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The Washington Nationals have one of the most well-equipped farm systems in baseball, and every year around February and March it churns out a crop of players who turn big league spring training invites into coming out parties. 

Washington’s collection of 40-man roster members and 20 non-roster invitees who make up the spring training guest list all have different motives to show out in Viera, Florida. 

Aaron Barrett, for example, already has an Opening Day roster spot locked up. But spring training will be his chance to show teammates and coaches he’s recovered from October’s debacle in San Francisco. 

Michael A. Taylor, on the other hand, is in the limbo stage of his career, stuck between the majors and the minors. Spring training is his chance to prove himself invaluable to Washington’s big league roster now rather than later. 

Then there are players, like Tyler Moore, just trying to stay afloat in the big leagues, meaning a poor spring training could have disastrous career consequences.  

Washington isn’t looking for a savior of the franchise. It has about five of those in the starting rotation alone. 

What the Nationals are searching for is a final piece or two that could shore up the few weaknesses they have and help turn this World Series run they’re supposed to make into a reality. 

The following are five players who could turn heads in spring training and fit that mold. 

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Entering their 10th anniversary season, the Washington Nationals have completed the transformation from perennial bottom-feeders to one of the most feared units in baseball, but before the team makes its supposed march to the World Series, it will convene in Viera, Florida, for spring training. 

The 2014 season ended in bitter disappointment for the Nationals. Washington was shut down in the National League Division Series by the San Francisco Giants, and the Nats’ league-best regular-season record amounted to an unceremonious 3-1 series defeat. 

Following that postseason exit, Washington had a short but seemingly important to-do list. General manager Mike Rizzo essentially set that on fire.

Conventional wisdom urged the Nationals to work out contract extensions—or even trades—for some combination of Jordan Zimmermann, Doug Fister and Ian Desmond before they all hit free agency after the coming season. 

Instead, Washington pushed all its chips to the center of the table for 2015 by keeping those three expiring contracts on the payroll without resolution.

And if it that didn’t make it clear the Nationals were all-in this season, they eliminated any doubt when they gave free-agent starter Max Scherzer $210 million. 

The 2015 Nationals aren’t all that different from the 2014 installment in terms of personnel. Spring training will be our first chance to see the group that’s now billed as a superteam following those calculated offseason dealings.

Washington’s pitchers and catchers report Feb. 19, followed by position players on Feb. 24. 

This preview contains the updates and storylines you need to know as those dates arrive and we inch closer and closer to Opening Day 2015. 

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Contrary to popular belief, the Washington Nationals have not been crowned 2015 World Series champions just yet, and there are a number of players on the roster who must perform up to or beyond their potential for the team to reach its lofty goals. 

In 2014, the Nationals’ Achilles’ heel was a lack of offense when they needed it most.

Washington’s pitching staff mowed down opponents all season, earning the best ERA in baseball. And the addition of Max Scherzer without the subtraction of any starters from a year ago should equal continued dominance from the mound. 

With the disclaimer that Washington only played one postseason series, the team had the second-lowest batting average of the 10-team playoff field. That could be Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants‘ fault, but the Nats’ .253 regular-season average wasn’t all that impressive either. 

The sheer depth of Washington’s starting rotation—including Tanner Roark’s ability to step in if someone in the rotation suffers an injury—disqualifies any one starter from a spot on this list.

Instead, the criteria for inclusion are the consequences of a lackluster season from a particular player and the high stakes behind a transition into a new role.

If someone like closer Drew Storen or newly minted first baseman Ryan Zimmerman fall apart or sees extended time on the disabled list in 2015, the Nationals will face some scary on-the-fly decisions during the season.

That said, here are the five most important individual players on a 2015 Washington team that will be viewed as an abject failure without a deep postseason run.

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Reigning NL Manager of the Year Matt Williams is a powerful man because he’s the one who gets to hand over the Washington Nationals‘ lineup card on Opening Day 2015. 

From top to bottom, bullpen to backstop, Washington’s roster is built to win right now.

Through several smaller, calculated moves—and one very big play—general manager Mike Rizzo has put together one of the most complete squads in baseball—a unit that is now the favorite to win the World Series, according to Odds Shark.

But the beauty of the Nationals’ impressive roster is its resemblance to last year’s group. Aside from the very necessary trade that shored up second base with Yunel Escobar and the gargantuan pile of money that brought in Max Scherzer, Washington’s nucleus from a season ago features largely the same names. 

But nothing is set in stone. 

With Scherzer‘s arrival in D.C., Stephen Strasburg or Jordan Zimmermann could be more valuable as trade bait than a member of the Nats‘ terrifying rotation. Either way, the team is reportedly listening to offers. 

Yes, #Nats are willing to trade Stephen Strasburg if they don’t get acceptable offer for Zimmermann (in event they land Scherzer).

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 18, 2015

Ian Desmond has also reportedly been shopped around as he enters the final year of his contract with no sign of an extension in sight, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. 

But this Opening Day projection comes from the school of thought that Washington is content to close up shop for the winter and keep its stars in town for 2015. 

This 25-man roster is a finely tuned machine that could propel the Nationals to a second consecutive National League East title, with designs on much more than that. 

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If the Washington Nationals made headlines with blockbuster trades involving their star players this offseason, it would be far less stressful for fans than the team’s conspicuous inactivity.

The Nats have made small trades here and entered talks there, but Washington has yet to check off anything on the top of its to-do list. And, as of now, that strategy has benefited some players and left others in precarious spots.

It would be hard to believe the Nationals are completely done wheeling and dealing this offseason, so a single trade could turn this list upside down. 

For example, shortstop Ian Desmond’s future is about as unclear as it can be. Washington has made it abundantly clear it’s willing to trade him and his expiring contract this offseason. If the team finally deals him or the sides agree on a new deal, he should be a much happier camper. 

On the other hand, players like Ross Detwiler and Dan Uggla have a chance to relaunch their careers with new clubs following moves the Nationals have actually pulled the trigger on this winter. 

Washington is like any other team in the fact that it can’t make everyone happy.

General manager Mike Rizzo has limited resources to work with, and he gets the fat paycheck he does because he can decide what compromises are best for the team as a whole in the long run. 

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The Washington Nationals have been maddeningly patient this winter, but the team still has a few months to let its fans stew and a short list of pieces that could fill its only visible hole: second base.

Nationals rumors this offseason have been largely dominated by who might be leaving the team. Jordan Zimmermann, Doug Fister and Ian Desmond are no closer to learning their fate. 

With this list comes a welcome break from that discussion and a look into who could potentially join the team before it’s all said and done.

Washington has seven solid, everyday position players and a starting rotation that could lose a member and still terrify a batting order. In fact, it’s very possible the Nationals trade Zimmermann to acquire the services of a new second baseman if his contract isn’t extended.

In the Nationals’ three-month search for a middle infielder, new names, like Ben Zobrist, have popped up, while some, like Mookie Betts, have been a constant.

Washington has the option to save its money and trade fodder by choosing not to bring in a new second baseman. In-house product Danny Espinosa would sure like to think so. 

But winter is meant for, among other things, hot stove speculation. And the following three players are the most likely to tempt the Nationals this offseason.

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The Washington Nationals are almost three months into the offseason and general manager Mike Rizzo’s finger is still resting on the trigger of nearly all of the team’s biggest potential maneuvers. 

Washington had a fairly short to-do list entering its idle months after being bounced from the postseason in the divisional series by the San Francisco Giants. As disappointing as it was for the team with the National League‘s best record to fall short in the first round, there were only two glaring issues to address in the aftermath. 

But, as of late December, both of those questions remain unanswered.

Washington has three members of its nucleus that it must either sign to an extension, trade away or risk losing in free agency in 2015. That’s the situation for the trio of shortstop Ian Desmond and starting pitchers Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister.

The other pressing matter is at second base. Whether the Nationals use an in-house promotion to fill the position or bring in a fresh face, there will be a different everyday second baseman than last year in D.C.

Those began as, and continue to be, priorities 1A and 1B for the team. And the moves Washington makes to answer those questions could serve as the fireworks that ring in the new year at Nats Park. 

Will Desmond, Zimmermann and/or Fister be leaving the Nationals this winter?

You never want to let an asset go in free agency and get virtually nothing in return when you could trade the player and address other needs. 

We saw the Boston Red Sox avoid that scenario last summer when they traded Jon Lester to the Oakland A’s. Lester was set to enter free agency following the season, just like the three Nats in question will do after the 2015 campaign.

That is, if Washington can’t sign them to extensions. 

But to suggest the Nationals can just pay all three players would move beyond optimistic into unrealistic territory now that they’ve gone this far with little progress. 

At the start of last season, principal owner Mark Lerner suggested Washington’s payroll was already stretched too thin, according to a report from The Washington Post‘s Adam Kilgore.

“We’re not going to do something where we’re losing tens of millions of dollars a year,” Lerner said back in April. “Anybody can understand that. We’re going to be smart.”

This offseason, smart has equaled patience for the Nationals while they take a wait-and-see approach to the rest of the league’s dealings. As marquee free agents like Lester and shortstop Hanley Ramirez come off the board, the trade value of Washington’s pieces at the same position goes up.

As The Post‘s Thomas Boswell suggests, this patience will continue to serve Washington well in the long run.

So the question now isn’t whether or not news will come this winter regarding the Desmond-Zimmermann-Fister triad, but rather the nature of the story. 

News could break tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that any one of the three has been traded or signed to a lucrative extension. 

But according to The Post‘s James Wagner, Zimmermann is the only one to reopen negotiations regarding a contract extension so far. While they are both still under team control for another year, Desmond and Fister are still in a sort of limbo. 

“I wouldn’t respect Mike (Rizzo) the way I do, like I said, if he just sat on his hands and did nothing,” Desmond told The Post‘s Chelsea Janes. “That’s not how this organization got here, and it’s not how it’s going to continue to move forward. Hopefully I’m a part of it, but if not, I’m still going to be rooting for them.”

Who will play second base for the Nationals in 2015?

For the second half of last season, Asdrubal Cabrera was an above-average everyday second baseman for Washington.

But with a number of other players to pay with priority over Cabrera, the Nationals seem less and less inclined to bring the free-agent second baseman back this year. 

With the free-agent and trade market drying up, Washington could find itself plugging that hole on a temporary basis in 2015.

Danny Espinosa is the likeliest name on the current roster to take over at second base. The 27-year-old has spent his entire major league career with the Nats and hit a respectable .219 mostly off the bench last year. 

Utility man Kevin Frandsen is another option, albeit a self-proclaimed one. Frandsen showed some initiative at the team’s annual fan fest in early December when he suggested Washington should consider him for the vacancy at second base. 

But according to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson’s report on the subject, the idea was met with skepticism by manager Matt Williams.

“He is having fun today, isn’t he,” Williams said. “I’m sure at some point during the season, Franny will play second base.”

It’s also worth noting that Frandsen saw his greatest struggles at the plate when he was listed as a second baseman last year. According to his position splits on ESPN.com from 2014, Frandsen hit .279, .288 and .348 as a left fielder, third baseman and first baseman, respectively. 

He hit just .162 coming from second base. 

During this offseason Washington could end up signing a free-agent middle infielder to bolster the position—Stephen Drew is still floating around looking for a team. Or, if the Nats do trade away one of their starting pitchers, they’ll almost certainly want a major league-ready infielder in return. 

But assuming the team sticks with an in-house second baseman for this season, Washington does have some options down the line.

Dominican shortstop/second baseman Wilmer Difo looks like a bona fide stud. The 22-year-old is the Nationals’ seventh-ranked prospect according to Baseball America’s Aaron Fitt, and he could be close to a breakthrough into the bigs. 

“He’s a very talented, exciting, athletic middle infielder that can hit for power and steal bases,” Rizzo said in Wagner’s latest update on the prospect. “He has an extremely high ceiling, and he’s going to help the Nationals in the near future.”

Washington also recently signed former Marlins and Braves second baseman Dan Uggla to a minor league deal. The 34-year-old will get an invite to Nats spring training, and fans of a true comeback story will invite him into their hearts. 

From 2007-2011, Uggla hit at least 30 home runs each year. So if that guy shows up with the change of scenery, and not the Uggla who hit .162 in 48 games with Atlanta last year, he could get a shot with Washington’s big league club. 

After sneaking into the headlines with a number of recent trades and free-agent pickups, we can no longer say the Nationals have been totally silent this offseason.

But all of the minor wheeling and dealing still leaves the major questions regarding Washington’s notable soon-to-be free agents and its need at second base unanswered.

And when it comes to decisions like these that could set the long-term course of the franchise, we’ll have to wait until Rizzo is good and ready before we have any more clarity.

Follow @DannyLGarrison

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Washington Nationals are taking a noticeably patient approach this offseason, but last week the team put a clock on it with the announcement of spring training dates. 

Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to Viera, Florida, Feb. 19 with position players arriving five days later on Feb. 24. To put it in more dramatic terms, the preseason is less than two months away.

After a silent first two months this offseason, Washington is starting to pick up steam. Most notably, the Nationals have executed trades that sent reliever Ross Detwiler to the Texas Rangers and outfielder Steven Souza Jr. to the Tampa Bay Rays.

But Washington still has yet to answer its biggest offseason questions.

Will any or all of the Jordan Zimmermann, Ian Desmond, Doug Fister trio be signed to extensions before becoming free agents after 2015? Who will be the everyday second baseman this season? 

The Nationals don’t technically have to make any more moves this winter, but general manager Mike Rizzo is smart enough to know that they should. 

With two short months before the team reconvenes, here are some changes Washington should lock in before the rubber meets the road on the way to spring training. 

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The Washington Nationals have been decidedly quiet so far this offseason. But with more than two months down and just one trade in the books, it feels like the dominoes are about to begin tumbling down in D.C.

The Nats have a relatively short to-do list this winter—add some depth in the bullpen and the infield and decide the future of some soon-to-be free agents. But now that the winter meetings are over and some of the biggest free agents are off the market, it could be Washington’s turn to have a go at the hot stove. 

“Different moves beget other moves,” general manager Mike Rizzo said at the winter meetings. “It’s a very fluid situation. When one move is made, there’s usually a reciprocal move that falls into place.”

The only deal the Nationals have made thus far is the trade that sent left-handed pitcher Ross Detwiler to the Texas Rangers. But that move could be the catalyst that helps bring some clarity to Washington’s bullpen.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported earlier this month the Nationals were “likely” to trade late-inning stalwart Tyler Clippard. With the departure of Detwiler and some of this offseason’s biggest free-agent relievers now off the board—David Robertson latched on with the Chicago White Sox and Luke Gregerson signed with the Houston Astros—Clippard could now be poised to remain in Washington.

Righty Drew Storen is set to begin this upcoming season as the Nats closer, a role that he earned after putting up 10 saves in Washington’s last 11 games of 2014. But Storen‘s production suffered a severe drop-off in Washington’s one postseason series. The 27-year-old registered a 6.75 ERA and one blown save in two appearances against the San Francisco Giants. 

Clippard will be a necessary safety net in the event Storen struggles, and MASNsports.com’s Brian Eller reports Clippard could even compete for the closer role before the onset of the 2015 season.

“It can’t just be one guy in the ninth that’s going to make a good team or a good bullpen. So, I have perspective on that,” Clippard told reporters Saturday at the team’s annual fan fest. “Some of the innings that I pitched in the sixth and the seventh have been more important than some of those innings I was throwing in the ninth when I was a closer.”

Washington could make another move to add depth in the bullpen, but the unit should remain largely intact.

Now, the biggest mystery surrounding the Nationals this offseason remains their starting pitching. The contracts of both Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister are set to expire following the 2015 season, and it’s highly unlikely Washington lets that happen. 

In the case of both starting pitchers, the Nationals will either extend their contracts or, if a deal can’t be agreed upon, ship them off in a trade.

According to a report from The Washington Post‘s James Wagner, Rizzo reopened discussions with Zimmermann‘s agent during the winter meetings, but no such talks have started in Fister‘s case. 

“It was a re-acquaintance, if you will, to talk about philosophies and parameters and that type of thing,” Rizzo said. 

With Zimmermann in extension talks, the interest around him hasn’t cooled off at all. After MLB.com’s TR Sullivan reported last week that the Rangers inquired about the Nats starter, Rosenthal is now reporting the Boston Red Sox and “other clubs” have entered the mix.

Each passing day without a new contract for Zimmermann or Fister increases the chances that one or both leaves Washington in a trade. In that event, the Nationals will most likely use them as trade bait to shore up the middle of their infield.

In terms of immediate need, Washington’s most obvious weakness is at second base.

Looking ahead, shortstop Ian Desmond’s contract also expires in 2015. Without an extension for him, a versatile, young infielder that could moonlight at second and short becomes increasingly valuable for Washington. 

The Nationals came relatively close to a move that addressed that need, among others, when they engaged in talks with the Seattle Mariners recently. 

In the same report from Rosenthal, he said Washington proposed a trade that included “Zimmermann and Desmond for right-hander Taijuan Walker and shortstop Brad Miller.”

That’s how close the Nationals came to dealing two of their stars. But somewhere near the top of the rules of the baseball business is a warning to never let a valuable player’s contract expire without getting something in return.   

“I think you have to have a strategy and a plan to look long-term,” Rizzo told The Washington Post‘s Chelsea Janes. “We’re always about trying to win now in 2015 but we also have to have a global view towards the future. We don’t want to be just good for 2015 but good on a consistent basis.”

According to Rizzo and the general consensus, Washington is poised to make a run at the National League East title this season if the roster remains as is on Opening Day.

But with sustainable success in mind, it would be naive to think the Nationals will be quiet for the rest of the offseason. 

Follow @DannyLGarrison

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

For the Washington Nationals and the rest of Major League Baseball, winter is coming. 

Starting in less than a week, general managers from around the league will gather in San Diego for the annual winter meetings. And no roster is safe from a blockbuster trade or a marquee free agent signing—not even a team like Washington that could sit on its hands all offseason and still contend for a title in 2015.

Even though the Nationals don’t have a desperate need to fill any particular hole in their lineup, general manager Mike Rizzo still has a to-do list that will mostly focus on the future beyond this upcoming season. 

The clock is ticking on all-star caliber starters Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister. Their contracts are set to expire in a year, and this winter is the time to ink either one or both of them to extensions—or use them as trade bait.

There’s also the matter of second base, the most obvious position at which Washington could use an upgrade if the deal is right.

The Nationals could also find themselves kicking the tires on bullpen help. With Drew Storen stepping into the closer role, a free-agent reliever could serve as a setup man or a contingency plan (should Storen’s postseason struggles carry over into this year). 

At the start of the 2014 season, The Washington Post’s Adam Kilgore reported that the team’s payroll was “beyond tapped out,” according to principal owner Mark Lerner. But last month, The Post’s James Wagner reported that, despite having a the fourth-largest projected payroll in baseball, Rizzo won’t hold back this winter. 

“There’s nothing off the table,” Rizzo said. “There [are] no restrictions. We’re going to make good, prudent baseball moves regardless of payroll.”

What to do About the Pitchers

Washington’s first, second a third priorities should be extending the contracts of both Zimmermann and Fister. 

The Nationals have arguably the strongest rotation of starters in the bigs, and these two were vital to that success in 2014. Only three teams had multiple pitchers finish in the top 10 for ERA in the National League. Zimmermann and Fister put Washington on that list.

The last thing Washington needs is change on the starting-pitcher front, but everything has a price. 

USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale recently reported that Washington is, in fact, open to hearing trade offers for the duo. 

For Rizzo to deal either Zimmermann or Fister, the price would be decidedly steep. So if one of the two is to leave D.C., the incoming replacements (in theory) wouldn’t be a downgrade. MASN’s Pete Kerzel suggests Rizzo would demand “at least one major league-ready player and a couple of decent prospects” out of the deal. 

According to two separate reports from Wagner, the Nationals haven’t made any progress in talks with either Zimmermann or Fister this offseason. But for the former, at least, there’s no rush to leave Washington any time soon.

“I like D.C.,” Zimmermann said. “I like the ownership. I like the manager, the coaches. I like everything about D.C. It’s just a waiting game right now to see what happens.”

The two pitchers should be high on Rizzo’s list of priorities during the winter meetings—whether it’s locking them down for the future or forcing another team to empty the cupboard in a trade. But do expect the winter-meeting news on the Nationals front to center around this duo.

Second-base Scenarios

The free-agent market this offseason is decidedly scarce compared to other years, so the winter meetings would be a perfect time for Washington to address its need at second base via a trade. 

One place Rizzo could look is the north side of Chicago, where the Cubs have more middle infielders than they know what to do with.

Entering the offseason, they already had the likes of Addison Russell, Starlin Castro and Javier Baez on the payroll. Now Tommy La Stella joins the mix after the Atlanta Braves shipped him off the Chicago in a trade last month.

However, despite their surplus of potential second basemen, the Cubs could have a higher asking price than Washington is willing to pay. If the Nationals get to a point where trading Zimmermann is a forgone conclusion, this kind of deal becomes more of an option. But until then, it would be irresponsible for Washington to give him up to fill a position that current National Danny Espinosa could capably step into. 

Wagner reported early in the offseason that, before settling on a trade with the Cleveland Indians for Asdrubal Cabrera at the deadline this summer, Washington also tested the market elsewhere.

After the Nationals inquired about Daniel Murphy of the New York Mets and Didi Gregorius of the Arizona Diamondbacks last season, the two can be viewed as potential trade targets during these winter meetings.

But if Rizzo is to gauge the value of any of these options at second base, it would be more out of doing his due diligence than a burning desire to bring any of them in.

Bolstering the Bullpen

As goes the rest of Washington’s roster, the Nationals don’t have a desperate need for help in the bullpen. But that is one area of the roster that Rizzo could conceivably look to tweak during the winter meetings. 

Don’t expect Washington to pursue any relievers in a trade, but there are a number of free agents who could draw interest from the Nats. 

Washington’s relievers combined to earn the fourth-best ERA in baseball last season, but that was thanks in part to former closer Rafael Soriano (who is now gone after the Nationals declined to pick up the option on his contract). 

Drew Storen will serve as Washington’s closer for the upcoming season, but USA Today‘s Gabe Lacques did list D.C. as a potential landing spot for David Robertson in a preview of free agent relief pitchers. 

Robertson is considered by some to be the class of available bullpen help, so it hurts the Nationals’ chances of signing the New York Yankee if he isn’t promised the closer role. 

Francisco Rodriguez, Casey Janssen and Sergio Romo are also conversations that Rizzo is likely to have during the winter meetings, but any signing would be used as a setup man for Storen.

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