The Nationals announced Friday that theyve non-tendered closer and fellow right-handed reliever . Both pitchers are now free agents. Its a surprise move for the Nats, who watched Finnegan make his first All-Star team in 2024 while pacing the team with 38 saves. Hed been to earn $8.6MM in arbitration. Unexpected as the move was, theres a case to be made that Finnegans gaudy save totals have disproportionately inflated his value. The 33-year-old righty hasnt been a bad reliever on a rate basis by any means, but hes also not the shutdown weapon many might expect based on that All-Star nod and his 66 saves over the past two seasons. Finnegan pitched to a solid but unspectacular 3.68 earned run average in 63 2/3 innings this season. Despite a blazing 97.4 mph average on his fastball, Finnegans 22.1% strikeout rate was lower than the league average for relievers. His 8.9% walk rate was right at the league average. Hes also been fairly susceptible to home runs, serving up an average of 1.35 big flies per nine innings pitched over the past two seasons. Hard as Finnegan throws, neither his four-seamer nor his splitter mi s bats at a high level. This years 10.8% swinging-strike rate was below average. Hes also quite prone to hard contact, even beyond the home runs. He yielded an average exit velocity of 91.3 mph in 2024 and 92.2 mph in 2023. Over the past two seasons, a whopping 47.8% of the batted balls against him left the bat at 95 mph or greater. Metrics like FIP (4.42), xFIP (3.91) and SIERA (3.90) simply Jim Barr Jersey havent bought into Finnegan as a premium reliever over the past two seasons, even as hes been the Nationals go-to option in leverage situations. Washington has traded away most of its short-term veterans at this point but held onto Finnegan. Some have speculated that perhaps teams were unwilling to meet GM Mike Rizzos asking price in a trade, but todays non-tender surely came on the heels of an effort to trade Finnegan. Its likely that many teams around the league simply dont feel Finnegan, at 33 years of age and with a worsening K-BB rates in three straight seasons, is worth his likely $8-9MM price tag in arbitration. Some of that trepidation is surely borne from the fact that Finnegan pitched quite poorly in the seasons final two months. The right-hander carried a 2.32 ERA, 26% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate through late July. Over his final 21 innings, however, he was shelled for a 6.43 ERA with just a 15.7% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate. Finnegan didnt experience a drop in velocity, but he was nowhere near as effective as hed been for the first two-thirds of the season. None of this is to say Finnegan wont find interest now that hes unexpectedly become a free agent. He now only costs money and a roster spot, and other clubs that are intrigued by the raw velocity on that four-seamer might well have some ideas about how to coax more swings and mi ses out of whats clearly a power arm. A club willing to look past the poor finish to his 2024 season could certainly dream on the scenario of getting him back to the form he displayed leading into this years All-Star Game. Finnegan probably wont command an annual salary in the $8-9MM range like he mightve earned in free agency, but hes the rare non-tendered player who might also have a chance at commanding a multi-year deal at a lower rate of pay. More likely, hell ink a one-year deal and look to rebound before hitting the market on the heels of a stronger showing next winter. Hell be heading into his age-34 campaign at that point a downside of not making his MLB debut until his age-28 season. Rainey, 31, is a far more straightforward non-tender case. The former flamethrowing reliever was a key piece of Washingtons bullpen in 2019-20, but injuries have taken their toll most notably Tommy John surgery in 2022. Rainey pitched just one inning in 23, and while he returned to to s 51 frames this past season, his 94 mph average fastball was nowhere near its 97.7 mph peak. He was tagged for a 4.76 ERA on the season while displaying strikeout (19%), walk (12.6%) and home run (1.41 per nine) rates that were significantly worse than league average. Swartz projected him for a $1.9MM salary in arbitration, but Rainey might need to settle for a minor league deal to show he can regain some of his pre-injury form. Willie Mays Jersey