Feb. 27: The Nationals and Barnes are in agreement on a minor league deal, reports Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. The agreement is still pending a physical. Assuming that goes well, Barnes will report to big league camp as a non-roster invitee.
Feb. 26: Veteran right-hander Matt Barnes has “made good progress” towards a deal with the Nationals, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive, though Cotillo cautions that the deal is not complete. Earlier today, Cotillo relayed that Barnes’ market was heating up with the Nats being one of the teams in the mix. The righty is a client of ISE Baseball. The Nationals have a full 40-man roster and would need to open a spot for Barnes — if the parties are discussing a guaranteed deal. That could easily be achieved by moving Stephen Strasburg to the 60-day injured list.
Barnes, 34 in June, is coming off a rough couple of years but looked like one of the most dominant relievers in the league prior to that. From 2016 to 2019, he had a stretch with the Red Sox where he looked like a solid but not elite reliever. Over those four seasons, he made 264 appearances for Boston with a 3.84 earned run average. His 32% strikeout rate was quite impressive and he kept 48.4% of balls in play on the ground but his 11.4% walk rate was on the high side.
In the shortened 2020 season, he had a bit of a blip, with his ERA jumping to 4.30. But in 2021, he turned things around in spectacular fashion. Through July 10, he had tossed 37 innings over the same number of appearances, allowing 2.68 runs per nine. He struck out a huge 44.6% of batters faced while giving out walks at just a 7.2% clip. He was just a few months from free agency but the Sox decided to lock him up, agreeing to a two-year extension with a guarantee of $18.75MM and a club option for 2024.
Unfortunately, things took a downward turn shortly after that deal was signed. His next seven appearances were scoreless but he hit a rough patch in early August. From the signing of extension to the end of the year, his ERA was 6.11. He then posted a 4.31 ERA in 2022, with subpar strikeout and walk rates of 19.3% and 11.9%, respectively. He was dealt to the Marlins prior to last year and put up a 5.48 ERA in 24 appearances. He went on the injured list in early June due to a left hip impingement and never returned, undergoing surgery in July. The Fish turned down his option at the end of the year and sent him to the open market.
“Looking back on it, I’m realizing now that the hip was such a limiting factor in my ability to get into my lower half, subconsciously knowing that it was there,” Barnes told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe last month. “The nature of the injury with the hip, it didn’t allow me to get over my front side and truly rotate and create power.” The right-hander averaged 95-98 miles per hour on his fastball through 2022 but then was down to 93.4 last year, perhaps backing up his assessment of his poor campaign in 2023.
For the Nats, taking a flier on Barnes and hoping for a post-surgery bounceback would be a sensible gambit. The club has been deep in a rebuild for many years and isn’t expected to return to contention here in 2024. The projected standings at FanGraphs and the PECOTA standings at Baseball Prospectus both peg them to be the worst club in the National League East and one of the worst in the majors overall.
They currently project to have a bullpen featuring Kyle Finnegan, Hunter Harvey and Tanner Rainey, all of whom are set for free agency after 2025. Coming into the winter, they had almost no one else with a meaningful track record of big league success, leaving plenty of openings for other hurlers. They signed Dylan Floro to a one-year deal to stabilize the ’pen somewhat and perhaps turn himself into a trade chip. Signing Barnes would come with the same logic.
Given the long-term outlook of the club and the fungible nature of relievers, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Finnegan/Harvey/Rainey trio on the trading block this summer if they are throwing well. Even if someone like Floro or Barnes didn’t pitch well enough to net a huge deadline return, they might still need to step up and play a role to help the club get through end of the season. The Nats have also given non-roster deals to veterans like Derek Law, Richard Bleier, Jacob Barnes and Luis Perdomo.
If Strasburg is collecting a paycheck, does anyone think he should being going to ST and all 162 regular season games (upon the team’s request) and cheering on his teammates with possible strategy suggestions for the younger pitchers?
Otherwise, shouldn’t he negotiate a deal where maybe he gives back $100,000 per year remaining on the contract and retires?
I can see both sides of this argument.
The team isn’t requesting he spend the season with them.. just report to camp and be a good influence for a day(s) then retreat back to his fortress of solitude collecting paychecks
It doesn’t need to be Strasburg who goes to the 60-day IL. The Nats also have a couple of young pitchers recovering from elbow surgery.
It doesnt but he will get 60 day ILd at some point.. Nats have some MILB signings who will likely need to be added.
Yeah they’ll eventually need all the 60-day slots to keep players from opting out of their minors deals. But I can see them waiting until the last minute as part of the back and forth with Strasburg.
Negative, Manny. The more pertinent question is how does Strasburg’s situation really affect your life? Serious question. And if your best answer is you don’t like it or approve then just admit that it has no impact at all. And move on. Or don’t.
sounds like you need a tissue
CeruDrew
It affects my life only in that I enjoy watching baseball, talking about baseball, including all aspects of baseball such as strategy, the social side, the business side, rotisserie, and even the puns. My guess is that is why most of us participate in these comments. And if you find a commenter annoying, it is easy to mute them, so if someone responds to a particular post, it means they want to join the discussion, rather than them wanting to avoid it.
Strasburg is prime example of why no pitcher, no matter who,no matter age,no matter agent, no matter track record gets more than 3 years guaranteed. In my opinion.
KB – 100%. The Stras contract is a total disaster, and is the bright red warning light for any long-term pitching deal. IMO, anything more than five years for ANY player is lunacy, pitcher or not.
Agree – 100%. Human shoulder wasn’t made to pitch with intensity and volume of a regular starter. Lengthy guaranteed contracts just become a financial burden that FOs come to regret.
Oh yeah? Then, 2012 Justin Verlander is on the market. He wants 4 years to go to your team
KB
“Strasburg is prime example of why no pitcher, no matter who,no matter age,no matter agent, no matter track record gets more than 3 years guaranteed.”
Let’s try something
Jamie Moyer is a prime example of why every pitcher, no matter who, no matter what age, no matter agent, no matter track record should sign through their late 40’s guaranteed.
If that makes no sense to you, maybe reconsider what you just posted.
Perhaps there is a middle ground, either pay for contract injury insurance, or longer contracts where pay after a certain number of years is impacted by games or innings played.
As an owner, I think a 6-10 year contract for a hitter seems far less risky than for a pitcher.
MBMVP
“Perhaps there is a middle ground, ”
The middle ground between two stupid ideas, which is what the two above ideas are, is still a stupid idea.
The smart idea is to do what teams do
-project performance.
-attempt to read the market.
-offer contracts based on those two factors.
I mostly agree with you. But if an owner wants to purchase injury insurance I don’t think that is stupid, it is paying an added cost to reduce risk.
Similarly, if an owner wants to offer a bigger contract amount, where more is paid if games are played, that is ok too. But to compete with market the 300 million may become 400 million if there is protection for injuries. No different then a player taking a few dollars less for no trade protection.
Then the question becomes would owner paid injury insurance apply to salary thresholds for draft pick compensation or luxury tax, or should it not.
MBMVP
“I mostly agree with you. But if an owner wants to purchase injury insurance I don’t think that is stupid,”
I wasn’t saying that was stupid. Should be standard operating procedure, I’d think.
I meant hard and fast rules about how long contracts should or shouldn’t be is stupid.
I oppose any rule on contract length or a deadline for such.
As an owner, for pitchers, I would either be interested in injury insurance or, if unavailable, to offer incentives based on innings or games.
If another team offer 7 years at 210 million, I might prefer to offer 7 years at 140 million with another 140 million in money if certain innings or games thresholds were met. No rules changes required for such offers.
No different than some deals I would offer 25 percent more but refuse to include opt-outs and other deals I might prefer opt-out to get a shorter or cheaper amount.
MBMVP
Sure
That all makes sense. Infinitely more than KB’s dumb idea.
“Unfortunately, things took a downward turn shortly after that deal was signed.” They usually do. Ahahaha!
Everyone talks about the tigers on the up and up.
Nats > Mets
And they are catching Miami fast
I could see a scenario where a few young players take a step forward and the Nats pass the Mets and Marlins. I said that last year. I think they should be opportunistic and grab one of the remaining starting pitchers.
They are content finishing last this year and continuing development.. 2025 draft class is loaded… Next year they should start getting back to respectability
I think tanking for draft position in baseball is a bad strategy. Especially for the Nats. Their focus should be on brand/fanbase development. The Orioles look like they are going to be competitive for a while. Every year the Nats lay low is a share of the market they are losing to Baltimore.
Frankly, let them make that mistake. Every Nats fan over the age of 25 is just an ex-O’s fan.
You exclude the 60+ who had the Senators-
Who became O’s fans. So… what I said still holds true 100%
Lol no
I did go to Memorial Stadium a few times during Washington’s Wilderness Years – but I always wore a Senators lid.
I don’t wish the Orioles ill, especially with their new owner. But there’s no dual citizenship.
Yes there is. Senators were around for… a decade in their most recent iteration. DMV was Birdland from the early 70s on until the Nats came to town in the mid oughts. That’s three times longer than the Senators.
I’ve lived in the DC area since the late 60’s. I worked in Baltimore for 30 years, so I’m very familiar with both sides.I was at the last Senators game at RFK. My company had seats at Memorial Stadium and Camden Yards so I took many business clients to games there. During the long hiatus of no baseball in DC, some fans did root for the O’s, especially in the northern suburbs. But the DC was never really all in on the Orioles, and anyone who says so it just wasn’t so.. The two metro areas have very different cultures. DC was never and will never be home base for a Baltimore team. Just the way it is.
That’s my sense as well. A few old friends who gravitated to the Orioles during our 33-year wait have remained Orioles fans.
Others, as I did, watched the Orioles in the interregnum, but never embraced them as our own. We always waited for baseball to return.
My point is that, deep down, baseball fans in DelMarVa are loyal to one club or the other, not both.
Nope. False. Every “Senators” fan I know became an O’s fan. Only the fairweathers jumped ship for the current DC team. I, though, am a fan of both – O’s first, Nats 2nd.
We’re not fairweathers. Thousands of us worked to keep hope alive in Washington baseball. We attended the Crackerjack Old Timers games at RFK In the 1980s – where I saw 75-year-old Luke Appling take Warren Spahn deep. We plunked down season ticket deposits, hoping to lure a team in the Baseball in 87 campaign.
We gloried in the new Nats’ curly W caps that harkened back to the Frank Howard Nats of our youth. The 2019 World Series win was so sweet because we stuck it out – loving bad Washington baseball teams from 1967 to 1971 (they actually were pretty good in 1969) and from 2007 to 2011.
Thousands of Washington baseball fans gave the Orioles our attention and some of our money when they were the only game in town – but our hearts always were and always will be in Washington.
Nah. Fairweathers. You can patch it up anyway you like, you didn’t “stick” anything “out.” You hopped ship to ship. There is no silo’d DC baseball fanbase. Y’all are all just ex-O’s fans, no matter how much you try to claim continuity or congruity. And everyone else in the DMV knows it. It’s what makes the whining over MASN so annoying. Y’all are Birdland. Enjoy 5th place in the NL East 🙂
Your argument doesn’t hold up.
It’s like expecting a Colts fan to be a Redskins and Commanders fan for life just because Irsay took their team away.
It’s absurd. It did not happen.
The Colts fans are Ravens fans because the game finally returned to their hometown.
UJ
“Nah. Fairweathers. You can patch it up anyway you like, you didn’t “stick” anything “out.” You hopped ship to ship. There is no silo’d DC baseball fanbase. Y’all are all just ex-O’s fans, no matter how much you try to claim continuity or congruity. And everyone else in the DMV knows it. It’s what makes the whining over MASN so annoying. Y’all are Birdland. Enjoy 5th place in the NL East ”
Muted (either a troll or an idiot. Either way…)
You just made my point. Sens fans hopped to Bmore. Now they hopped again (as of 05).
In any event, like I said… every 25+ yr old Nats fan is an ex O’s fan. Probably all with black & orange caps buried in the closet.
And thank god… FH’s quest to be alone continues without me!
Getting an all star closer! What a move!
I always liked Barnes. Hope he can manage a bit of a resurgence. He was always best as a setup though
I hear what you’re saying but he always frustrated me. Way too many walks it seemed like. Not sure if his numbers reflect that but he’d come in and that would be the thing that squashed it for me.
He seemingly had the one good first half of the season when he was amazing and they gave him the extension based on that and things went South afterward mysteriously.
Not even necessarily walks but falling behind in counts where he’d have to come in with a fastball. He never had much movement on that pitch so if a batter could sit on it they could do a bit of damage.
Then on the flip side some other batters would go to the plate ignoring his fastball altogether and try and wait out a hanging curve, which unfortunately he also had a tendency to throw.
GWRS
“Way too many walks it seemed like. Not sure if his numbers reflect that
HIs career BB% of 10.7% is a bit higher than the league average BB% (around 8%)
Not sure that’s “way too many”
I have a feeling that pres joe will be honoring them in 2 years
I like this move. Nats have made several decent flier-style signings for this year. If this ends up being real, then he stands to be potentially the best reliever they’ve had since… Hudson.
Not only the best pitcher in our bullpen but soon to be one of the best in baseball. We expect Matt’s gonna put up hader like numbers this upcoming season. One of only a few players this off-season we felt comfortable offering a major league contract too.
Guy’s prime is over. He was decent from 2017 to 2021 and then fell off from there. He had a 4.81 FRA last year, meaning he underperformed his ERA or he pitched much better than his ERA presents but still not great. The K% just collapsed in 2022 and hasn’t recovered. Don’t expect much from his signing but given that the Nationals have no intention of competing this year, I doubt it really matters.
He’s always had good stuff. Just had problems getting ahead in the count.
something, something change of scenery something
Another salary thief.
Strasburg signed a guaranteed contract from a team that felt comfortable offering him the GUARANTEED contract. He was then hurt….playing baseball. The amount of you clowns that root for the billionaire owners to keep their money, are the dumbest baseball fans on the planet. He’s not stealing any money. He’s collecting money he is owed. I’m glad he’s getting it all, and if you’re upset that is getting it all, then you are stupid. Period.
no one is upset. Stop making things up
@Zachary P…Same old elitist leftist “argument”; if you do not see the world exactly as I do you must be “stupid”…And the last time I checked, you types were pretty cozy with Hollywood, Silicon Valley & MSM opiniom-manufacturing billionaires, you phony.
@mlb fan – clown comment on so many levels. SMH. Shame on you.
@zach… I agree Stras is owed his money. But, I also think he needs to be in Spring Training or spending time with the club during the season as a mentor, rather than just totally checking out like he’s done the past… two years. Even before the retirement debacle. And frankly, it does hurt the team overall, from players to staff to fanbase, to have him just utterly absent while still occupying SO much of the payroll. It’s a cloud that hangs over the entire org, no doubt. I’m sure it impacts the culture.
Whatever you say Idiotsteve. There, fixed it for you.
He’s not actually a liberal, he’s a troll.
You don’t speak for liberals. Mr. I’m always right, Ubaldo Jimenez
That’s Mr. 2016 Blue Jays Wildcard MVP to you, bub!
I hope Barnes figures out whatever is wrong with his pitches, just for a very brief moment he was fun to watch for the Sox
Here it goes again, I always look at the age of the veterans that are signed and see how great they were 3 or 4 years ago now nobody wants them but rizzo and the learners
Don’t mind losing again then you will be tested again by this franchise that keeps going down hill
Rizzo used to be my guy but now he has no respect for me as a fan because he is starting to sound like politician
Unreal what they are doing Unreal
They’re doing a rebuild they needed to do instead of dragging along like the Angels, who make senseless free agent splashes – because their owner thinks like some fans up in the nosebleeds do – and then putter along in irrelevance for a decade.
I have a lot of complaints about Rizzo, but an inability to engineer a turnaround is not one of them. You can scope the ring on his finger for proof.
If you’re not around on the other side of the rebuild, your loss.
This comment could use more punctuation. For one, not sure Rizzo has your name even on his radar. For two, the Nats are hamstrung by the Corbin & Stras contracts and were under the shadow of potential sale just last year. Politicians don’t even play into this at all, so not sure why you’d bring that up. On top of that, Curly Dubs won it all four years ago… some of y’all seem to have forgotten that. Sure, the current Nats suck, but they were consistently competitive during the 2010s and the way some of the fanbase whines now is very… ungrateful. Y’all really don’t know what it means to love a losing club until you rack up losses for decades, not a little 4-year rebuild.