Entering their 10th anniversary season, the Washington Nationals have completed the transformation from perennial bottom-feeders to one of the most feared units in baseball, but before the team makes its supposed march to the World Series, it will convene in Viera, Florida, for spring training.
The 2014 season ended in bitter disappointment for the Nationals. Washington was shut down in the National League Division Series by the San Francisco Giants, and the Nats’ league-best regular-season record amounted to an unceremonious 3-1 series defeat.
Following that postseason exit, Washington had a short but seemingly important to-do list. General manager Mike Rizzo essentially set that on fire.
Conventional wisdom urged the Nationals to work out contract extensions—or even trades—for some combination of Jordan Zimmermann, Doug Fister and Ian Desmond before they all hit free agency after the coming season.
Instead, Washington pushed all its chips to the center of the table for 2015 by keeping those three expiring contracts on the payroll without resolution.
And if it that didn’t make it clear the Nationals were all-in this season, they eliminated any doubt when they gave free-agent starter Max Scherzer $210 million.
The 2015 Nationals aren’t all that different from the 2014 installment in terms of personnel. Spring training will be our first chance to see the group that’s now billed as a superteam following those calculated offseason dealings.
Washington’s pitchers and catchers report Feb. 19, followed by position players on Feb. 24.
This preview contains the updates and storylines you need to know as those dates arrive and we inch closer and closer to Opening Day 2015.