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Sean Doolittle

Nationals Exercise Sean Doolittle’s 2019 Option

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4:08pm: The Nationals have formally announced the move.

3:15pm: The Nationals have exercised their $6MM club option on left-hander Sean Doolittle, tweets Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. No official announcement has been made just yet, though as Janes notes, it was an obvious call for the Nationals that was never in any doubt.

The 32-year-old Doolittle enjoyed one what was very arguably the finest season of his career in 2018, tossing 45 innings with a minuscule 1.60 ERA as the Nationals’ primary closer. He saved 25 games and notched an absurd 60-to-6 K/BB ratio in that time, with the only real blemish on his season being a left foot injury that sidelined him for nearly two months. Beyond that, Doolittle was one of the best relievers in all of Major League Baseball this past season, making it an absolute no-brainer for the Nats to pick up his option.

As a bonus for the Nationals, they also hold a 2020 club option over the lefty — one that comes with a similarly affordable $6.5MM base salary. Doolittle has had some durability issues in the past, but he’s consistently dominant when healthy and should continue to serve as a key piece in the Nats’ bullpen for the next two years.

Nationals Activate Sean Doolittle

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The Nationals announced today that they have activated closer Sean Doolittle. He has been sidelined since mid-July with a stress reaction in his left foot.

While the initial expectation was that Doolittle would only miss a brief stretch, he ended up on the shelf for a key portion of the season in which the club failed to get back into the picture in the NL East. Now, despite some less-than-stirring recent performances from the division-leading Braves and Phillies, the Nats are buried at three games under .500 and 8.5 games off of the divisional pace.

Clearly, there’s no longer any reasonable hope that Doolittle will help his team climb back into contention. Particularly in these circumstances, and given his long-running challenges with injuries, it stands to reason that he’ll be handled carefully upon his return.

Before going on the DL, Doolittle had been one of the game’s most dominant relievers. In 37 1/3 innings, he allowed just six earned runs on a paltry 17 hits and three walks — good for an absurd 0.536 WHIP — while racking up 49 strikeouts.

Fortunately for the Nats, there are still two more seasons of control left to work with. The extension that Doolittle signed with the A’s, who dealt him to D.C. last summer, includes consecutive club options of just $6MM and $6.5MM ($500K buyout apiece) for the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

Sean Doolittle Has “Stress Reaction” In Foot

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Nationals closer Sean Doolittle underwent an MRI on Saturday that revealed a “stress reaction” in his left foot, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com tweets. There’s no timetable for Doolittle’s return, but he’s expected to miss “weeks, not months,” according to Zuckerman.

Doolittle has already been out since July 7, though the Nationals were surely hoping the left-hander would return after a minimum stay on the 10-day disabled list. Instead, the latest news on Doolittle is yet another negative development for Washington. Expected to contend for a World Series at the beginning of the season, the Nationals have limped to a 48-49 record, placing them 6 1/2 games out in the National League East and six behind a wild-card spot.

Now, considering how poorly their season has gone, it’s unclear just how aggressive the Nationals will be leading up to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. There are plenty of relievers set to change hands in the coming days, and the Nats could perhaps be involved in that market if they choose to buy. Of course, they already made a major addition to their bullpen last month in acquiring Kelvin Herrera from the Royals. Herrera hasn’t been close to as effective in Washington as he was in Kansas City for the season’s first couple months, but as an experienced closer, he’s the logical replacement for Doolittle in D.C.

The 31-year-old Doolittle’s void certainly isn’t an easy one to fill, given that he has posted outstanding results since debuting with the A’s in 2012. Doolittle was better than ever this year before going on the DL, as he logged a 1.45 ERA/1.97 FIP with 11.81 K/9 and .72 BB/9 in 37 1/3 innings. He also locked down nearly half of the Nats’ wins, saving 22 of 23 opportunities.

DL Placements: Felix Hernandez, Sean Doolittle, Josh Tomlin

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With several players hitting the disabled list this afternoon, we’ll round them up in this post:

  • The Mariners announced that starter Felix Hernandez will hit the DL owing to lower back tightness. It seems the idea is to afford him a longer rest by lining up the placement with the coming All-Star break, as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets. Reliever Nick Rumbelow and infielder Gordon Beckham will head onto the active roster, with outfielder John Andreoli being optioned out. Hopefully for the M’s, a bit of a respite will allow Hernandez to bounce back in the second half. It has been a frustrating season to this point, as he has allowed 5.13 earned runs per nine over 105 1/3 innings.
  • Likewise, the Nationals announced that closer Sean Doolittle is hitting the shelf with left toe inflammation. His placement is retroactive to July 7th, meaning he’ll be eligible to return immediately after the break. The roster will get two fresh arms in Wander Suero and Austin Voth, while fellow right-hander Jefry Rodriguez was optioned after his start yesterday. As for Doolittle, it had been hoped that he would be able to return to action, but the team can ill afford an un-utilized roster spot with a tired relief corps. The club has other capable late-inning arms to turn to, though obviously the fervent hope will be that this placement will stave off any more concerning health matters.
  • Indians righty Josh Tomlin is going to the DL with a right hamstring strain, per another announcement. He’ll be replaced by Adam Plutko, who has seen seven games (including six starts) of action in the majors this year. Tomlin has struggled both before and after being bumped from the rotation. Though he hasn’t been hit quite as hard in a relief capacity, he’s still allowing a .256/.294/.538 slash to opposing hitters while working from the bullpen. The 33-year-old owns a 6.98 ERA with 5.5 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 — and an unhealthy 3.9 homers per nine — over 49 total innings this year.

Quick Hits: Miller, Freeman, Nationals

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Differences between the levels of media attention in various markets can affect players as they change teams,writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Andrew Miller (who has played for teams like the Indians and Marlins with relatively small media contingents, as well as teams like the Red Sox and Yankees with large ones) says he prefers bigger media markets (although Cafardo also notes that Miller has enjoyed his time in Cleveland). “For me, the best thing that ever happened was coming to Boston,” says Miller. “I loved the big crowds and all of the attention paid to the team. I loved the adrenaline it gave me. But I know guys who prefer to just play baseball and not have to worry about outside things. Everybody is a little different.” Here are more quick notes from around the league.

  • Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman is pleased with how his organization’s rebuild is going, writes Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. “It’s nice to see things starting to form into a team and not just form a minor league system,” says Freeman. “It’s been a tough two years; I don’t think anybody’s gonna sugarcoat that around here. We had a team where most teams said, ‘Oh, good, we’re playing the Braves.’ But I don’t think most teams say that anymore. Last year, we’d be 30 games under .500 at this point. It’s been so much better.” Kepner notes that Freeman has earned plaudits from teammates for his willingness to try third base recently to accommodate the team’s changing roster, even though Freeman himself is a veteran in the midst of an outstanding season. Freeman played 16 games at third, although he’s been back at first base recently, with Matt Adams in the outfield and Brandon Phillips at the hot corner.
  • Lefty Sean Doolittle was initially distraught by the recent trade that sent him from the Athletics to the Nationals, but he says being dealt along with fellow reliever Ryan Madson helped, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Madson had already been part of five organizations before heading to the Nationals, whereas Doolittle had only ever been with the Athletics. “It was awesome for me having (Madson) here because he kept me really centered,” says Doolittle. “My emotions were all over the place, and he has such a calming presence about him. That really helped me.” Nats manager Dusty Baker chose Doolittle to close ahead of Madson or another new acquisition, Brandon Kintzler, even though all three have been closers before. Baker cites Doolittle’s experience as a deciding factor, although it’s worth noting he has the fewest career saves of the three. Perhaps that’s missing the point, though — Baker seems to view his new relief trio as three essentially interchangeable hurlers who are all capable of pitching the late innings.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Bautista, Yankees, Rutherford

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With the Red Sox looking far and wide for third base help, a couple of creative solutions are proposed by ESPN’s Scott Lauber and FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (writing on his Facebook page).  Lauber suggests that Boston could explore a deal for the Athletics’ Yonder Alonso (14 games as a third baseman over his eight-year MLB career) while Rosenthal’s suggestion is perhaps even more outside-the-box: the Tigers’ Ian Kinsler, who has played all of two innings at third in his 12 years in the Show.  Both suggestions, it should be noted, are based on only speculation from the two writers.  Rosenthal reports that the Red Sox and Tigers haven’t mentioned Kinsler in trade talks between the two clubs, while WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford (Twitter link) reports that Boston isn’t considering Alonso to fill its third base gap.  Still, as per Rosenthal, Dombrowski is apparently considering several infielders who could switch positions and play third, so the Sox might yet end up with a unique choice before the deadline.

Some more from around the AL East…

  • The Blue Jays have received “some feelers” about Jose Bautista, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (Twitter links).  Much of Toronto’s trade discussions to this point have focused around their pending free agents (i.e. Marco Estrada, Francisco Liriano, Joe Smith) though Bautista probably falls into this category as well, since the Jays seem unlikely to exercise their half of a $17MM mutual option for 2018.  Bautista’s production has fallen off this season, as the veteran slugger is hitting just .227/.340/.402 with 16 homers over 415 PA.  A trade is further complicated by Bautista’s trade veto rights as a 10-and-5 player, though one would think he would be interested in joining a contender.
  • The Yankees’ seven-player trade with the White Sox may be New York’s only really big move before the deadline, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes.  The Yankees are still looking for a left-handed hitting first baseman and lefty reliever, though “they do not appear to have urgency in those areas,” and certainly not to the degree it would take to move a significant prospect to address either need.  After missing out on Jose Quintana, the Yankees also don’t look like they’re willing to give up a notable prospect package to acquire a starter, since they were particularly enamored with Quintana’s durability and team-friendly contract.  While New York has been linked to Sonny Gray, Sherman reports that Gray’s injury history is a concern for the Yankees.  Similar concerns also scuttled the Yankees’ interest in Sean Doolittle before the Athletics dealt Doolittle to the Nationals.
  • Also from Sherman, he spoke to five rival personnel men who felt the Yankees made a very good move in swinging the Todd Frazier/David Robertson/Tommy Kahnle deal with the White Sox.  Blake Rutherford, the outfield prospect who headlined the minor league package sent to Chicago, received less-than-stellar reviews from the five executives, who questioned Rutherford’s power potential and his ability to stay as a center fielder.  One NL executive felt the Yankees may have sold high on Rutherford “when the buzz was still good” about his potential.  Incidentally, Sherman reports that Rutherford was also part of the Yankees’ offer to the White Sox for Quintana.

Nationals To Designate Jacob Turner

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The Nationals will designate Jacob Turner for assignment, according to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (via Twitter). His roster spot will be needed for the ascension of Edwin Jackson to take a start today.

Washington also needed to clear active roster space for just-acquired relievers Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson. That’ll be accomplished by optioning Austin Adams and Trevor Gott, each of whom had come up briefly while the club nailed down that trade.

Turner, 26, has played much the same role the Nats will now ask Jackson to occupy, with one major difference: now, there’s an open rotation spot. Jackson will have the first crack after allowing just one earned run on nine hits in his 20 1/3 innings at Triple-A Syracuse. Assuming he clears waivers and accepts an assignment, Turner will likely remain a major league option as well.

Quick Hits: Judge, Betts, Nats, A’s, Pirates, Orioles

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In Aaron Judge, the Yankees have a cornerstone right fielder. In Mookie Betts, the Red Sox have a cornerstone right fielder. The 6-foot-7, 272-pound Judge is radically different than the 5-9, 180-pound Betts, but the two American League All-Stars are among the majors’ premier players. To find out who’s the superior building block, Scott Lauber of ESPN.com polled two AL executives, three NL scouts and an AL scout. Each player ended up receiving three votes. One Judge supporter, an NL scout, said of the 25-year-old: “He has gotten shorter and quicker with his swing, more selective and disciplined. I understand that Dave Winfield has really helped him, as they are similarly tall and great athletes. Winfield talked to him about not striking out as much and thinking about RBIs, not home runs.” Meanwhile, an AL executive who prefers Betts, 24, reasoned:  “Given the track record of Betts and positional value that likely tracks better during the aging curve, I’d lean in his direction slightly. There’s clearly more upside in Judge if he keeps up this pace and retains such elite value for a longer term of control. But if I had to take one tomorrow, I’d take Betts.”

More reading material from around the majors as you contemplate Judge versus Betts:

  • The trade the Nationals and Athletics made on Sunday looks like a win-win, opines ESPN’s Keith Law (subscription required and recommended). In acquiring Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle, the Nationals managed to land a pair of quality relievers who possess excellent control without giving up any of their absolute best prospects. On the other hand, Law writes that the rebuilding A’s cleared salary, got back a capable big league reliever in Blake Treinen and a couple promising young players, both of whom were high selections in the 2016 draft. Nineteen-year-old Jesus Luzardo, the 35th choice, had the upside of a No. 2 starter before undergoing Tommy John surgery a summer ago, per Law, who notes that the right-hander seems to be bouncing back well from the procedure. Infielder Sheldon Neuse, the 58th pick, boasts “an above-average hit tool and excellent instincts on both sides of the ball,” and could have a future in the middle infield (likely second base), at third base or at a combination of those positions.
  • Pittsburgh, which sits seven games back of NL Central-leading Milwaukee, will begin a four-game series with the Brewers on Monday. The outcome of that set could have a major impact on the Pirates’ deadline plans, general manager Neal Huntington acknowledged Sunday (via Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). “Obviously an 0-4 changes the dynamic pretty significantly,” said Huntington. “We go 4-0, it changes the dynamic in a much more positive direction.” While Huntington’s focused on his team’s performance, his own future is murky, as the club still hasn’t exercised his option for 2018. “They’ve expressed interest in having us continue,” he revealed. “I’ve expressed interest in continuing. I’m sure at the appropriate time, we’ll get down to business and put something together.”
  • Major League Baseball’s deadline to sign draft picks this year was July 7, yet the Orioles didn’t ink 26th-rounder Cameron Bishop until Sunday, as Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network reported. While the Orioles submitted the deal (worth $605K) five minutes past the 5 p.m. ET deadline on the 7th, Bishop actually agreed to it on the 5th and passed a physical on the 6th, relays Rosenthal. With that in mind, the league determined that it would be unfair to punish the left-hander because of a delay by the O’s, so it signed off on the pact.

Nationals Acquire Sean Doolittle, Ryan Madson

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The Nationals made their long-awaited strike for bullpen help, acquiring relievers Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson from the Athletics, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter links).  Right-hander Blake Treinen, minor league left-hander Jesus Luzardo and minor league third baseman Sheldon Neuse are headed to Oakland. The Nats have officially announced the move, adding that Joe Ross has been transferred to the 60-day DL to create roster space.

Ryan Madson & Sean Doolittle | MLBTR Photoshop

The trade ends months of speculation about how Washington would address its struggling bullpen, which sits last in baseball with a cumulative 5.34 ERA and -0.9 fWAR.  The Nats were linked in trade rumors to seemingly every available reliever in the sport and finally settled on a familiar trade partner in Oakland.  Rosenthal reported yesterday that the Nationals were looking to add both Doolittle and Madson from the A’s in a single deal.  Both Madson and Doolittle have closing experience and either could slide right into Washington’s open ninth-inning role, though the club could also alternate between the two depending on how matchups favor the right-handed Madson or the left-handed Doolittle.

The Nats are undoubtedly very familiar with Madson from his years pitching for the Phillies in the NL East, though that almost seems like another career for the 36-year-old, who missed all of 2012-14 due to injury before resurfacing as a shutdown reliever for the 2015 World Series champion Royals.  Madson parlayed that comeback year into a three-year, $22MM deal with the A’s and has performed well in Oakland, posting a 3.03 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 3.38 K/BB rate in 104 IP wearing in the green-and-gold.

Drafted 41st overall by the A’s in 2007, Doolittle has been a staple of the A’s bullpen for the last six seasons, with a 3.09 ERA, 10.7 K/9 and a sterling 6.38 K/BB rate over his 253 career innings.  He has run into a bit of trouble with home runs over the last two seasons, which could hint at an issue as he moves from the Coliseum to a more hitter-friendly venue in Nationals Park.

Doolittle is owed roughly $1MM more this season and $4.35MM in 2018, as per an early-career extension signed with the Athletics in April 2014.  The Nationals also hold club options on Doolittle for 2019 ($6MM, $500K buyout) and 2020 ($6.5MM, $500K buyout), making him an affordable long-term answer in their bullpen.  Between both Doolittle and Madson, the Nats have addressed their pen both now and in the future with the trade.

Rosenthal reports that no money will change hands in the trade, so the Nationals will fully absorb the Madson and Doolittle contracts.  The Nats will therefore add $11.85MM in payroll next season, though some money will come off the books with the likes of Jayson Werth, Joe Blanton, Oliver Perez and Stephen Drew hitting free agency (though Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy are due hefty raises and will eat up almost $15MM of that open money).

Treinen was part of another Oakland/Washington deal back in January 2013 when the then-Athletics prospect was dealt to the Nats as part of the three-team deal with the Mariners that saw John Jaso go to the A’s, Mike Morse to Seattle and A.J. Cole to the Nationals.  Armed with both a 96mph-fastball and an ability to keep the ball out of the air (62.2% career ground-ball rate), Treinen put up good numbers for the Nats in 2014-16 before running into problems this season.  Treinen has a 5.73 ERA over 37 2/3 innings, though a bloated .381 BABIP is partially to blame — Treinen’s ERA predictors (3.75 FIP, 4.09 xFIP, 3.75 SIERA) are much more forgiving of his performance.

The righty will only be arb-eligible for the first time this coming winter, so the Athletics have acquired a big arm under team control through the 2020 season.  Santiago Casilla is likely to be Oakland’s primary ninth-inning option in the short term, though Treinen surely projects as a potential closer of the future for the A’s, and could conceivably audition in the role before this season is out.

Luzardo and Neuse were respectively rated 15th and 17th by the Baseball America Prospect Handbook’s preseason ranking of the top 30 prospects in the Nationals’ system.  Luzardo is a hard-throwing 19-year-old who was a third-round pick for Washington in the 2016 draft, despite undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2016.  He quite possibly would’ve been taken earlier in the draft were it not for that surgery, and Luzardo has only just begun his pro career, with three starts this season for the Nationals’ rookie league team.

Neuse was a second-round pick in 2016, and is hitting .291/.349/.469 with nine home runs over 321 A-ball plate appearances this year.  Neuse is described by the BA Handbook as possessing average power potential, with “a short, compact swing” that allows him to hit to all fields.

Nationals Trying To Acquire Ryan Madson, Sean Doolittle

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As they look to improve their beleaguered bullpen, the Nationals are attempting to acquire both right-hander Ryan Madson and lefty Sean Doolittle from the Athletics, reports Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network (Twitter links).

At 53-36, the Nationals own one of the majors’ best records and lead the National League East by 9.5 games, but their success has come in spite of a horrid bullpen. With Blake Treinen, Joe Blanton, Koda Glover, Shawn Kelley and Sammy Solis having dealt with injuries and/or posted poor numbers, Nationals relievers entered play Saturday last in the majors in both ERA (5.18) and fWAR (minus-0.9). Clearly, then, Washington’s going to have to bolster its relief corps this summer if it’s going to make a serious push for a World Series in October.

Both Madson and Doolittle would seemingly help the Nationals’ cause, given that they’ve been excellent this season. The 36-year-old Madson has bounced back from a middling 2016 to resemble the stellar reliever he was in his halcyon days with the Phillies and Royals. Over 38 1/3 innings in 2017, the hard-throwing Madson has logged a 2.11 ERA, 8.92 K/9, 1.41 BB/9 and a sterling ground-ball percentage (55.9). He has also induced infield pop-ups at an 11.8 percent rate, further adding to his appeal.

Doolittle, 30, has put recent shoulder issues behind him to record a 3.38 ERA and ridiculous strikeout and walk numbers (13.08 K/9, .84 BB/9) through 21 1/3 frames. While Doolittle – who, like Madson, brings a mid-90s fastball to the table – hasn’t generated many ground balls (35.6 percent), he has offset that with an absurd infield fly rate (21.7 percent).

With the A’s at 40-50 and well out of the playoff picture, dealing both Madson and Doolittle by the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline seems like a strong possibility. Neither player would be a rental for an acquiring club – Madson is on a $7.5MM salary through next season, and Doolittle is controllable on an eminently affordable deal through 2020.

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