Paul

DeJong

The 21-year-old former first-round pick had a solid spring with the Nationals, going 7-for-21 in his 18 spring training games. He’s now 4-for-14 (.286) with a triple, three runs scored, and two RBI in his first three Triple-A games. A call-up isn’t imminent, but Paul DeJong is just a placeholder at third base in Washington, so a summer promotion for House would be likely if he continues to perform.

Lipscomb put together a decent spring, but the Nationals are rolling with veteran Paul DeJong at the hot corner to open the regular season. The 24-year-old slashed .200/.268/.232 with one homer and 11 steals in 211 plate appearances last year in the big leagues.

Dave Martinez appears to want Paul DeJong at third base anyway, and Tena isn’t yet making any argument for changing his mind. At least he still seems to be in line for a bench spot, though given that Amed Rosario figures to be the top utilityman, it might make sense to send Tena down if he’s not going to get many starts over DeJong.

Dave Martinez was full of praise for DeJong after the game. It’d be pretty misguided of the Nationals to go with stopgaps at first, third and DH this year, especially after targeting those spots when they sold off veterans at the trade deadline last summer, but it really does appear to be the plan. DeJong will play good defense at third and hit a number of homers, but he’s a 31-year-old with a .205 average and .263 OBP the last three years.

Many initially thought that DeJong was signed to back multiple infield positions and that José Tena would enter the season as the primary third baseman after a solid 2024 season, but perhaps that’s not the case. The team itself has not made this announcement publicly, so it may still be a competition, but fantasy managers should be open to the idea that this could be DeJong’s job if he has a good spring.

It’s reportedly worth $1 million. DeJong hit .227/.276/.427 in 482 plate appearances for the White Sox and Royals last season, which was easily his best showing since his lone All-Star season with the Cardinals in 2019. Last year’s line was good for a 95 OPS+, but that still leaves him at 79 over the last five seasons. Fortunately, he remains a fine defensive infielder. The Nationals should be looking at him as their primary backup at short and a fallback option elsewhere.

Signing DeJong after already adding Amed Rosario feels unnecessary, but it’s hard to complain about adding a viable major leaguer for barely more than the minimum. Ideally, youngsters José Tena, Brady House and Trey Lipscomb will still be the primary contenders to start at third base. Rosario, penciled into a utility role, is still the most interesting fantasy infielder of the bunch, but he’ll probably get fewer opportunities in the early going now, hurting his chances of getting off to a hot start and ascending to the starting lineup.

It sounds like the Twins preferred Urías or DeJong for the roster spot, but those two were holding out for more money. France settled for $1 million on a non-guaranteed deal.

The Twins had been interested in Jon Berti before he signed with the Cubs, and so Urias and DeJong seem like the pivots. Hayes suggested that the Twins are focused on “adding a veteran backup shortstop [who] could help the Twins better navigate a potential lengthy absence for Carlos Correa, who missed 53 games last season with plantar fasciitis in his right foot.” Urias is the better defender of the two, but DeJong has been a better offensive player and hit 24 home runs in 482 plate appearances for the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals last season. Of course, that also came with a 227/.276/.427 slash line.

With Patrick Corbin starting for the Nationals, the Royals will sit Massey, MJ Melendez, Adam Frazier, and Kyle Isbel. This is the fourth straight game in which the Royals are facing a lefty starter. Paul DeJong will draw his first start in the last week and play third base, while Hunter Renfroe will play RF, and Garrett Hampson will play CF.