As expected, the Washington Nationals have gotten busy this offseason.
First, they added to their pitching staff when they claimed right-handed reliever Braxton Roxby off waivers from the San Francisco Giants. The 27-year-old made his MLB debut this past season, and he has an interesting profile for this Nationals developmental staff to work with.
Then, late on Sunday night, Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported that Washington acquired infielder Nate Furman in a trade with the Giants. The Nationals shipped out minor league left-handed pitcher Tony Neubeck to get it done, and they had to designate major league left-hander Richard Lovelady as the corresponding roster move.
Because of that, this is an interesting deal. And it could be a precursor for some other moves to come at a later date. But, for now, this is a look at what Washington is getting and who they parted ways with.
Nationals Add Left-Handed-Hitting Infielder in Nate Furman
Bringing in Furman is noteworthy. After being a fourth-round pick by the Cleveland Guardians in 2022, he made his major league debut this past season when San Francisco called him up on Aug. 1. That came after he spent four years in the minors, where he accrued a .292/.400/.404 slash line across 296 games with 21 home runs, 72 extra-base hits, 134 RBIs and 166 strikeouts to 169 walks.
But in 22 games at the big league level in 2026, Furman struggled. He slashed .125/.243/.125 over his 32 at-bats, and he’s still searching for his first MLB homer and extra-base hit. He also recorded only three RBIs, and he struck out 10 times while drawing five walks. So the impact he had at the plate was minimal compared to what he did in the minors.
Because of that, the 27-year-old will likely be competing for a bench spot during spring training, as he has multiple options remaining that will give the organization flexibility across the infield depending on what else happens this winter.
Washington was expected to make more low-level moves throughout the offseason, and the acquisition of Furman would fall into that category.
Traded Away Tony Neubeck
Who the Nationals gave up to get Furman was an interesting part of the equation, too.
Neubeck went undrafted in the 2026 draft. He signed with Washington and made two outings for Single-A Fredericksburg before the end of the season. He totaled six innings pitched and didn’t allow a single run, as he only gave up two hits while striking out eight and walking one.
On the surface, the Nationals were able to flip an undrafted free agent to bring in a possible major league bench bat. And because of that, the models seem to favor what Washington did, especially because Neubeck’s projected ceiling is low.
DFA’ing Richard Lovelady
The decision to DFA Lovelady was probably a tough one. After all, the left-handed pitched well for the Nationals in 2026 with a 4.23 ERA and 103 ERA+ across his 32 appearances (six starts). But Washington needed to clear a spot on their 40-man roster for Furman, and they decided that the veteran was the one who needed to go at this stage of the offseason.
Roster flexibility is something this front office covets, and because Lovelady doesn’t have any options remaining, that likely played a factor in this decision.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the veteran lefty. He enjoyed his time in the nation’s capital and was effective for them. So perhaps this could be the start of him finding a permanent home in the bigs after he has been a journeyman the past few years.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
