Who was your favorite short timer with the Nats?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Since the World Series, the Nats have brought in more than a few players for 1 year with a hoping they would have bounce-back seasons. While in 2020 and 2021, the idea may have been for these guys to contribute to contending, after 2021, it became more of a "pump and dump" strategy hoping to trade these guys at the trade deadline for prospects. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, but a few made a great impression while they were here and still have fans quietly rooting for them (or not against them as much as other villains)

I think the 3 that most come to mind in terms of less than a  year would be Kyle Schwarber 2021, Jeimer Candelario 2023, and most recently Jesse Winker.  Who is your favorite short-time ex-Nat? Is there another I've obviously missed? Should Dylan Floro be on the list?

Note - I've limited it to guys who were on-board less than a year. That knocks out Josh Bell, Trevor Williams, and Hunter Harvey.

[varoadking]

Schwarby...and it's not even close...

[Natsinpwc]

Schwarby...and it's not even close...

If they remake the Babe Ruth story he has to play the part. At least for the HR trot.

[Natsinpwc]

Nasim Nunez. I mean who could stay on a roster all year without playing.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Royce Clayton 

[imref]

Schwarby...and it's not even close...

easily.

[blue911]

Jonny Venters

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Papelbon

[HalfSmokes]

Elijah Dukes

[imref]

Do Suzuki, Gomes, and Hudson count as short timers?

[varoadking]

Do Suzuki, Gomes, and Hudson count as short timers?

From the OP:

Note - I've limited it to guys who were on-board less than a year.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I/m/o, Winker deserves some love here, and Candy got the most back in trade.

[Count Walewski]

Wow what a poor set of choices. The Nationals haven't really had much luck with these signings, nor did the contending Nats of the 2010's have a ton of luck with midseason trade acquisitions of expiring FAs.

[imref]

Wow what a poor set of choices. The Nationals haven't really had much luck with these signings, nor did the contending Nats of the 2010's have a ton of luck with midseason trade acquisitions of expiring FAs.

How soon we forget Jon Lester.

Schwarber was a fantastic signing until he got hurt. We were in playoff contention at the time IIRC. Unfortunately the prospect we got for him hasn't worked out yet.

[Kevrock]

UGGLA

[Smithian]

Luke Voit

[Five Banners]

Sergei Fedorov

Oh wait…

[imref]

David DeJesus?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

FWIW:

Schwarber - 303 PAs, .253 / .340 / .570, 25 HR, 1.6 fWAR
Candy - 419 PAs, .258 / .342 / .481, 16 HR, 3.0 fWAR
Winker - 379 PAs, .257 / .374 / .419, 1 HR, 1.2 fWAR

Defense is the big difference maker in terms of WAR for Candy. Schwarber's power is what we remember. Winker was a heck of a disciplined hitter.

[Dave in Fairfax]

One thing I remember is Schwarber's charity work. Schwarber sought to be part of the Nats community. Winker was clearly here as a short-term rental.

Note: this is not a knock on Winker, but on ownership and their approach to free agent signings the past few seasons.

Edit: and for all I know Winker and Candelario did a lot of charity work, but the Nats front office just chose not to highlight it like they did with Bell and Schwarber and other earlier Nats.

[varoadking]

Trent Grisham deserves an honorable mention...

[Elvir Ovcina]

Rick Short.

If it has to be recent and within the pump-and-dump ethos, it has to be Senzel. Making it in the analytics era on nothing more than "Hey, that dude looks like he's probably good at baseball, let's give him a few million dollars" is an incredible feat. He even had the Austin Kearns douchebag face to go with the whole deal.

Honorable mention to Sam Clay.  That guy making a major league roster is like a professional wrestler running as a third party candidate for governor and winning.  If you're going to quibble that he was on the roster for a year plus a couple weeks, quibble away.

[SkinsNatFan21RIP]

Schwarber

[JCA-CrystalCity]

TBH, by WAR it's not even close. It's Candy. It's just the one month Schwarber put together in June 2021 was just so awesome.

Winker to me seemed like he had the largest role in moving the club forward. With Schwarber, there was still a lot of talent, and Scherzer especially but also Soto/ Turner set the tone. Schwarber was a piece and not the leader. I don't feel Candy had much of an impact on Abrams, Garcia or the rest of the team. Winker, on the other hand, worked with Abrams on hitting and was cited for his leadership by others. Plus, I have a soft spot for guys who get on .350+

[varoadking]

Schwarby was Schwarby...for me, him being my favorite had less to do with his on-field performance than it did with his overall persona...

Hittin' big dongs didn't hurt any either...