Its possible. But the thing about Deez Nats is that it’s a real ensemble cast. And a lot of the cast has free agency or some sort of option coming this off season.
Pitching:
Strasburg would effectively be opting out of a 4 year 100 million dollar contract. I suspect that if we extended the contract for a year or two about the same rate, he would sign. If he leaves anyway then we might be able to pick up Ryu or Cole. I think they are all managed by Boras. You can never tell what he will, do but his clients frequently hold out until the last possible moment
We should exercise the club option on Doolittle.
Hellicksen, Rodney and most of the other free agent relief pitchers should be politely shown the door.
Hudson seems worth keeping around for the right price. His 2019 contract was a 1 year contract for 1.5 million. I don’t think he will be particularly cheap unless the Nats to try and sign him to a 3 or 4 year contract.
Catcher:
We have an option on Gomes. I think the Nats like having two good catchers in Gomes and Suzuki. I think Gomes is probably going to get his one year extension. However, the Nats could probably save 5 million on someone cheaper without sacrificing much if anything at all so they may shop around a bit.
1B:
Nats should probably opt out of Zimmerman. His high price tag along with his negative WAR makes it hard to justify the $18 million salary. However he is fan favorite so I hope they try to renegotiate to something lower and maybe longer in a part time role.
2B:
If we keep Rendon, we will probably say goodbye to two of Dozier, Kendrick and Cabrera. Kieboom is on deck. We could keep Cabrera if h is cheap enough because he can play anywhere in the infield but Dozier seems expensive and Kendrick is probably better off in the AL as a DH or something.
SS:
I hope they buy out Trea’s arb years and give him a 7-8 year contract, It seems like he will only get better and it’s easier to keep a 33-34 year old free agent than a 30 year old one.
3B:
Rendon was reportedly ready to sign an Altuve type deal at the beginning of the year (7 year $164 million), a lot has happened since then. The current offer is about 50 million higher with an AAV similar to Arenado and higher than Machado and while it is rumored to be somewhat backloaded, it is not overly so. He might get more as a free agent but not a lot more. I don’t think Rendon is going to move to chase a few extra dollars unless someone makes him an offer he can’t refuse. If someone does make him a better offer, we can try to pick up Josh Donaldson from the Braves (heck we might just end up swapping 3rd basemen with Atlanta). Our break glass in case of emergency situation would be to promote Kieboom or Garcia.
LF:
Juan Soto is another guy they should try to lock down.
RF:
The Nat have an option on Eaton for 9.5 million with a 1.5 million buyout. For a marginal cost of 8 million, Eaton seems like a keeper.
Where to spend money:
We could use a third good pitcher in our bullpen. I wonder how much it would cost to grab
