Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander will make his season debut Friday night at the Washington Nationals.

Houston manager Joe Espada made the announcement Wednesday.

"Getting him back is huge because it brings a level of confidence to our team, a boost of confidence that we're going to get someone who's been an MVP, a Cy Young [winner] on the mound," Espada said. "It's [good] for the morale and to get stuff started and moving in the right direction."

Astros ace Justin Verlander will throw a side session Tuesday, and if that goes well he'll make his season debut this weekend against the Washington Nationals.

Houston manager Joe Espada made the announcement Monday but wouldn't say which game of the series Verlander would start. The three-game set begins Friday night.

"He's in a good spot," Espada said. "He feels good. He feels confident. He wants to contribute. He knows that we need him on the mound, we need his presence and right now and he's right where he needs to be."

Stephen Strasburg, the 2019 World Series MVP whose pitching career was derailed by injuries, has officially retired from baseball.

Strasburg, 35, was a hard-throwing right-hander who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft and briefly rose to stardom, leading the franchise to the first championship in Washington Nationals history.

Blake Snell is expected to make his debut for San Francisco on April 8 against the Washington Nationals, Giants manager Bob Melvin said Monday.

A two-time Cy Young Award winner, Snell agreed to a $62 million, two-year contract with the Giants on March 18. He has been throwing at extended spring training in Scottsdale, Arizona, to build up his arm.

The Washington Nationals have agreed to a Minor League deal with Eddie Rosario, according to a report.

The deal includes an invitation to spring training and is pending a physical.

Rosario, 32, has a career batting average of .268 and an OPS of .755, with 159 homers and 548 RBI. 

He started most of the Atlanta Braves' games in left field last season, hitting 21 homers with 74 RBIs while batting .255. The Braves declined a $9 million option for him this season.

Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals are no longer for sale, ending a search for a new owner after the team was on the market for nearly two years.

Principal owner Mark Lerner told The Washington Post on Monday during spring training in West Palm Beach, Florida, that his family "has determined that we are not going to sell the team." A Nationals spokesperson confirmed the Post's report.

The Washington Nationals have agreed to a Minor League deal with reliever Richard Bleier, according to a report.

The left-hander will likely be in Spring Training with the Major League club.

Outfielder Joey Gallo and the Washington Nationals are in agreement on a one-year, $5 million contract, sources told ESPN, filling an outfield slot with the rebuilding team as Gallo looks to regain full-time at-bats.

Gallo, 30, hit .177/.301/.440 in a limited role with the Minnesota Twins last year. Though he hit 21 home runs in 332 plate appearances, he struck out 42.8% of the time, the highest single-season mark ever for a player with at least 300 plate appearances.

Former Washington Nationals closer Sean Doolittle was hired by the club as a pitching strategist on Tuesday.

The Nationals said the 37-year-old Doolittle, who announced his retirement as a player in September, will "serve as a liaison between the analytics department and pitching staff, while assisting the manager and pitching coach with strategy, mental preparation and mechanics."

Seven-time All-Star Nelson Cruz, who has 464 career home runs, is retiring after 19 seasons in Major League Baseball, he said during an appearance on "The Adam Jones Podcast."

Cruz, 43, told Jones that he would be competing this winter in the Dominican Professional Baseball League in what amounts to be a farewell tour.

"So this is the last we're seeing of Nelson Cruz?" Jones asked.

Said Cruz: "I think so, yeah."