One free agent each MLB team needs to target this offseason

Washington Nationals: Anthony Rendon

Coming off their epic World Series win, the Nationals won’t have an easy offseason. For the second consecutive season, the team is facing the potential loss of core players from its roster. Last year it was only Bryce Harper, but this year the Nats have Anthony Rendon and Stephen Strasburg hitting the open market.

Strasburg is only opting out of his seven-year contract to seek guaranteed money for a few more seasons. The ace’s case for staying with the Nationals seems like just a matter of adding a few million per year for a few years past his original contract’s 2023 conclusion. Strasburg’s previous deal ended after his age-34 season. If the Nationals feel confident he can continue to pitch at a high level through his age-36 season, then there’s no reason not to extend him.

Rendon will be a more difficult free agent to retain, but the Nationals do have a chance. Both sides exchanged figures and offers throughout the season and the third baseman has expressed his desire to stay in Washington. His price has certainly gone up after the postseason success he enjoyed this year, but money has never been much of an object for Nationals ownership and there’s no reason to expect that will change after finally winning it all.

The Nationals were able to move on from Harper with very little impact to their offense because Juan Soto might actually be better than him. It won’t be so easy to make another run next year without Rendon. There isn’t a free agent on the market capable of filling the hole that would be left by losing his .319/.412/.598 slash line, 44 doubles, 34 home runs and 126 RBI.