It is offensive that they aren’t going after Bregman. Why not? Plenty of payroll to get to league average. By the time his contract is material to other improvements, wood and crews won’t even be free agents. This is ridiculous. With bregman they’d have a solid lineup and with players developing we should be ready to approach 500. Trade House. Odds are very low he’s ever as good as bregman is right now. And bregman market is tightening. 6 or 7 times 30? Just do it.
I'm not quite there on "offensive." It's a strategic choice. They've loaded up on 3rd base candidates figuring one will payoff this year by the end of the year and then have 6 years of team control. Just like a QB and a left tackle on rookie contracts is an enormous advantage in the NFL, the strategy is to have 6 or so regulars in pre-arb plus most of the rotation before they try to surround that with high AAV free agents. In their minds, Wood, Crews, Abrams, Garcia, plus a 3rd baseman are their offensive core, surrounded by a top tier defensive CF and the bust they have at catcher. I get that you're saying, "well, instead of waiting for a 3rd baseman, why not just bring in Bregman, deal House, or have House pick up a 1st base glove once he shows he's hitting?" but OTOH, there's a thought, not just among Nats management, that Bregman hasn't been brilliant in recent years and is asking for a contract that has high albatross risk.
I am not smart enough about baseball to really understand the downsides of Bregman's performance and what to expect from him going forward. Boston and Detroit are supposed to be in on him, but Houston who knows him best and has solid management chose a different path (Walker and Paredes for shorter terms; reminds me of why I wanted Walker). My preference would be to go after Santander for 4 or 5 years, not lock in a DH like Bell, use a rotation at DH, or let Crews play CF and deal Young and a maybe Irvin or Parker for another need.
