Washington Nationals looking to stay under luxury tax

The Washington Nationals may be looking for potential upgrades, but they will need to come cheap as the team is looking to stay under the luxury tax.

It has been a busy offseason for the Washington Nationals. While it is easy to look at the loss of Bryce Harper as a major loss, the Nationals did quite well this offseason. They added Patrick Corbin to their collection of aces, while picking up Anibal Sanchez and Jeremy Hellickson to shore up the back end of the rotation. Matt Adams and Brian Dozier were brought in to solidify the lineup. The Nationals should remain to force to be reckoned with in the NL East.

However, there are questions. While Sean Doolittle has been solid as the Nationals closer, the rest of the bullpen is rife with question marks. Trevor Rosenthal, Koda Glover, and Kyle Barraclough have all have had their moments of success, but are not a given this season. With reports that the Nationals were closing in on Craig Kimbrel, those bullpen concerns appeared to be ending.

There is one fairly large problem with that pursuit. As interested as they may be in landing the top reliever on the market, the Nationals also have no desire to go over the luxury tax threshold again this season. Right now, Washington is approximately $4.5 million under that mark, which leaves room for acquisitions at the trade deadline.

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That luxury tax amount is, understandably, a concern. If the Nationals go beyond the $206 million threshold again, they would be subject to a 50% penalty on every dollar over that amount. Unless Kimbrel is willing to take a backloaded contract to keep Washington under that level, that pairing seems unlikely.

And yet, there are those reports. The Nationals luxury tax last season came to a whopping $2.4 million last year, so it is not as though they spent a lot in the penalty. The interest in staying under the luxury tax may not be as important as reaching the postseason once again.

At this point, the Nationals have yet to find their way past the divisional round since moving from Montreal. Despite their competitiveness throughout the majority of the 2010s, they have not been able to overcome that stumbling block. Three of those times, the Nationals fell in five games, coming agonizingly close.

In what should be a highly competitive NL East, the Washington Nationals will need every advantage they can get. If that involves going over the luxury tax threshold again, that option should be on the table.