On Thursday, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters that the owners agreed to adopt the universal designated hitter. Perhaps, if you are a DHH — a designated-hitter hater — this is bad news. But for those tired of seeing hapless pitcher at-bats or for players who swing a big stick but can't handle a groundball, it's a positive development. However you feel about it, though, it's certain there is now a new puzzle piece to consider when building a roster.

With the addition of the DH in the National League, there are a lot of players that can fit into that spot this season and beyond for the Washington Nationals.

Here is how the team should address the DH in the short term and long term

Short Term

Obviously, when looking at the addition of the DH in the NL, one should take a look at the short-term effects on the Nationals, who were fourth in the NL in OPS but ninth in scoring. One obvious player that could fit the role of DH is Mr. Nationals himself: Ryan Zimmerman. Zimmerman would be a welcome addition back to the Washington Nationals lineup. It will provide that veteran presence in the locker room that this young Nationals team will need as they look to retool quickly. Another possible DH on the Nationals roster is catcher Riley Adams. Adams was acquired from the Blue Jays in the trade for reliever Brad Hand on July 29, 2021. With a bit of a "backup" at the catcher position, having Adams in the DH spot would be great for the rookie as he could see as many pitches as possible, and the Nationals can keep fellow catcher Keibert Ruiz also in the lineup. This is a great problem to have.

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One player for the DH spot for the Nationals that isn't on the roster is fan favorite and free agent Kyle Schwarber. We had already written why the Nationals should re-sign him to a long-term deal before it was announced that the DH would be coming to the NL.

Now that it seems more than likely that it will happen, the Nationals have another reason to sign Kyle Schwarber. If Schwarber hadn't gotten hurt after going on his home run binge and the Nationals hadn't collapsed,

Schwarber might have ended his season in Washington and had his option for 2023 exercised. According to many reporters, the feeling within the organization at the time of Schwarber's departure was that he'd stick around for a second season. He would have been the prime candidate for the DH spot then and is even more of a prime candidate now that the National League will have the DH.

Long Term

JUAN SOTO.

I could have ended the analysis right there, but I figured that I share a bit more. Back during the 2019 offseason, the Nationals were frightened off from the massive contract amount that Bryce Harper was requesting because they were unsure about if the DH would be coming to the NL, therefore, spending a significant amount of salary on an outfielder without knowing the status of the DH, the Nationals passed. At the same time, it worked well for the team in the short term, fast forward to today, where the Nationals have another star outfielder close to free agency and a player that the team and the fans want to stay in Washington but is going to command a lot of money.

Related Article: What’s the Plan for the 2022 Season? Simple, Make Juan Soto want to Stay

Signing this outfielder (we will call him Juan Soto for the sake of this article) to a long-term deal should now make it a bit easier to spend a lot of money on his contract because the DH can extend Soto's career in the league.