Arguably the largest impact was to the Montreal Expos. The strike was considered to be start of the franchise's downfall in Montreal, eventually leading to their becoming the Washington Nationals. Not only did their dream season (first in MLB, six games ahead of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East) end abruptly, they were forced to lower payroll and sell off their four highest paid stars (Marquis Grissom, Ken Hill, Larry Walker, and John Wetteland) in the span of less than a week in spring training. With the strike negatively affecting its fan base, the Expos would never recover from the incident. Despite respectable performances in 1996, 2002 and 2003, the team never came close to contending again; the team was purchased by Major League Baseball after the 2001 season, and would become the focus of contraction rumors until the team was moved to Washington, D.C., to become the Washington Nationals after the 2004 season. The franchise won its first World Series in 2019, as the Nationals.