Good Morning Washington Nationals Fans,

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, January 5, 2024.

Welcome to the Morning Briefing. I hope you enjoyed your New Year, and I hope you have a prosperous 2024.

Leading today’s Morning Briefing: What going on around the league?

With Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed, I assumed the offseason would pick up some steam. But with the holidays and teams crying poor, it seems things are moving a bit slower than expected.

While some big names have signed, like right-handed starter Frankie Montas joined the Reds on a one-year, $16M deal, center fielder Harrison Bader signed with the Mets for $10.5M over one year, and former National Lucas Giolito landed a two-year, $38.5M deal, the biggest names are still out there.

Cody Bellinger, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Matt Chapman, and Rhys Hoskins all still linger on the free-agent market, and while the Nats could make a splash by offering one of these players a deal while the rest of MLB tries to wait them out, that is incredibly unlikely.

The Nationals are sort of stuck in this strange middle ground, and unless they want to be ultra-aggressive and kick Patrick Corbin, Trevor Williams, or Joey Meneses to the curb, there is just not enough room on the roster.

But back to the league as a whole, there have been two interesting developments, with the Braves pulling off one of the most confusing trades when they sent second baseman Vaughn Grissom to the Red Sox for left-handed starter Chris Sale, and the Padres opting to go overseas to build their bullpen.

The Chris Sale shocked baseball, to put it lightly. The Red Sox seemingly desperately are trying to fill innings in the rotation, and while Sale offered the highest upside in those innings, he also had the most variance in how many innings he could throw in a single season as he has missed significant time since he went down with an injury in the second half of 2019.

But the Braves can take that risk. They have plenty of depth on their 40-man roster and don’t necessarily have room for Grissom. They were so confident in the trade, that they already inked Sale to an extension.

As for the Padres, they went out and signed lefty Yuki Matsui to a five-year, $28M deal and righty Woo Suk Go to a two-year $4.5M deal. While neither will be a closer on a contender, but with the exodus of talent leaving the Padres this offseason these two relievers will be throwing high-leverage innings for a top-heavy Padres roster.

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ICYMI: Latest articles on the Nats Report

Even though it is the offseason, we have been extremely busy producing a lot of great content here 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 (2024 Minor League Outlook)
• How does Dylan Floro’s signing with the Nationals impact the team’s 2024 outlook?
• Perspective: Juan Soto to Nats isn’t as Crazy as you Think
• 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

Michael Brantley retires via MLB.com

Andrelton Simmons retires via MLB.com

Rays SS Wander Franco was placed on house arrest pending investigation via ESPN

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