Good Morning, Washington Nationals Fans,

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, January 31, 2024.

Welcome to the Morning Briefing. Haden here, let’s talk some baseball.

Leading this Morning’s Briefing: The Nats announce their first round of non-roster invites for Spring Training

The first round of non-roster invites were announced by the club yesterday. The list includes six top 30 prospects and former big leaguers and Nationals. Top prospects James Wood, Dylan Crews, and Brady House obviously headline the list and will be the focus, but it will be good to get an extended look at how Robert Hassell III, the Nats Report No. 11 prospect, rebounds after a full healthy offseason.

The Nats also targeted multiple first baseman in minor league free agency and two of those targets, Juan Yepez and Lewin Diaz were invited.

You can read the full invite list here.

Slow offseason continues

This offseason has been slower than usual. There are still multiple big-name free agents out there who figure to contribute a good amount to whatever team signs them. For some, we may be waiting until pitchers and catchers report, which will give the front offices access to the 60-day injured list again. The Nationals could then move Stephen Strasburg, Cade Cavalli, and Zach Brzykcy to clear room for another player, whether that be someone else who could also go on the 60-day injured list like Brandon Woodruff, another free agent, or a top prospect who will break camp with the team.

So who is left out there? Well, there are still 16 free agents who accumulated 1.5 fWAR, with Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, Blake Snell, and Jordan Montgomery headlining the group. Former Nat Michael A. Taylor is the best defensive option in the outfield. Unfortunately for many of the current free agents, there is not a proper fit. Only the Giants seem like a good fit for Chapman or a designated hitter. The uncertainty from the RSN fallout only adds to the slow market.

Maybe this gives the Nationals an opportunity to jump the market. Even if it is just a bullpen addition like Phil Maton or Scott Alexander.

Our first Annual Prospect Ranking List

The big story here at the Nats Report is the publishing of our first annual Washington Nationals Prospect Ranking list.

Last week, we released our inaugural edition of The Nats Report Preseason Prospect Rankings. The Nats Report delivers the most up-to-date news and analysis on the Washington Nationals. Our goal with our Prospect Rankings is to unveil them each year just before the commencement of Spring Training.

We hope this annual list will become the definitive list for the Washington Nationals community prospect rankings. Be sure to tell a fellow Washington Nationals friend or family member to subscribe to the Nats Report today so that they also get our first annual list.

We will also be planning some subscriber-only events around the launching of this list, such as a subscriber-only Question and Answer session and other great subscriber-only events. So make sure that you subscribe to the Nats Report TODAY!

You can check out the prospect rankings here, and then we dive into detail for the top 15 prospects here and the bottom 15 prospects here. [For paid subscribers]

To celebrate the launch of our prospect list, we are giving you 20% off an annual Nats Report subscription until February 1. You can redeem it here.

Click here for the latest off-season headlines, rumors, trades, and more.

ICYMI: Latest articles on the Nats Report

Even though it is the offseason, we have been extremely busy producing great content on the Nats Report. Here are just a couple of the articles that we have published recently that you might have missed:

• Podcast: In the Clubhouse (Gallo and Top 30 Discussion)
• How does Dylan Floro’s signing with the Nationals impact the team’s 2024 outlook?
• Washington Nationals tease new uniform for 2024
• Perspective: When is Enough Enough?
• How can the Nats’ offense improve in 2024?

We are working on a lot of great Nationals-themed content all off-season so make sure that you are following us on all the major social media channels for the latest.

Featured Stories of the Day

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is MLB The Show cover athlete via MLB.com

Angelos family approve sale of Orioles via ESPN

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