The Washington Nationals already got to work at the beginning of the offseason.

With right-handed pitcher Braxton Roxby available to be claimed off waivers, president of baseball operations Paul Toboni decided to bring in the reliever. Fellow right-hander Zak Kent was designated for assignment as the corresponding move, which ended his tenure with the Nationals.

The expectation is that this is going to be a busy winter for the Nationals, with Toboni and his front office set to make a couple of splash moves while also continuing to make minor roster moves, too. With that in mind, the crowded nature of Washington's 40-man roster creates the need for tough decisions to be made before Opening Day 2027.

60-Day Injured List

The first thing the Nationals have to figure out is which players on the 60-day injured list they want to keep. Once the quintet of Mitchell Parker, Ken Waldichuk, PJ Poulin, Matt Waldron and Drew Millas have to be activated, that will put Washington's roster at 45, which is above the 40-man threshold. Naturally, the likes of Parker, Waldichuk and Waldron would be DFA candidate since the team will aim to overhaul their pitching staff.

Millas is another one to keep an eye on. He made the Opening Day roster in 2026 ahead of prized prospect Harry Ford. And the only reason Ford was called up by the Nationals was because Millas got hurt. However, Millas didn't provide much before hitting the shelf. And now that Ford has gotten extended big league reps, the catching tandem of Keibert Ruiz and Ford seems like the duo Washington is going to roll with moving forward. So don't be surprised if the team decides to part ways with Millas to trim down their roster numbers.

Non-Tender Candidates

An area where there could be plenty of movement is on the non-tender front.

When Toboni was hired last year, he was expected to reshape the roster immediately. Instead, he used 2026 as a way of evaluating the major league roster and the entire organization as a whole. But after that extended evaluation period, there will likely be plenty of changes made this time around. And there could be quite of few players who are non-tendered.

The first one to circle is Jake Irvin. The veteran right-handed pitcher was below average this past season once again. He came off a campaign in 2025 where he posted an ERA of 5.70. He finished this year with an ERA of 5.48. He's failed to reach the 80 ERA+ mark in back-to-back seasons, and with a clear need to upgrade the entire staff, replacing Irvin should be at the top of the list.

Jose Tena is another option on the position player side of things. He was largely a bench bat in 2026, and with Yohandy Morales in line for more reps at third base, moving on from Tena seems like something that could happen towards the beginning of the offseason.

Overall, expect there to be a lot of movement on this Nationals roster throughout the offseason, especially if the front office truly wants to make the requisite upgrades that will help them get into playoff contention next year.