Washington Nationals POBO Paul Toboni points out two positions the front office could still look to add players ahead of the 2026 season.
The Washington Nationals have been active adding to its roster over the last week with several waiver and free agent deals on minor league deals and spring training invites, but of course, the big move of the offseason materialized this week with MacKenzie Gore headed to the Texas Rangers in exchange for five prospects, one of whom could become a candidate to fix a problem in 2026. It took all of one day for trade speculation to pick up around another Nationals star with reports on Friday that the San Francisco Giants made a run at shortstop CJ Abrams this offseason before trade talks fizzled due to, like Gore, the asking price.
But with now questions about what the 2026 season would look like for Washington, president of baseball operations Paul Toboni was also asked about adding to the starting pitching rotation with Gore’s absence marking a blow to the top of the rotation, noting “we want to continue to be active” in the market while once again hinting more moves could be made.
“I think there’s a chance we could sign a player here in the next week or two, but we’ll see kind of how the market evolves for these players and we’ll go from there,” Toboni said on 106.7 on Friday.
The Nationals did make one move at the position on Friday after announcing the team agreed to terms with right handed pitcher Bryce Montes de Oca to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. Montes de Oca, 30, made his debut in 2022 with the New York Mets and made three appearances before undergoing Tommy John surgery in each of the next two seasons. Washington also announced catcher Tres Barrera agreed with the team on a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. Barrera, 31, played in 57 games with the team back from 2019 to 2023 before moving onto the Cardinals, adding additional depth at catcher alongside Harry Ford and Keibert Ruiz, who Toboni said is fully cleared ahead of 2026.
As for additional roster moves, that also remains true at first base, where Toboni also hinted additional moves could be made ahead of Opening Day.
“And who knows if we’re done. I frame it that way intentionally, but we’re going to continue to be active in trade conversations and active on waiver and minor and major league free agency to see if there’s something that fits us both from a first base perspective, but just roster perspective at large as well,” he added.
But Luis Garcia remains a candidate after reiterating the offseason conversations about getting reps at first base in the winter league despite going on to make all 14 appearances at second base with Gigantes del Cibao. The Nationals also added another potential first baseman in the MacKenzie Gore trade in Abimelec Ortiz. With Gigantes de Carolina in winter league, Ortiz played five games at first base with one error in 21 outs while hitting four home runs, notching 20 RBIs and a .229 batting average.
Of course, Rhys Hoskins has been floated as a potential free agent acquisition ahead of the season to add more firepower at first base, but it’s the latest sign of a not-yet finalized 2026 roster for manager Blake Butera.