Photo Marideth Sandler/Nats.Talk

For the younger crowd, “Who’s on First?” was a comedy routine made famous by Abbott and Costello in 1945. They would perform this live until 1957, and this would appear on TV for decades afterwards. What does this have to do with the Washington Nationals you ask? Who would play first base if Luis Garcia Jr. was traded? For the first time since 2022 with Josh Bell, the Nationals finally have a competent first baseman.

Three years since 2022, the Nats had not found a first baseman who could be at the top half of the league first baggers until this new front office converted García into a full-timer. His defense and bat improved simultaneously. His slugging percentage is up by 136 points from last year. It’s remarkable as is his .860 OPS and career-high 22 home runs.

From a real threat of being a non-tender to begin the offseason, Garcia wisely didn’t press the team for a larger raise from his $4.5 million last year and took $6,875,000 this year. MLB Trade Rumors had his estimate at $7 million. Hindsight makes President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni look wise beyond his years be keeping García. Now, he is a legitimate trade chip, much the way, Lane Thomas and Jeimer Candelario were for the prior administration. But García has far surpassed their numbers and value, plus he is under team control for the 2027 season.

Look, García is far from perfect. He still swings too much at balls out of the zone, but his contact this year is undeniable. He is doing damage, and clutch damage more often. Clearly he is another success story with Toboni’s system. And when García was at second base he was a defensive liability, and now he is near league average on defense.

Losing García would be an issue as he is the third best hitter on this Nats team only trailing James Wood and CJ Abrams. The team already traded their fourth best hitter, Curtis Mead. There is nobody close in the Nats’ system to replace García. But if Toboni gets an amazing offer, do you let him go and begin a new round of who’s on first?

The team has Ethan Petry, Yohandy Morales, and Abimelec Ortiz in their first base pipeline. We thought they would make Gavin Fien into a first baseman in Single-A, but they put him in the outfield.

Here’s the thing: García is young. He just turned 26 in May, and nobody is talking about extending his contract. So strange that people want to talk about extending just about everyone (including coaches), but not the first baseman. He could have been an All-Star this year with his hot June stats. We will see where this goes as we approach four days and a few hours until the 6 pm trade deadline on Monday, August 3ʳᵈ.

Speaking of that deadline, Toboni cleared the air yesterday on his radio interview that he has not given up on trying to extend Foster Griffin, and called the report from columnist Joel Sherman that extension talks “fizzled quickly” as something he didn’t agree with.

Caution to the wind on Buster Olney’s comparison to Seth Lugo as that turned out to be a huge overpay by the Kansas City Royals. Obviously, Toboni wants to avoid that. In fact, we had the high-mark for a Griffin extension at 3 years and a total cash value of $55 million but felt more comfortable at $50 million. In May, we were at 3 years and $36 million. By waiting, the price has gone up. Barry Svrluga of The Athletic tweeted at 3 years and $45 million last week, and now he has lowered his number to “That should be three years for, say, somewhere from $36 million to $42 million, at least.”

We all have our opinions of what millionaires should be paid. And Griffin will be paid if he stays healthy and competitive. His 2.76 ERA would be hard to imagine doing better next year. If you used his teammate, Miles Mikolas, as a comp, you would see a similar type of pitcher. Mikolas was a year younger when he returned from Japan and pitched to an All-Star season in his first year with an ERA of 2.83. The next season, Mikolas struggled to a 4.16. That’s the other caution to the reality. Toboni has that same fear. Any team would. And Griffin has that one TJ surgery in his past. Maybe Svrluga is closer to the right number. Remember, there are no refunds if it doesn’t work out.

If the Nats keep Abrams, García, and Griffin into next season, and possibly beyond, they go into 2027 with much more certainty that they don’t need starting pitching after the acquisition of Connelly Early, and some hope for the return of DJ Herz to give the Nats a good chance at next year, and even if the season isn’t played in full — that could be a blessing in disguise as Early and Herz would be on innings limits.

Think about a 2027 starting rotation of Griffin, Cade Cavalli, Jake Irvin, Early and Herz. With the rotation set, the Nats could spend their money on finding some bullpen help. If the Nats do trade Griffin, then that would be their big hole to fill — and that will cost a lot of money.

By playing so well this year, the Nats should now be a destination spot for free agents. Again, there aren’t many holes to fill beyond the bullpen based on today’s roster. Next roster next week could look very different.

Again, the bullpen is a problem now and next year. The team could probably use a left-handed infielder to upgrade over Jorbit Vivas. They might need to look at moving Abrams to second base and Nasim Nuñez to shortstop. These are all offseason thoughts to ponder. But you always have to be thinking ahead and as Toboni said, “ … try to upgrade our team this year — with an eye on the future.”