With the 2023 Winter Meetings coming to a close, that means the Rule 5 Draft takes place. The Rule 5 Draft is composed of players who have at least four years since being drafted and is designed to prevent teams from hoarding talent in the minor leagues. To be protected from the Rule 5 Draft, the player must be placed on the 40-man roster. Players taken in the Rule 5 Draft must be on the major league roster for the entirety of the 2024 season. Last year the Washington Nationals took RHP Thaddeus Ward, who was used in blowout situations.

This year the Nationals took shortstop Nasim Nuñez, a glove-first prospect whom Baseball America recently included as the sixth-best prospect in the Miami Marlins system in their updated 2024 rankings. Nuñez spent all of 2023 in Double-A for the Marlins and took a major step back offensively compared to his 38-game cup of coffee at the level in 2022.

Despite the stepback in results, his under-the-hood numbers improved. Nuñez’s walk rate increased to 14.9 percent, he was striking out less, lowering his strikeout rate to 18.3 percent after striking out over 21 percent of the time the year prior. There is very little power to speak of, but strong defense and good on-base skills are a good combo when speaking of a bench utility infielder. If Nuñez makes the Opening Day roster, he likely will serve in a similar capacity to Michael Chavis last season.

In the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft, the Nationals added four players. The first of which was right-handed reliever Samuel Vasquez. Vasquez posted a 4.50 ERA in 42 innings in Cleveland’s Low-A affiliate last season. He struck out 25 percent of the batters he faced but walked 13.3 percent.

In the second round, they selected right-handed reliever Wander Arias out of Kansas City’s High-A affiliate. Arias allowed an even higher 6.23 ERA in 65 innings but did so with even better peripherals. While he has only a slightly better 25.7 percent strikeout rate, the walk rate is a stomachable 10.5 percent. According to FanGraphs, his 3.97 expected Fielding Independent Pitching is tied for 49th among 179 pitchers who threw at least 60 innings in High-A ball last season.

Right-handed reliever Daison Acosta was their pick in the third round. Acosta, 25, spent most of last season with the Double-A affiliate for the Mets. His 4.75 ERA last season was his best season since 2019. To his credit, 2020 was the COVID year with no minor league season, and he missed all of 2021 because of Tommy John surgery.

The fourth and final selection was outfielder Moises Gallardo, who spent 2023 in Oakland’s complex league. The 20-year-old has only managed to appear in 106 games over the past three seasons but posted strong walk rates and power numbers when he played.

As for their minor league free agent, the Nationals signed former Cardinal Juan Yepez. Yepez, a corner outfielder and first baseman, never had much of an opportunity in St. Louis, being blocked by a crowded outfield and future Hall of Fame first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. Yepez posted absurd power numbers in the high minors in 2021 and 2022 but never seemed to put it together at the major league level. Yepez is a very low-risk, high-reward first baseman that may make the Nationals comfortable sitting out of the first baseman market if they do not land their top option, Rhys Hoskins.