While the Nationals have not been extremely active on the free agent market in the past few seasons, there was once a time when they would spend as big as anyone, bringing in stars such as Max Scherzer on lucrative deals. Today, I’m taking a look at the best free agent signings the Nationals have had at every offensive position.
Catcher: Kurt Suzuki (2019-2020)
While the Nationals don’t exactly have a long and storied history at the catcher position, they have had some solid ballplayers come along throughout the years, and Kurt Suzuki was the definition of solid in his time in DC. Signed to a 2-year, 10 million contract before the 2019 season, Suzuki split the catching duties with Yan Gomes (who was acquired via a trade with Cleveland that same offseason), catching 85 regular-season games total that year and posting a 105 wRC+ and 0.5 fWAR.
Perhaps more important than the surface stats for Suzuki were his clutch moments, such as his legendary 3-run shot off Edwin Diaz to cap a 7-run 9th inning comeback or his go-ahead homer in Game 2 of the World Series, and his veteran leadership, which no doubt also helped him land a big league managing gig with the Angels this offseason. While Suzuki never won any major accolades during his time in DC and never even really was the Nats’ primary catcher, his contributions to the franchise were a steal for his contract and will never be forgotten.
First Base: Adam Dunn
Like catcher, the Nationals haven’t exactly had a tradition of excellence at first base in their history, but it is filled with tons of solid ballplayers, such as Adam LaRoche, Michael Morse, and Nick Johnson. The problem, however, is that all of these men were acquired via trade rather than free agency, which leaves us with the Big Donkey, Adam Dunn, as the best free agent first baseman in Nats history. After 5 consecutive 40+ home run seasons, Dunn made the surprising decision to sign with the Nationals, who were coming off a 103-loss season, which was the worst in all of baseball.
While not a lot of great baseball was played by the Nats in those years, Dunn was one of the few bright spots, hitting 76 home runs and posting 4 fWAR in his 2 years with the club. While the bat remained consistent in his 2 years in DC, the defense vastly improved when he was moved to first base full-time in 2010 after one of the worst defensive seasons ever in left field in 2009. Overall, Dunn didn’t win awards or host a championship trophy like some other names on this list, but he was a fun ballplayer to watch during the infant years of the Washington Nationals.
Second Base: Daniel Murphy
Unlike catcher and first base, this is a rather easy decision, as Daniel Murphy is the best second base free agent signing in Nationals history, and one of the best bargains they’ve ever had at that. After a generational playoff run with the Mets in 2015, Murphy decided to join the division rival Nationals on a 3-year, 37.5 million contract, a decision that lost him a lot of his love from the fans in Queens.
While Murphy was seen as a solid high-floor second baseman who got hot for one postseason entering 2016, that all changed after his first season in DC, where he posted a 154 wRC+ and 4.7 fWAR, finishing 2nd in NL MVP voting in the process. He helped turn around the culture in DC after the 2015 Nationals collapsed despite a stacked roster, and was a fan favorite due to his goofy personality, encapsulated in his “fwah” catchphrase after home runs.
While he didn’t maintain his MVP-level performance in his final 1.5 years with the Nats, he was still an extremely productive ballplayer, posting a 135 wRC+ and 3.6 fWAR in 2017. Daniel Murphy ranks high on my list of former Nationals who I wish had gotten to be around for the 2019 title run, because in his time with the Nats, he was critical in making them one of the strongest offenses in the National League.
Third Base: Jeimer Candelario
The Nats have remained largely in-house at the third base position in their history, going from two high draft picks in Ryan Zimmerman to Anthony Rendon from 2005 to 2019, with Yunel Escobar as a stopgap in 2015, and have bounced around between youngsters, such as Carter Kieboom and Brady House, and middling free agent signings, such as Starlin Castro and Maikel Franco, since. One name that sticks out despite their short tenure in DC, however, is Jeimer Candelario, acquired for 1 year, 5 million in the winter before the 2023 season after being non-tendered by the Tigers.
Coming off a disappointing 2022 season in which he posted an 80 wRC+, Candelario was mainly a rebound project for the rebuilding Nats, and rebound he did, posting a 118 wRC+ and 3.2 fWAR in 99 games before being flipped at the deadline to the Cubs for left-handed pitcher DJ Herz, one of the brighter young arms for the Nats currently. Candelario would sign a 3-year, 45 million contract with the Reds before the 2024 season, but would be released after posting -1 fWAR in 132 games for them in 2024 and 2025, making his resurgence for the Nationals in 2023 all the more peculiar. Nevertheless, Candelario was exactly what the Nationals needed him to be in his short stint with them, a productive ballplayer who returned a future big league asset in a trade.
Shortstop: Cristian Guzman
Shortstop is another difficult one to make a choice for, as all the best shortstops in Nats history have either been homegrown, such as Ian Desmond, or acquired via trade, such as Trea Turner and CJ Abrams. While not a flashy choice, Cristian Guzman played 550 games in a Nationals uniform across 6 seasons, posting 4.1 fWAR during that span. After spending the first 6 seasons of his career with the Twins, Guzman signed a 4-year, 16.8 million deal with the Nationals before their inaugural season in the nation’s capital.
After a shockingly bad 2005 in which Guzman posted a 48 wRC+ and -1.2 fWAR and missing the 2006 season due to injury, it looked like Guzman’s tenure in DC was heading towards disaster. That was until, after returning from injury late into 2007, Guzman looked like a brand new ballplayer, posting a 123 wRC+ and 1.4 fWAR in 46 games. He would continue it into 2008 as well, posting a 106 wRC+ and 2.8 fWAR in 138 games, earning himself a 2 year, 16 million extension with the club.
While Guzman’s numbers regressed in 2009 and 2010, he did have one major contribution to the ballclub, and that was being traded for Tanner Roark at the 2010 trade deadline from the Rangers. Not every free agent signing is going to be a Daniel Murphy, and sometimes, that’s just fine.
Left Field: Jayson Werth
One of the easier calls on this list, Jayson Werth signing a 7-year, 126 million contract with the Nationals before the 2011 season was laughed at by baseball fans at the time. 7 years, 808 games, 2 top 20 MVP voting finishes, and one legendary playoff walk-off home run later, it is now seen as a contract that shifted the culture of Nationals baseball for the better.
Not only was Werth a great baseball player (in the first half of his time in DC at least), he was also a great leader, responsible for teaching the blossoming Nats how to win and be accountable for one another. His prime in DC came from 2012 to 2014, where he posted 11.1 fWAR and posted at least an .840 OPS in all 3 years. Werth’s numbers and durability sprawled off in the final 3 years of his contract, but he had already paid off his contract with his clutch moments and leadership in the clubhouse.
Center Field: Rick Ankiel
Center field was an especially tricky one to pick for the Nats as as far as I can tell, the club has almost never had a starting center fielder acquired via free agency, with the position being filled almost entirely in-house or with players acquired in other methods, such as Denard Span via trade and Alex Call via waivers. Of the players who qualify here, Ben Revere and Willie Harris were not very good in their tenures with the Nats, making Rick Ankiel the winner almost by default.
Ankiel signed a 1-year, 1.5 million deal with the Nats before the 2011 season, and while his bat lagged behind, posting just an 82 wRC+, he played some mighty fine defense, resulting in a 1.2 fWAR in 122 games that season. While he’d lose his starting spot to the young, fiery Bryce Harper in 2012, Ankiel was a solid enough bench player for the club that season, posting an 81 wRC+ and hitting 5 home runs in 68 games. Over a total of 190 games with the Nats, Ankiel posted 1 fWAR, certainly nothing to write home about, but enough to qualify as the best Nationals center field free agent signing in their history.
Right Field: Gerardo Parra
With another position that is so thin in free agent signings, it’s only right to go with one of the hearts of the 2019 Nationals roster, even if the numbers weren’t quite there. The Nationals signed Parra in May of 2019 to help fill a hole on their injury-riddled roster, and he immediately made his presence known with a go-ahead grand slam against the Dodgers in one of his first games with the club. His playing time shrank as the club got healthier, but Parra was still one of the most essential players on the roster due to how loved he was in the clubhouse, as demonstrated by how his baby shark celebration caught on with the entire team. In 89 games for the 2019 Nats, Parra posted an 89 wRC+ and 0.3 fWAR, being just what they needed both off the bench and in the clubhouse at that time. Parra would return to the Nats in 2021 and post -0.3 fWAR over 53 games, but this ranking is purely for his contributions during that magical 2019 season.
Designated Hitter: Jesse Winker
This was one of the closest calls between Jesse Winker and Josh Bell (just his 2025 season, as during his first stint, he was acquired via trade), but I am giving the edge to Winker due to slightly better production and lower expectations entering his season. Winker joined the Nats in 2024 after a disastrous 2023 season with the Brewers in which he posted a 67 wRC+ and 0.8 fWAR, and like Candelario the year before him, he was viewed as a bounceback candidate rather than a real threat in the lineup. Luckily for the Nats, Winker indeed found his old form in his half-season in DC, posting a 125 wRC+ and 1.4 fWAR in 101 games before being traded to the Mets at the deadline for right-handed pitcher Tyler Stuart, who is currently at Triple A for the Nationals. Winker was everything the Nats could’ve hoped for and more when they brought him in, providing great offense and a strong clubhouse presence before being flipped for future big league help at the trade deadline.
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