12:57pm: The Nationals have announced the signing. Harrison will be in uniform for tonight’s game. Catcher Raudy Read was optioned to alternate camp to make space on the 30-man roster.
July 27, 10:15am: Harrison has passed his physical and Covid-19 tests, Heyman tweets. A formal announcement should be made by the team today.
July 25, 8:54pm: The Nats and Harrison have agreed to a contract, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets. The deal will become official once Harrison passes a physical.
10:52am: The Washington Nationals are closing in on a deal with Josh Harrison, tweets Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. The Nats had looked into Harrison before signing Brian Dozier ahead of the 2019 season (Twitter links). Moments before Dougherty’s post, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported that Harrison had multiple major-league offers in hand.
Harrison was only recently released from the Phillies after not making their Opening Day roster. The veteran infielder has primarily played second and third base in his career, but he’s a flexible defender who could see time in the outfield in a pinch as well.
Harrison has struggled to find his footing since his best years with the Pirates. After signing a $2MM deal with the Tigers last offseason, a partially torn hamstring ended his season in late May, leading to his release in August. Harrison appeared in only 36 games with the Tigers, slashing a tough-to-stomach .175/.218/.263. The 33-year-old still owns a career triple-slash of .273/.313/.401 over nine seasons.
The Nationals have their infield minutes fairly well accounted for between Starlin Castro, Asdrubal Cabrera, Trea Turner, Howie Kendrick, Eric Thames, and Carter Kieboom. The organization was shook by Juan Soto’s positive coronavirus test on Opening Day, per Dougherty, and this move could be as simple as the Nats wanting to protect themselves againast an uncertain playing environment. They’ve been bit by a lack of depth in the past, and while Harrison isn’t the type of ballplayer likely to invigorate a fanbase, he’s a veteran who might be more capable than a rookie of handling the dynamic playing conditions of 2020.
pappyvw
Good pickup
davidkaner
Why? He’s injured all the time and can’t hit a lick. More like a dumb ass pick up.
SalaryCapMyth
David, haven’t you noticed this year is just a tad different? Players are going down a bit faster than usual and if a season is going to be played it’s going to include players that would otherwise be playing in the minors.
Captain-Judge99
Excellent pick-^ for the Crashinals
wv17
Go away.
Joggin’George
I don’t see what folks see in this guy , he was recently released by one of the worst teams in baseball. Had exactly one plus season with the bat and that was 5 years ago. Replacement level the last two years. Decent glove, but only plays second base…. it must be a name recognition thing again.
Francys01
Are you sure that he only plays second base?
Joggin’George
I see he’s played some OF and third, but still, even as a utility bench guy he’s a stretch to be valuable. Usually guys who play second are there cuz they can’t play elsewhere ( like if they could play short, they be there already) . Not crazy of a guy to sign to a minor league deal (or whatever this years equivalent is) but just because we recognize his name half the fan base starts getting way too excited about a fading veteran who was somewhat overrated in his prime.
shortytallz
Utility guy with plus clubhouse presence. Exactly the type you pick up for depth.
Joggin’George
Not me. It may be exactly the mistake teams have routinely made in the past but I’m not bothering with someone who put up 0.1 WAR last year and certainly not putting them in my plan A if I expect to win. Again, it comes down to name recognition, little more. I mean, good club house presence? Sure, that’s a decent point but still not enough. Plus, is he really a utility guy? If he could play short or third he’d have done more of it in the past and do really you really want that bat in the OF?
mlb1225
Team’s have to fill 4 extra spots for now. Might as well have a guy who can play wherever you put him. Not every super utility guy is going to be Kikie Hernandez or David Fletcher.
Joggin’George
You’re right. I’m not saying signing him as a bench piece is moronic, let’s just not get too excited about it. Personally I’d rather gather up younger AAAA retreads but that’s me.
shortytallz
Good and great teams need exactly this guy to fill in when needed and help the kids when not. It’s quite obvious. Not about WAR for this type of player.
Joggin’George
Good character, veteran guys like Harrison may have value beyond the stats. It’s something that needs to be studied more.
Metsfan9
He asked to be released
Joggin’George
He asked for his release? What difference does it make?
rangerslegend34107
That’s the problem with statisticians and baseball guys. I have multiple degrees in mathematics, physics, and engineering so please do not say I am anti-statistics, but Harrison’s value is not solely in his stats. That’s the problem with baseball right now. They’re pushing out the middle tier guys because it is cheaper to just bring a kid up with team control–I understand the value in that. But statistics do not factor in clubhouse intangibles: leadership, mentors, experience, strong character—these guys are the glue that hold good teams/clubhouses together. That’s why in baseball, above other sports, the most talented team does not always win the championship. A utility guy like Harrison who has a good personality is like having multiple players on the bench AND a coach. That’s why many of those players tend to go on to be coaches because they’ve been around the bench so often, been around multiple managers and learned underneath them, had to really learn the game and fundamentals, and not solely rely on pure talent.
Will Harrison show up on the stat sheet positively? Likely not. But what if he teaches something to Will Turner that improves his game for the rest of his career. Or Robles. Or Soto. That’s invaluable.
It’s like Darryl Kyle. Good #4 pitcher that ate innings. Around league average pitcher for most of his career. But he taught Chris Carpenter how to throw his curveball…Carpenter went on to win the Cy Young. Carpenter then taught Adam Wainwright how to throw his curveball. Wainwright went on to finish in top 3 in CY voting 4 times and has a stellar career. Now Wainwright is teaching Jack Flaherty how to throw that curveball. Again for the most part, Kyle was a innings eater league average pitcher, but his legacy is still effecting outcomes of games to this day.
craigmiller13
Exactly! Well said.
craigmiller13
Responding to shorty
chrisbiz
hey i got a question do any of yall know of a free player rankings graph that I can customize to my league settings?
sigmanj
Puig would make more sense on a one year (59 game) deal than Harrison does with the loss of Soto.
nymetsking
LOL Puig’s got Corona too.
Briffle2
Soto will be back soon enough. Looks like he had a false positive.
HubcapDiamondStarHalo
It would seem very strange to me for a player to be released by the Pirates and picked up by the reigning world champions…
oscar gamble
Josh Harrison was never released by the Pirates.
Joggin’George
Tigers, even worse
HubcapDiamondStarHalo
Yipes, my bad!!!
Old Man disease. I read “Phillies” as “Pirates.” Sounds like a Monty Python skit…
920kodiak
This is a little baffling. Don’t they already have similar utility players like Kendrick, Cabrera and Castro. Even Kieboom can play multiple positions. For locker room presence, they could have brought Parra back. It’s not a bad move per se, just a little strange.
The Human Rain Delay
This looks to be the Nats blueprint now
Put it all on 3-4 top Sps and piece mill the offense on older/cheaper/shorter contracts
Will be interesting to see them heading into the big 22′ free agent class. Their payroll drops down low to 54 mill (Stras Corbin Harris basically) while still having some nice players still on arbs (Turner Soto Robles kieboom Voth) so there will be big money to spend IF the want. Ill be interested to see
DeezNatsFan
In this COVID season, there is no such thing as too much depth.
SalaryCapMyth
@FunBall. Got it right on the nose.
bravesfan
He stinks and has been washed up… I don’t think it’s even that great of a depth move. Maybe I’m wrong
Natsman1
The Nats announce the signing of this guy since Carter Kieboom has been hobbling. Yet according to this Comments section, despite having NO fans in parks, The World Series champions need “name recognition” so bad that they sign (drumroll) Josh Harrison…uh huh. Gerardo Parra shouldve been signed instead oh oops he’s under a NICE contract in Japan. And The Nats have a serial habit of signing “old, cheap” contracts for offense…LOL Pure Comedy Channel stuff.
pappyvw
He is T-Bone Shelby’s nephew … so that alone makes him awesome
mikemcsaudi
Great fielder. Poor hitter. Could have some value. Not much though.
wagner13
This addition seems kind of unnecessary with Difo already on the roster. Pretty similar batting history and Wilmer is more versatile on defense
Natsman1
Signing Harrison pretty much tells you what The Nats think of Difo.
Philsmania
Howie Kendrick, Asdrubal Cabrera….now Josh Harrison. The parade of Phillies turned Nationals supersubs continues.
SalaryCapMyth
Players like this are going to find jobs because they are going down faster than usual. Harrison and others like him who otherwise would be playing in the minors are going to find landing spots in the majors. There’s just no point in saying this player or that one shouldn’t have been picked up this season.
gotigers68
He more or less had an “ incomplete”, in Detroit