Today 3/25/26, the Washington Nationals, a franchise in Major League Baseball purportedly worth more than $2 Billion dollars, rolled out the following opening day 26 man lineup.
- SP: Cavalli, Griffin, Mikolas, Littell, Irvin
- RP: Henry, Beeter, Poulin, Varland, Granillo, Waldichuk, CPerez, Lord,
- C: Ruiz, Millas
- INF: LGarcia, Abrams, House, Vivas, Nunez, Tena, Chapparo
- OF: Wood, Young, Lile, Weimer
By way of comparison, here’s 2025’s opening day 25-man roster.
- SP: Gore, Williams, Irvin, Soroka, Parker
- RP: Finnegan, Lopez, Sims, Ferrer, Poche, Salazar, Ribalta, Lord
- C: Ruiz, Adams,
- INF: Lowe, LGarcia, Abrams, DeJong, Tena, Rosario
- OF: Young, Wood, Crews, Call
- DH: Bell
So that’s 1 returning Starting Pitcher, 1 returning Reliever, 1 returning catcher, 3 returning infielders (against all odds since Tena should have been DFA’d the moment we acquired Vivas), and 2 returning outfielders. That’s just 8 of the 26 men who made it a year on the roster from this time last year, and probably half the roster that even the most experienced fan couldn’t pick out of a lineup.
Somehow, this roster is costing the team $92M in 26-man payroll … until you realize that figure includes Strasburg’s $35M annual salary still on the books (as well as Adam’s split contract $500k figure and Ogasawara’s $2M/year figure still owed despite his outright). So it’s actually closer to $58M to field this team … or about $25 less than what the official 30th ranked team (Miami) is spending. Wow.
So, hey Season Ticket Fans, welcome to 2026! Thanks for your checks last fall securing your seats; hope you enjoy the season.
There’s indeed very little to be excited about at the major league level.
Even Wood’s potential breakout is less interesting now that we’ve pushed our window back a couple more years. If he turns into an MVP candidate, then we’ll just trade him like we did Soto.
Its the minors which will interest me this year, but even then, there’s almost nothing of note in the org at AA and AAA.
Will
25 Mar 26 at 3:24 pm