It’s always fun to look ahead at what your favorite team might look like 2-3 years down the road, and that’s especially true during a rebuild. The Nats farm system is finally coming along thanks mainly to the Juan Soto trade and also in part to their higher (than we’re used to) draft positions. Separate from that, if the MASN (or Orioles ownership) situation can somehow get sorted out, it’s possible that the Nats would have a new ownership group in place by the time they’re ready to compete again. If that’s the case, I would expect to see the team bring in a couple of notable free agents during the 2025 offseason, a lot like they did in 2011 and 2012.

Now let’s have a little bit of fun and see what the roster could look like in a couple of years. For this exercise, I’m taking into account this year’s #2 overall pick, as well as potential trades and free agents from the 2025 free agent class. I’m not going to go wild with trades and free agent additions, but I am going to make a couple. I think ultimately the Nats glut of quality outfield prospects results in them moving one or two in order to solidify another position. So, here’s a potential roster that I could see the Nats fielding on Opening Day 2025:

C: Kiebert Ruiz

1B: Vinnie Pasquantino*

2B: Luis Garcia

3B: Brady House

SS: CJ Abrams

LF: Tyler O’Neill**

CF: Elijah Green

RF: James Wood

DH: Joey Meneses

BE: Stone Garrett

BE: Jake Alu

BE: Israel Pineda

BE: Jeter Downs

SP: MacKenzie Gore

SP: Chase Dollander***

SP: Pablo Lopez**

SP: Cade Cavalli

SP: Jake Bennett

RP: Jackson Rutledge

RP: Jarlin Susana

RP: Thad Ward

RP: Mason Thompson

RP: Hunter Harvey

RP: Jose Ferrer

RP: AJ Minter**

CL: Zach Brzykcy

* Projected trade with the Royals: Nationals trade Robert Hassell III, Josiah Gray and Cole Henry to the Royals for Vinnie Pasquantino

** O’Neill, Lopez and Minter sign with the Nats in free agency

*** As of today, I expect the Nats to take Dollander 2nd overall in this year’s draft

Lots to talk about here. The big one is obviously the projected trade. With the Nats insane OF depth that they’re putting together in the minors, there are only going to be so many Major League spots for these guys even if they don’t all hit. My thinking here is that if given the choice, the Nats would want to deal Hassell and then sign someone like Tyler O’Neill to a one or two year deal as a placeholder until Cristhian Vaquero is ready (ideally in 2026). The Nats end up sending Hassell, Gray and Henry to the Royals for Pasquantino, who will give them some stability at first base, which is a position they have no depth at in the minors. I think as the rotation comes together, there’s a chance that both Gray and Henry are pushed into bullpen roles. For Gray it’s because he’s going to be more effective in shorter stints where he doesn’t have to use his fastball as often. For Henry it’s strictly to keep him healthy.

As for the free agent additions, I think Tyler O’Neill, Pablo Lopez and AJ Minter would fit the mold of what the Nats would be looking for in the 2025 offseason. And yes,  this is the same offseason that Juan Soto is a free agent. As much as we’d all like to have Soto back, I don’t know that it would make sense to spend $40+ million on an outfielder when you (hopefully) have Wood, Green and Vaquero all out there. The 2026 offseason potentially has Vlad Jr. and Bo Bichette hitting free agency. Those two players might make a little more sense for the Nats if they’re looking to add a big bat. But back to O’Neill, Lopez and Minter – I think that only Lopez would command a long-term deal (maybe 5 years), whereas O’Neill and Minter would settle for 2-year deals. As I mentioned, O’Neill would act as a placeholder until Vaquero (or De La Rosa) is ready. Lopez and Minter would be great veteran additions to help solidify the rotation and bullpen, respectively. There are bigger starters that are on the market in 2025 (Shane Bieber and Corbin Burnes), but whether or not the Nats are players in that market is still TBD and really depends on the ownership situation. If Mark Lerner is still here, then I think Pablo Lopez’s price might even be out of the Nats price range. Unfortunately, Mark Lerner’s spending habits are closer to that of Bob Nutting than they are to Steve Cohen.

Lastly, with the addition of Lopez, I have both Jackson Rutledge and Jarlin Susana in the bullpen here. It’s possible that both stick in the rotation, but I think that if things go south, the Nats could pivot to relief roles for both. It’s not the worst thing in the world; both would be absolutely dominant back-end relievers and could help form a dominant bullpen. I think Jake Bennett is one of the Nats safer prospects in the minor leagues even though we haven’t seen much of him yet. He’s a projectable arm and he pounds the strike zone, which isn’t common amongst most of the Nats recent draftees (with the exception of Cole Henry). My guess is we may see him in the majors as early as the middle of next season, and if that happens, he could be a back-end of the rotation starter for the next 7+ seasons. That, together with the prediction that the Nats grab a starter in free agency, played a part in why I ended up putting Rutledge and Susana in the bullpen. Now, if Dollander either isn’t available at #2, or he’s not the pick, then things would obviously change here and the Nats might be more inclined to push one or both of these guys to remain starters going forward.

It’s going to be a painful next year and a half, but if you look at the farm system there’s reason for hope. By the beginning of next season we should start seeing some prospects come up and then by 2025 we should start to have some fun. The two main priorities until then are: 1) continue to build the farm system and 2) hope that Mark Lerner sells the team. If one of those two things doesn’t happen, then the path to contention in 2025 becomes a bit more difficult.