Contract Status: $5.5M in 2026, Free Agent this winter
Team Status: 48-49, 4 GB for wild card, 8 GB for division
Likelihood of Trade: More likely than not
Presumably Interested Parties: Brewers, Cubs, Cardinals, White Sox, Twins, Guardians, Rangers, Braves, Phillies
Foster Griffin was a last-minute addition to the NL roster, replacing Braxton Ashcraft who was already a replacement for Jacob Misiorowski. Even at that, Griffin wouldn’t have gotten the call if Zack Wheeler hadn’t turned up his nose at the offer after being snubbed in the first place.
But it still counts. The 2014 first-round pick who had pitched just eight innings in the big leagues prior to this season is an All-Star, carrying an otherwise dreadful Nationals pitching staff with his 2.77 ERA and a 10-2 record.
It hasn’t been enough, though. The Nats have gone 33-45 in games not started by Griffin, slowly but surely slipping out of the postseason conversation despite leading the majors in scoring.
And while CJ Abrams probably isn’t going anywhere even if Washington does admit defeat before the deadline, this impending free agent with a prorated remaining salary of not even $2M would spark quite the bidding war in a market starving for starting pitching.
