Could the Washington Nationals latest free agent pitching signing create value by the trade deadline?
The 2026 regular season only just started nearly one month ago with the Washington Nationals quietly outperforming preseason expectations. Yet with the question now turning into whether manager Blake Butera is able to find sustained success, one way-too-early question is whether the Nationals will end up hanging onto all the new pieces who have proven to be impactful.
Left fielder Joey Wiemer, who was traded to DC at the end of the 2025 season, has picked up where he left off in the spring as he enters the four-game series vs. Atlanta with the second-best batting average (.341) on the team. Jorbit Vivas, who arrived in March via trade, joins Wiemer as one of five Nationals hitting .300 or better. Foster Griffin, meanwhile, ranks second on the team in strikeouts (19) and owns the second lowest ERA (3.05) on the roster.
It hasn't all been good, though. Miles Mikolas struggled mightily across his first three appearances, yet is coming off his most encouraging performance of the season after not allowing an earned run for the first time in 2026 while holding the Giants to four hits in four innings.
The veteran arrived in DC as the first free agent signing after the MacKenzie Gore trade, adding intrigue as a possible trade deadline mover midway through the season. Yet it was the most recent pitcher signed who ESPN tabbed as the trade candidate heading into May: Zack Littell.
"He's making $3 million with a $4 million buyout or $12 million mutual option for 2027. He is homer-prone and doesn't miss enough bats to make him someone you want starting a playoff game, but he can chew up innings and provide rotation depth for a contender," ESPN wrote.
Littell inked a one year deal worth $7 million and a mutual option for the 2027 season as the final free agent signing ahead of the regular season, but the veteran has also been part of the bullpen struggles for the Nationals.
Entering Monday with a 7.11 ERA, that's heavily skewed by his last performance after Littell allowed eight earned runs, two home runs and 11 hits in just four innings in an eventual 10-5 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Friday. He's also allowed at least three earned runs in three of his four appearances, questioning whether he ultimately will have trade value when the deadline approaches on August 3.
In his latest start on Wednesday, Littell added another four home runs to push his total to a league-leading 15 given up to begin 2026, though ended on a strong note after retiring the final seven batters faced.
He ended his start allowing six earned runs and seven hits while tossing just one strikeout in six innings.
Should the Nationals pull the trigger on an eventual Littell trade, what is more understandable is what the Nationals would ask for: prospects.
President of baseball operations Paul Toboni has made that clear for the Nationals during his first offseason with a chance to upgrade the minor league roster.
Yet with pitching a concern through the first month of the season, should the Nationals become buyers and find a way to upgrade either the starting rotation or bullpen?