East Notes Nationals Mets Ray East Notes Nationals Mets Ray

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The Nationals finished the 2023 season with a 71-91 record that left them as one of the worst teams in the National League, even as it represented a substantial improvement over the clubs 107-lo s 2022 campaign. While the club has sat out the top of the free agent market during the recent seasons of their rebuild, it seems that may not be the case this offseason as the club looks to upgrade at the infield corners and at DH, per . The club has a reunion with third baseman , who was posting career-best numbers with the Nats prior to being dealt to the Cubs at the trade deadline. The report suggests that the club has interest in first baseman and outfield/DH slugger in addition to Candelario. The report goes on to indicate that Washington has been very active in the starting pitching market to this point in the offseason, though it does not connect any specific names to the club. The rumored targets make sense for the Nationals. The club has a major Luis Garcia Jersey hole at third base given that former top prospect has failed to establish himself the big league level. Kiebooms .207/.266/.368 slash line (70 wRC+) in 2023 was largely in line with his career numbers of .199/.297/.301 (65 wRC+), and Candelario or another third base addition would almost certainly represent a significant upgrade over the 26-year-old. Meanwhile, an addition at first base or DH could help the club improve an offense that currently figures to use journeyman at one position without an established starter at the other. As for the rotation, the club has several interesting young arms such as and that they figure to prioritize developing, with veterans such as and who can reliably eat innings. That being said, the Nationals starting staff posted a combined 5.02 ERA last season, the sixth-worst figure in the majors. Whats more, the clubs 5.30 FIP in the rotation was better than only the lowly Rockies, while their starting staff combined for just 4.9 fWAR, better than only Colorado and Oakland. That leaves plenty of room for improvement if the club decides to add even a lower-level free agent such as or to its rotation, to say nothing of a more impactful addition. More from around MLBs East divisions While the Mets have from superstar free agent , suggests that the club is still looking at potential impact additions this offseason. Theyve long been connected to top-of-the-market arm as they explore and Heyman adds that the Mets are looking into nearly every available frontline starter in addition to Yamamoto, including southpaws , , and . While Heyman notes the club is unlikely to land a rental arm such as or on the trade market, he does suggest the clubs interest in rotation upgrades extends to White Sox starter , who is under team control for the next two seasons and has seen this offseason. Rotation upgrades make plenty of sense for New York after the club shipped out veteran aces and at the trade deadline over the summer, leaving , , and righty as the clubs only rotation locks entering 2024. The Rays have interest in a reunion with right-hander even after last month, per s. Criswell, 27, made his big league debut as a member of the Angels in 2021 with a one-game cup of coffee that lasted just 1 1/3 innings. He spent the past two seasons as a member of the Rays, with a 5.45 ERA and 5.00 FIP in 36 1/3 innings of work acro s 11 appearances. While those numbers are certainly nothing to write home about, Criswells ability to go multiple innings and 46.8% career groundball rate at the big league level could make him a worthwhile depth addition for a Rays club that relied on 40 different pitchers throughout the 2023 campaign. Chase Shugart Jersey