On the first day of winter meetings earlier this month, Washington Nationals GM and president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo told reporters that the club is looking into all sorts of weapons that could help the team in 2024 (and beyond). He said it is on the market. If the right deal comes along, I’ll definitely pitch.
“I think you’ll find that everyone’s needs are the same,” Rizzo explained. “Everyone needs a starting pitcher in all of sports, and so do we. We’re looking for them because we can never have enough of them.”
“There are some holes that need to be filled,” he added.
“This year has the necessary work in store for us. We will take a proactive approach when it suits us and wait for the market to present itself when it suits us. I think that’s the intention.”
According to DC’s GM, what they don’t want to do is sign position players or pitchers to long-term contracts, which could hinder their future in the system.
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“We’re not going to block men,” he said. “But if we’re lucky enough to have a bunch of guys that are going to knock on the big league door, it’s going to be a good day for us here. Our guys, they’re going to be there when they’re ready.” They’ll let you know, and they’ll let you know with their play on the field. And we’ve never had a problem moving players right to the big leagues if they can do well there. And we would have no hesitation in sending them to the big leagues now.”
Regarding the pitching staff in particular, manager Davey Martinez talked about the progress of young members of the starting staff such as Josiah Gray, Mackenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Jackson Rutledge and Joan Aydon. They need innings and opportunities to continue to grow.
“I want to see young pitchers pitch,” Martinez said.
“Some of them have had a full year of experience, some of them have had three-quarters of a year. I’d like to see what they can do out of spring training.
“But I want to see them grow,” he added. “I want to see them compete. So for me, this is going to be an interesting spring training to see how they bounce back from last year.
“A lot of them pitched well. We had some guys get injured before, but they got through last year.
“So this is going to be a big year. But yeah, we’ll always take a quality starter.”
As the Nationals’ coaching staff attempts to manage innings, there’s a chance they will switch back to a six-man rotation like they did late last season as part of the development process.
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Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images
It’s something Nats leaders are already discussing as a possibility.
“We already talked about that,” Martinez admitted.
“I looked at the schedule and luckily I got a lot of time off at the beginning. There are some stretches where I play 17 games in a row, 15 games in a row.
“So we may incorporate a six-man rotation in the meantime.”
“I think we’re going to be careful,” Rizzo said of how he manages his young starters in 2024.
“We’re always careful. But this year we’re going to take those reins off a little bit. Last year, we were careful with them and handled everything with kid gloves.”
“I think we’re going to loosen the reins on them a little bit this year,” he continued.
“We have some depth in the minor leagues, but we haven’t had that much in the past, and I don’t think it’s going to be easy to really learn in the big leagues. Last year we had some depth with these pitchers. I think we’ve seen progress, and hopefully all of these pitchers can take another step in their progression and replenish some of their own prospects from the minors to the major leagues.”
But Martinez also said he wouldn’t be surprised if Rizzo and others add weapons to the Nationals’ front office.Like the addition of Dylan Floro to the back of the bullpen already this winter.).
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“[Rizzo], he’s a competitor and wants to win games,” Martinez said. “Maybe we could add another starting pitcher to that mix.”
The club could also add Cade Cavalli (Still the No. 1 pitching prospect in the organization.).
Cavalli, 25, and the team’s 2020 first-round pick, underwent Tommy John surgery last spring but is expected to pitch in the majors again at some point this season if everything goes according to plan.
“Cavali is [champing] Right before spring training,” Rizzo said. “We’re definitely going to have to bring him back in spring training and kind of take the reins back, but we’re expecting that and we’ve been talking to him and we’re going to have a long conversation with him in spring training. .”
