Washington Nationals: After recent signings, are the Nats out on Donaldson?

The Washington Nationals have been busy this offseason, and it might mean the “Bringer of Rain” Josh Donaldson goes to the Atlanta Braves.

The Washington Nationals failed to bring back third baseman Anthony Rendon after they signed Stephen Strasburg to the same $245 million contract that the Angels gave to Rendon. And their backup plan if they couldn’t get Rendon would be Josh Donaldson–the best free agent remaining on the market.

But they may have already lost out on him and completed Plan C. They had a couple of holes in the infield, so they signed Asdrubal Cabrera, Howie Kendrick, and Starlin Castro along with Eric Thames to fill the infield.

Then, GM Mike Rizzo revamped the bullpen, bringing in Will Harris and Daniel Hudson to be at the back of the bullpen. Hudson, of course, pitched the final out in the 2019 World Series.

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All of this spending for Washington has given them very little wiggle room when it comes to signing a big free agent with a high average annual value–and that includes Josh Donaldson.

If the Nats were to sign Donaldson, then they would be above the $208 million luxury tax threshold, making it less likely the Nats sign Donaldson. But the good news is last year Washington was not over the threshold, which means that the overage taxes are reset to 20 percent.

In my opinion, I don’t think that Josh Donaldson will end up with the Washington Nationals based on the circumstances of where the Nationals are at, and that there is another team (the Braves) that have more room to pay the 34-year-old.

According to Spotrac, Atlanta has around $50 million of room to work with for the 2020 season, and Josh Donaldson would only take up around half of the remainder of their payroll before it hits the threshold.

And I think the Braves would be more willing than the Nationals to stretch their price tag for Donaldson because they aren’t coming off of a World Series win and have higher expectations among most people for 2020 over Washington.