yet done anything of note to address those departures, instead hoping the return of Spencer Strider from injury as well as depth options like Bryce Elder and Ian Anderson will be able to cover the lost innings. Where Atlanta has made a splash, however, is in the lineup. After losing Ronald Acuna Jr. for most of 2024 amid a season full of disappointing performances up and down the club’s lineup, the club added Jurickson Profar on a three-year deal. Profar supplants Jarred Kelenic as the club’s everyday left fielder, while depth additions Bryan De La Cruz and Carlos D. Rodriguez should help Kelenic cover right field until Acuna returns from injury.

Washington Nationals

The Nationals’ youth movement is in full swing with a number of top prospects having reached the majors, highlighted by an outfield that now includes both James Wood and Dylan Crews. They’ve made a number of short-term moves to supplement their young roster this winter, with the most impactful of those being the trade they worked out to bring in first baseman Nathaniel Lowe from the Rangers in exchange for southpaw Robert Garcia. Lowe will pair with free agent addition Josh Bell to handle first base and DH duties in D.C. while infield Amed Rosario was signed to shore up the club’s depth all around the diamond.

Turning to the pitching staff, the Nationals have reunited with Trevor Williams while adding both Michael Soroka and Shinnosuke Ogasawara to the rotation mix in order to support a group of young arms led by MacKenzie Gore. The club’s surplus of viable starting options should also help keep things steady in a bullpen that saw more subtractions and additions this winter. In addition to Garcia being shipped out in the Lowe trade, the Nats non-tendered longtime closer Kyle Finnegan back in November. More recently, the club added veteran right-hander Jorge Lopez on a one-year deal to fill Finnegan’s role as a veteran presence in the late innings.

Miami Marlins

As one of the few clubs in the majors committed to rebuilding at the moment, the Marlins’ offseason looks very different than the rest of the division. Infielder/outfielder Eric Wagaman is the club’s only major league free agent signing, and he has just 18 games of big league experience under his belt to this point. The club also added Matt Mervis to the first base mix alongside Jonah Bride in a swap with the Cubs for Vidal Brujan. Other moves to this point have been more focused on shipping out major league talent than bringing it in, with Jake Burger heading to the Rangers and Luzardo moving to the club’s division rivals in Philadelphia. Those deals have brought in a number of prospects, however: Miami’s farm system added Starlyn Caba and Emaarion Boyd in the Luzardo deal while Max Acosta, Brayan Mendoza, and Echedry Vargas all came over in the exchange for Burger.

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The additions of Soto, Luzardo, and Profar in New York, Philadelphia, and Atlanta respectively all figure to provide major impact, but all three top clubs in the East have been a bit more measured than expected, outside of those moves. Meanwhile, the Nationals have made a flurry of short-term deals and signings to augment their club but haven’t made the sort of high-impact addition many expected with veteran Patrick Corbin coming off the books this winter. Miami’s approach is different than the other five as a rebuilding club, with a weakened major league roster being the price the Marlins have paid to replenish their farm system. Of the five NL East clubs, which one has had the strongest offseason so far? Have your say in the poll below:

Jan. 29: The Nationals announced that they have requested unconditional release waivers on left-hander Joe La Sorsa. The lefty was already off the 40-man roster, as he was designated for assignment when the Nats signed Shinnosuke Ogasawara last week.

La Sorsa, 27 in April, has a previous career outright. The Nats passed him through waivers last offseason before eventually selecting him back to the roster in August. A player with a previous career outright has the right to reject another such assignment in favor of free agency. That’s likely why the Nats have placed him on release waivers instead of outright waivers.

The southpaw has 50 1/3 major league innings on his track record. Drafted by the Rays, he climbed to the majors with that club but was put on waivers after just two appearances. He was claimed by the Nats in June of 2023. As mentioned, he was off the roster for a portion of the 2024 season but most of his major league innings have come for the Nats. Overall, he has a 4.47 earned run average, 19.2% strikeout rate, 6.4% walk rate and 40.9% ground ball rate.

In the minors, he had really strong numbers in 2022 but has leveled off since then. He logged 73 1/3 innings on the farm in that 2022 season with a 2.33 ERA, 31.4% strikeout rate and 3.6% walk rate. Over the two most recent seasons, he’s thrown 92 2/3 minor league innings with a 2.82 ERA but with his 18% strikeout rate and 6.2% walk rate both moving in the wrong direction.

La Sorsa doesn’t throw hard, with his fastball averaging just 90.4 miles per hour in the majors last year, and has generally had subpar strikeout rates. But his small sample of big league work has had him avoid significant damage, with Statcast having his average exit velocity and hard hit rate both a bit better than average. He has a couple of options and less than a year of service time, which could add to his appeal as a depth option.

Ogasawara, 27, has posted a 3.28 ERA in 596 innings of work over the past four seasons with Nippon Professional Baseball’s Chunichi Dragons. While that’s a solid performance, the lefty’s lackluster 13.6% strikeout rate last year raised plenty of eyebrows when he was posted by the Dragons last month. That skepticism about his ability to make such a profile with such few strikeouts work in the majors led Ogasawara to sign a modest deal that guarantees him just $3.5MM, well below the going rate for even back-end starters in free agency. Rizzo expressed confidence in Ogasawara as a starting-caliber option despite those concerns, but stopped short of fully guaranteeing him a rotation spot or even an active roster spot to open the season in his discussion of the club’s rotation plans.

“We signed [Ogasawara] to be a starting pitcher for us in the big leagues,” Rizzo told reporters, including Zuckerman. “Of course, he’ll have to earn that spot in the rotation. I think there’s going to be great competition for the five spots in the rotation by some good, young, talented players. If he’s not ready for the big leagues, then we could always option him to Triple-A and bring him up sometime during the season. But we anticipate him battling out for a rotation spot, and I think it’s going to be a fun competition to watch.”

That most tracks with Andrew Golden of the Washington Post’s reporting on the state of the club’s rotation. Golden characterizes right-hander Michael Soroka, left-hander MacKenzie Gore, and right-hander Jake Irvin as the three players locked into Opening Day rotation spots if healthy. That leaves two spots in the rotation for Ogasawara, veteran right-hander Trevor Williams, and young southpaws Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz to compete for, though it’s worth noting that Williams himself indicated earlier this month that he’ll be part of the club’s Opening Day rotation. That would leave just one spot for Ogasawara, Parker, and Herz to compete for. Ogasawara seems likely to be the favorite for that role headed into Spring Training, though all three have options remaining and Golden suggested that he or even Williams could be pushed to a bullpen role if Parker and/or Herz look particularly good coming out of camp.

The club’s approach of adding plenty of depth to the rotation to ease their reliance on up-and-coming youngsters without blocking them meshes will with the club’s overall philosophy for this winter. As Nausbaum notes, Rizzo told reporters that given “where [the club is] at right now,” the club was cautious about signing free agents with a qualifying offer attached due to the associated loss of draft capital and international bonus pool money. The club’s reluctance to target qualified free agents led the club to bring in a number of short-term reinforcements this winter.

That includes not only their trio of rotation additions but also Nathaniel Lowe, Josh Bell, Amed Rosario, and Jorge Lopez. All of those veterans come with either one or two seasons of control, preventing them from blocking the young players and prospects that the Nationals have been building around since they first began what has become a lengthy rebuild back in 2021. The club’s fortunes appear to be on the upswing headed into 2025 with that group of intriguing youngsters in the rotation and an outfield that currently projects to feature full seasons from James Wood and Dylan Crews in the corners. Cade Cavalli, Robert Hassell III, and Brady House are among the other noteworthy prospects in the club’s pipeline who have yet to establish themselves in the majors but could arrive at some point this season.

That reluctance to block top prospects and young players seems to have played a significant role in how the club’s offseason has played out to this point. Early in the winter, the Nationals were among the teams most frequently connected to Christian Walker before he ultimately signed with the Astros. Walker, of course, received a Qualifying Offer from the Diamondbacks that may have limited the Nationals’ interest in him and led to them pivoting towards the additions of Lowe and Bell. It’s also possible that the club’s desire to avoid blocking young players contributing to them not signing second baseman Gleyber Torres. Torres made clear shortly after he signed with the Tigers that the Nats were among the teams pursuing him but that they had wanted him to move to third base in order to accommodate 24-year-old Luis Garcia Jr. after he enjoyed something of a breakout season in 2024. When Torres landed elsewhere, the Nationals opted to sign Rosario, who has moved around to a number of positions all throughout his career and should have no trouble playing out of position if needed.

Ogasawara, 27, pitched in part of nine seasons for Dragons. He threw 951 1/3 innings, allowing 3.62 earned runs per nine. He struck out 18.9% of batters faced while giving out walks at a 7.7% clip.

Despite fairly decent run prevention, there are also some concerning elements in Ogasawara’s profile. His strikeout rate in Japan is a bit below what is expected of hurlers in North America these days, as the league average has been in the 22-23% range in recent seasons. He’s also a bit undersized, listed at 5’11” and 183 pounds. That size isn’t necessarily a disqualification, as it actually makes him larger than Shota Imanaga, who is 5’10” and 175. Imanaga proved himself capable of handling MLB hitters in 2024 but he also had a 25% strikeout rate in his NPB career before crossing, notably higher than Ogasawara.

It’s also a metric that has wavered for Ogasawara. He got his rate of punchouts as high as 24% in 2022, but then it dropped to 20.1% the year after and then fell way down to 13.6% in the most recent season. That big drop in strikeouts did coincide with a tiny walk rate of 3.7% and he still managed to post a 3.12 ERA, but it does lead to questions as to how his stuff will play in his new environment. He throws a fastball in the 91-93 mile-per-hour range, as well as featuring a curveball and a changeup.

Despite the question marks, it’s a sensible gamble for the Nats to take. The club has been rebuilding for a while, having recently wrapped up their fifth straight losing season. There was some speculation that they might come into this offseason looking to take a step forward, perhaps making a bold strike or two, but that hasn’t really come to pass.

They did make some moves, but mostly avoided committing themselves to anything beyond 2026. They signed Josh Bell, Michael Soroka, Amed Rosario and Jorge López to one-year deals. They brought back Trevor Williams on a two-year pact. Nathaniel Lowe, who has two seasons of club control remaining, was acquired from the Rangers.

Bringing in Ogasawara on a two-year pact aligns with those other moves. The club has seemingly taken the path of making some decent additions while also waiting to see how young players like Dylan Crews, James Wood and Brady House develop. Once they get more clarity on those players and others, they can decide about more assertive moves in the future.

The same is largely true of their rotation. Young and controllable pitchers like MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker, DJ Herz and Cade Cavalli have shown some progress to varying degrees but there are still some question marks there. Irvin and Parker have posted decent run prevention numbers but with subpar strikeout rates. Herz had a nice MLB debut in 2024 but had massive walk problems in the minors. Cavalli missed the past two seasons due to Tommy John surgery.

The Nats would probably like a bit more time to continue evaluating those guys to see who among them can emerge as real rotation building blocks. They could have rolled into the season with a rotation of Gore, Irvin, Parker, Herz and Cavalli but clearly wanted to add some more options and improve the overall depth. As mentioned, they signed Soroka and Williams, with Ogasawara now added into the mix as well.

Those three and Gore should have four rotation spots accounted for, at least to start the season. Both Soroka and Williams have some relief experience and could get pushed to the bullpen if they struggle or one of the younger guys pushes them out. Each of Irvin, Parker, Herz and Cavalli have options and could get pushed to Triple-A. The Nats could perhaps consider a six-man rotation, though doing so would limit them to a seven-man bullpen. Josiah Gray could get back in the mix late in 2025 but is currently rehabbing from a Tommy John and internal brace surgery which was performed in July.

Perhaps the bolstered roster will push the Nats into a greater chance of contention, but they are also looking up at three really strong teams in the division. Atlanta and Philadelphia have been powerhouses for years while the Mets just made the playoffs and have been very aggressive, including adding Juan Soto. If the Nats find themselves outside the playoff mix come July, any of the players they’ve added could become trade candidates, on account of their short windows of club control.

The Dragons posted Ogasawara on December 10, which led to a 45-day posting window that ended today. If he had not signed, he would have returned to the Dragons but he’ll be coming to Washington instead. Unlike Roki Sasaki, Ogasawara is not subject to the international bonus pool system. That’s because he is over 25 years old and has at least six professional seasons on his track record. MLBTR predicted him for a two-year, $12MM deal at the start of the offseason.

The Nats owe the Dragons a posting fee, with the size of that fee dependent on the size of the contract. That fee will be equal to 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any dollars thereafter. Since Ogasawara signed for less than $25MM, it’s simply 20% of the guarantee.

La Sorsa, 27 in April, has been a fringe member of the Washington roster for a while. He was claimed off waivers from the Rays in June of 2023 but was outrighted off the roster in December of that year. He got his roster spot back in August of 2024 but has now been bumped off again.

Between the Rays and the Nats, he has 50 1/3 innings in the big leagues with a 4.47 ERA, 19.2% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate. He had a strong showing in the minors in 2022, throwing 73 1/3 innings with a 2.33 ERA, 31.4% strikeout rate and 3.6% walk rate. However, he’s been a bit less impressive over the past two seasons, having thrown 92 2/3 innings with a 2.82 ERA, 18% strikeout rate and 6.2% walk rate. A .268 batting average on balls in play and 82.3% strand rate helped him out in that time, which is why his 4.62 FIP was almost two runs higher than his ERA.

He’ll now head to DFA limbo for a week at most. The Nats could explore trades for the next five days but would have to put him on waivers after that, since the waiver process takes 48 hours. If he were to pass through unclaimed, he would have the right to elect free agency on account of his previous outright.

The Associated Press reported the terms of Ogasawara’s deal.

Finnegan, 33, was non-tendered by the Nationals back in November. While his end-of-year numbers look sharp — 38 saves, 3.68 ERA — Finnegan had a brutal finish to the year and was projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for an $8.6MM salary in what would’ve been his final year of club control before free agency. That was more than the Nationals were willing to pay at the time. Presumably, other clubs also balked at the price. Teams generally shop players around the trade market before cutting them loose via non-tender, and the Nats surely did that due diligence with a player as prominent as Finnegan has been for them.

As deep into the season as July 21, Finnegan boasted a 2.32 earned run average with a 26% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate. He was thriving in high-leverage spots, missing bats and limiting walks while piling up saves in Davey Martinez’s bullpen. It was a strong enough showing for Finnegan to deservingly make the first All-Star team of his career.

The subsequent 21 appearances, however, were a disaster. Finnegan surrendered runs in nine of those outings, yielding an ugly 6.43 ERA along the way. He was hampered by a .411 average on balls in play, but his struggles were attributable to far more than just a simple downturn in batted-ball luck; Finnegan’s strikeout rate plummeted to 15.7% over that stretch, while his walk rate inflated to 9.8%. He logged an 11.8% swinging-strike rate through July 21 but only a 9.1% clip from that point forth. His opponents’ contact rate jumped from 77.6% to 81.9%. In particular, their rate of contact on pitches off the plate soared. Finnegan’s velocity held strong, averaging 97.2 mph in both samples, but his command was clearly not as sharp in the season’s final two-plus months.

Finnegan was connected to the Cubs back in December. Chicago just finished runner-up to the Dodgers in bidding for the previously mentioned Scott and is still seeking bullpen upgrades. Others known to be poking around the relief market at the moment (but not necessarily targeting Finnegan, specifically) include the Reds, Yankees, D-backs, Mets and Braves — to name just a few. Most clubs this time of year feel there’s still room to add to their bullpen, though not every team has the remaining financial flexibility to do so on a reliever of some note, like Finnegan.

A one-year deal a bit shy of Finnegan’s projected arb salary feels feasible. It’s also at least plausible that he could ink a two-year pact at a lesser annual value, allowing him to surpass the total of his projected arbitration salary. Non-tendered players rarely strike multi-year deals, but it’s happened before, and Finnegan was a higher-profile cut than most.