Good Morning, Washington Nationals Fans,

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, January 29, 2024.

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

Leading this Morning’s Briefing: Washington Nationals designate Israel Pineda for assignment

The Nationals announced the Joey Gallo signing over the weekend and therefore had to announce a subsequent transaction. That move was DFAing catcher Israel Pineda.

Pineda saw his stock fall last season. He was expected to compete for the backup catcher job in spring training, but fractured a finger, missing time until the end of May, where back spasms then kept him out for another two months.

He did not hit well when he was healthy, compiling a .176/.229/.268 line in 41 games. The Nationals’ time to trade him is about to expire, and they will now attempt to pass him through waivers, if he goes unclaimed, Pineda will remain with the organization.

Doolittle goes on MLB Network

Doolittle went on MLB Network yesterday and talked about his role in 2024. Here is the full three-and-a-half-minute clip, but it was great to get insight into some of the things Doolittle plans to do with the pitching staff next season. Call me an optimist, but I think a lot of the young arms in this rotation will take a big step forward.

Additionally, TalkNats covered the Nats’ Hot Stove event, where Rizzo also briefly talked about Doolittle’s role.

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.

Today, 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 Story of the Day

Tigers extend Colt Keith before MLB debut via MLB.com

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