Bullpen options are dwindling for the Washington Nationals.
As the Washington Nationals continue to navigate their first offseason under the leadership of new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, it will be interesting to see what ultimately gets done this winter.
. But the already-weak bullpen unit was depleted further to get that done, and the front office has not been too aggressive to make upgrades outside ofFor the Nationals to not be involved at that price is head-scratching. While they were never going to break the bank for high-profile free agents this winter,on a relatively cheap deal to bolster what was the worst bullpen staff in the majors last season seems like something this regime would have wanted to do.The 34-year-old has been really good for the Atlanta Braves the past two-and-a-half seasons. Acquired ahead of the trade deadline in 2023, he finished that campaign for the Braves with an impressive 0.76 ERA across 24 appearances. Johnson wasn't quite as lights out during the past two years, but he still finished each season with an ERA below the 4.00 mark. And across his 147 total outings for Atlanta, he posted a 2.97 ERA and an ERA+ of 144 that was 44 points above the league average. That's why not pursuing the right-hander is so strange. There is no doubt that Johnson would have been a major upgrade for Washington if they would have landed him. And considering his market value -- estimated by Spotrac -- was in the $8.3 million range, signing the veteran for this price would have been a huge steal for the Nationals. Now that Johnson is off the board, it will be interesting to see how Toboni and his front office go about piecing together a bullpen they hope will be improved in 2026 compared to 2025. But not adding the established reliever could be a major mistake when it comes to that plan.Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai
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