It feels like a lifetime ago that the Washington Nationals went from underdogs to World Series champions, and for a moment, the city had a baseball team worth bragging about. Six years later, that franchise might be the most embarrassing team in the DMV, which is saying something when they’re competing with the Wizards.
The collapse started right after the 2019 World Series win. They didn’t get to celebrate their title because of COVID, which meant no parade or ring ceremony. Then, they missed the playoffs in 2020, something that’s unheard of for defending champs. In 2021, they went 18-42 down the stretch and traded away Max Scherzer, Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber to receive nothing in return. A year later, they shipped away Juan Soto, a franchise player. Imagine the Dodgers deciding to get rid of Ohiani, Betts, Freeman and Yamamoto in a two-year span. That would never happen. But the Nats did it, and their fans have been punished ever since.
Since 2020, they’ve averaged 65 wins a season, putting them at dead last in the MLB. They do worse than teams that actively try to lose, and somehow, nobody is talking about how historic this collapse is.
Meanwhile, look at the other local teams. The Commanders are on the rise, with young quarterback Jayden Daniels leading them to a hopeful future. The Wizards are terrible, but they’ve committed to rebuilding. The Capitals won a Stanley Cup in 2018 and still make playoff appearances. The Nats are the only team that went from the top to the bottom this fast.
The way they’ve handled it makes it even worse. They extended Stephen Strasburg only to watch him get thoracic outlet syndrome and end his career early. They paid Patrick Corbin $30 million a year to be statistically one of the worst pitchers ever. Their drafts have been a disaster. Since 2015, their first-round picks have combined for just 2.2 wins above any replacement player (WAR), the second-worst total in the league. That’s almost 10 years of valuable players they’ve missed out on.
Fast forward to 2025, when general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez swore the rebuild was over and that the Nationals would be back to competing at a high level again. They didn’t, and now both have been fired. The current “core” is James Wood, CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore, who were all acquired in the Soto trade. They’re talented, but they’re not nearly enough. This season, the team even managed to set a record that no team should strive for. Over a four-game stretch, they gave up 80 hits, 50 runs and 10 home runs. Every time they stepped onto the field, it was a massive humiliation ritual.
So even though the Commanders were rough before Daniels, the Wizards lost their shot at the number one draft pick and the Capitals are clinging onto Ovechkin’s last good years, none of them have collapsed like the Nationals. To go from national champions to the worst team in the league in just six years makes them hands down the worst local sports team.
