August 13: The Nationals announced that they have selected the contracts of infielder Andrés Chaparro and right-hander Orlando Ribalta, two moves that were previously reported. In corresponding moves, they designated infielder/outfielder Harold Ramírez and right-hander Jordan Weems for assignment.

Ramirez, 29, enjoyed a pair of productive seasons with the 2022-23 Rays, hitting a combined .306/.348/.432 in 869 trips to the plate, but he stumbled badly out of the gates in 2024 and yet to recover. The righty swinger posted a nice .268 batting average in 169 plate appearances with Tampa Bay but couldn’t couple that with any on-base or extra-base value; he managed only a .284 OBP and slugged just .305. Ramirez was designated for assignment on June 7 and released after no team wanted to acquire/claim the remainder of his $3.8MM salary.

Following his release, Ramirez signed a minor league deal with the Nats and was back in the majors just a couple weeks after his release. He’s appeared in 25 games with Washington but hasn’t fared much better at the plate, hitting .243/.273/.365 in 77 plate appearances. The rebuilding Nationals will now use his roster spot to take a look at the younger Chaparro — another right-handed bat that they acquired in the deadline trade sending reliever Dylan Floro to Arizona.

Weems, 31, has been a regular presence in the Washington bullpen since 2022. He’s piled up 136 innings as a Nat but logged a combined 5.03 ERA in that time. Weems sandwiched an impressive 2023 showing between a pair of lackluster seasons in 2022 and 2024. He’s pitched 41 2/3 innings this season but been rocked for a 6.70 ERA with a career-low 17.9% strikeout rate and a career-worst 12.2% walk rate (excluding the 20% walk rate he notched in 5 2/3 innings back in 2021).

Weems reached three years of big league service in 2024 and is out of minor league options. That means the Nats would’ve had to tender him a raise in arbitration this winter and carry him on the big league roster to begin the 2025 season. They’ll instead move on from the right-hander and, as with Ramirez, turn that roster spot over to a more youthful option who’s posted some interesting numbers in the minors this year.

With the trade deadline now behind us, the Nationals’ only course of action with Ramirez and Weems will be to place them on either outright waivers or release waivers. The other 29 clubs will all have a chance to claim them. (Ramirez’s salary is still being paid by the Rays, so he’d only cost a new team the prorated league minimum.) Both will have the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, by virtue of their MLB service time.

Ribalta, 26, was selected by the Nats in the 12th round of the 2019 draft. He has been climbing the minor league ladder since then, working exclusively as a reliever, with some very encouraging results here in 2024.

He started the year at Double-A and blew through that level by tossing 18 innings with just two earned runs allowed, leading to an ERA of 1.00. His 11.3% walk rate was on the high side but he counteracted that by his striking out a massive 45.1% of batters faced. He was then promoted to Triple-A and tossed 27 1/3 innings with a 3.62 ERA, 30.7% strikeout rate and 12.3% walk rate.

At the end of May, Eric Longenhagen and Travis Ice at FanGraphs ranked Ribalta as the #11 prospect in the system. They focused on his 6’7″ height, noting that players of that size sometimes take longer to get everything working and that Ribalta might be on the verge of a breakout, despite his relatively old age for a debut. The lack of control is clearly a concern but Longenhagen and Ice feel it’s possible that he’s still harnessing his stuff and could continue taking steps forward.

The Nationals have adopted a mantra of “I don’t care how fast you throw ball four” this year and will undoubtedly be focused on helping Ribalta continue to rein in his stuff. They are out of contention this year but can get a look at Ribalta down the stretch to see if he can be a part of their plans for next year and beyond.