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Nationals Designate Nick Senzel For Assignment

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The Nationals announced that third baseman Nick Senzel has been designated for assignment.  Infielder Trey Lipscomb was called back up from Triple-A Rochester in the corresponding move.

It is the second time this week that the Nats have DFA’ed one of their veteran pickups from the offseason, as Eddie Rosario was designated and subsequently released (and then quickly signed by the Braves, his former team).  Rosario’s minor league deal carried a $2MM base salary once he was selected to the Nationals’ active roster, and likewise, Senzel signed a guaranteed one-year, $2MM contract with Washington over the winter.  If Senzel isn’t claimed or traded during his DFA period and then released, the Nationals will be responsible for the roughly $950K still owed to Senzel, apart from the prorated minimum MLB salary that would be covered by a new team if Senzel signs elsewhere.

The financial element of today’s move is probably secondary to the bigger-aspect of the Nationals pulling the cord early on a veteran player rather than looking to move Senzel in a trade closer to the deadline.  As with Rosario, it seems like Washington just opted to move on entirely since Senzel wasn’t producing enough to generate much trade interest.  Senzel has hit .209/.303/.359 with seven home runs over 235 plate appearances, translating to a below-average 90 wRC+.  Apart from an excellent 11.5% walk rate, Senzel wasn’t bringing much to the table either offensively or defensively as the Nats’ regular third baseman, and he had only 0.1 fWAR over 64 games.

As has often been the case for Senzel, health was a factor.  He suffered a fractured thumb right at the end of Spring Training that required a season-opening stint on the 10-day injured list, and though the fracture was slight enough that he missed less than three weeks of action, it is easy to imagine how any kind of lingering thumb discomfort might’ve impacted Senzel’s performance at the plate.

This is essentially the story of Senzel’s career, as a wide range of injuries has kept him off the field for long stretches of time, to say nothing of how his ceiling as a talent has been lowered.  Selected second overall by the Reds in the 2016 draft, Senzel battled injuries and a number of position changes over his first five MLB seasons, and he hit only .239/.302/.369 in 1366 PA for Cincinnati from 2019-23.  The Reds then non-tendered him last fall, sending Senzel to free agency and for what he hoped was a welcome change of scenery in Washington.

While the Nationals’ 41-47 record still puts them on the outskirts of the NL wild card race, 2024 was always seen as another step in the team’s rebuilding process, as the Nats were looking for more development from their youngsters already on the active roster and those just on their way into the Show for the first time.  Star outfield prospect James Wood made his MLB debut this past week in the wake of Rosario’s departure, Victor Robles’ release last month created more time for Jacob Young as the regular center fielder, Joey Meneses was optioned to Triple-A to make more room for Juan Yepez at first base.  Lipscomb should be the favorite for the third base job with Senzel out, though top prospect Brady House is the team’s longer-term third baseman of the future.

Impending free agents Jesse Winker and Dylan Floro remain as two of the Nationals’ likeliest veteran trade chips heading into the July 30th deadline.  Such players as outfielder Lane Thomas and relievers Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan have also reportedly drawn interest, and while that trio is all arbitration-controlled through the 2025 campaign, one would image the Nats would be open to listening to offers as they look towards reinforcing their core.

Nationals Select Juan Yepez

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July 5: The Nats have made it official, announcing that they have selected Yepez and transferred Gray to the 60-day IL.

July 4: The Nationals are planning to promote Juan Yepez, according to Andrew Golden of The Washington Post. The first baseman signed a minor league contract with the team this past December.

Yepez signed with the Braves as an international free agent in 2014, and three years later, the Braves traded him to the Cardinals in exchange for Matt Adams. Another five years after that, Yepez made his MLB debut with St. Louis in 2022, appearing in 76 games, hitting 12 home runs, and producing a 107 wRC+. He went 2-for-5 with another long ball in the playoffs, driving in two of the three runs the Cardinals managed to score against the Phillies in the Wild Card Series.

Despite his strong first impression, Yepez failed to make the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster in 2023. He hit poorly in spring training (60 wRC+), poorly at Triple-A (82 wRC+), and poorly during a few brief stints with the big league squad throughout the season (51 wRC+). St. Louis non-tendered him after the year.

The Nationals took a chance on Yepez this past winter, signing him to a minor league deal and issuing the 26-year-old an invitation to spring training. He did not make the major league roster out of camp, but the righty batter had a much better spring this time around, slashing .382/.405/.559 and striking out only once in 37 trips to the plate. His Triple-A stats aren’t quite as impressive, but he has continued to limit his strikeouts, and his numbers are much better across the board than they were last season. He has been hot over his last 14 games, going 21-for-54 (.389) with a 1.070 OPS and 178 wRC+.

Washington optioned first baseman/designated hitter Joey Meneses to Triple-A Rochester earlier today. Meneses has struggled all season, slashing .235/.294./.310 (72 wRC+), and evidently, the goodwill he earned with the Nationals during his breakout 2022 season has finally run out. He hit poorly last season as well (96 wRC+), but his numbers this season are significantly worse. Meneses ranks among the bottom five qualified hitters in OPS and wRC+.

Presumably, Yepez will see most of his playing time at first base. The Nationals will hope he can provide some of the right-handed thump they were looking to get from Meneses. With Joey Gallo on the injured list and Harold Ramírez hitting pretty much just as poorly as Meneses, Washington doesn’t have a ton of other options at first. Yepez also played the corner outfield with the Cardinals, but he has not played the outfield this year at Triple-A. More to the point, the Nationals don’t need any help in the outfield, with Lane Thomas, James Wood, Jacob Young, and Jesse Winker on the roster.

The Nationals did not immediately replace Meneses on the active roster, so there is an open spot for Yepez on the 26-man roster. However, the team will need to make a corresponding transaction to add Yepez to the 40-man. The most straightforward move would be to transfer Josiah Gray from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL. Gray has already missed significantly more than 60 days nursing an elbow injury.

Nationals Option Joey Meneses

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The Nationals announced that first baseman Joey Meneses has been optioned to Triple-A Rochester after today’s game. Additionally, outfielder Eddie Rosario has cleared unconditional release waivers and is now a free agent. The corresponding move for Meneses has not been announced yet.

Meneses, 32, will head to the minors for the first time in almost two years. The rebuilding Nats cleared out some lineup space at the 2022 deadline, trading away Juan Soto, Josh Bell and Ehire Adrianza.

They selected Meneses to the roster at that time. He had always hit well in the minors but was a 30-year-old with no major league experience and the transaction was largely buried, with Meneses expected to simply play out the string on a lost season.

But Meneses went on to demolish major league pitching in his debut. He got into 56 games as 2022 was winding down, crushing 13 home runs in that time. He slashed .324/.367/.563 for a wRC+ of 157.

Though it was a magical couple of months, he hasn’t been able to carry it forward. He added another 13 homers last year, but in a fair larger sample of 154 games. His .275/.321/.401 batting line in 2023 wasn’t disastrous, translating to a 96 wRC+, but he doesn’t offer much else. He’s not a burner on the basepaths and isn’t considered a strong defender at first base or in an outfield corner. Here in 2024, the results have been even worse. He has just three long balls so far and is slashing .235/.294/.310 for a wRC+ of 72.

The Nats have clearly decided that it’s time to move on, but they will need to figure out how to cover first base now. Harold Ramírez could be an option but he’s also considered a poor defender and isn’t hitting much this year either. Joey Gallo got a bunch of at-bats there earlier in the season but he’s on the injured list with a hamstring strain and it doesn’t appear his return is imminent. Jesse Winker has never played first in the majors but has a small amount of experience there in the minors. Trey Lipscomb is on the 40-man but he’s more of a glove-first utility guy. Juan Yepez is in Triple-A on a minor league deal and not on the 40-man at present. The open market features players like José Abreu and Mike Ford, though they were let go due to their own struggles.

From a service time point of view, Meneses came into this season with one year and 65 days, putting him 107 shy of the two-year mark. Today is the 99th day of the 2024 season, meaning he’s still just under that two-year line. He’ll still have a chance to cross it if he comes back up at any point, but he’ll likely need to produce more offense in the next few weeks in order for that to come to fruition.

As for Rosario, it was reported yesterday that the club had requested release waivers on him. No other club was going to claim him, given that he’s making $2MM this year while having slashed .183/.226/.329. Now that he’s a free agent, he’ll be free to sign with any other club. That signing club would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, which would be subtracted from what the Nats owe him.

Nationals Request Release Waivers On Eddie Rosario

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The Nationals announced Wednesday that they’ve requested unconditional release waivers on outfielder Eddie Rosario, who was designated for assignment earlier in the week when top prospect James Wood was called up to the majors. Once Rosario and the remainder of his $2MM base salary officially clear, he’ll become a free agent who can sign with any team. A new club would only owe Rosario the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster or injured list.

Rosario, 32, is a former 30-homer slugger whose bat has declined substantially over the past four seasons. He had a brief and memorable surge with the 2021 Braves after being acquired from Cleveland in a salary-dump trade — .271/.330/.573 down the stretch, plus NLCS MVP honors after going 14-for-25 with three homers — his overall offensive output dating back to 2021 has been sub-par. In 1433 trips to the plate between Cleveland, Atlanta and Washington, he’s batted just .235/.283/.403 (85 wRC+) with increasing strikeout troubles.

The 2024 season has been particularly tough. Rosario posted a strong .253/.319/.530 performance in the month of May, but that’s been bookended by two of the worst months of his career from an offensive standpoint. Overall, he’s hitting just .183/.226/.329 with the Nats, making it a foregone conclusion that he’ll pass through release waivers and become a free agent.

Rosario was a productive everyday outfielder with the Twins from 2017-20, hitting .281/.317/.493 and belting 96 home runs in 2002 plate appearances, but it’s been quite some time since he’s produced near that level over a sample of any meaningful note. Another club will likely take a flier on the veteran’s left-handed bat with another minor league contract, but he’ll probably have to play his way back to the big leagues with a strong showing in Triple-A.

MLBTR Podcast: The Rays Could Deal Starters, Garrett Crochet, James Wood And Free Agent Power Rankings

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

* This podcast was recorded on the evening of July 2, before the Rays traded Aaron Civale to the Brewers.

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • What are the Astros going to do at the deadline? (42:15)
  • The Rangers are terrible but are World Series champions for the first time. Can they sell even if it’s the best thing for the team? (46:50)
  • Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris says the club could buy or sell. What do the final months of the season look like in Detroit? (54:30)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Josiah Gray Headed For Further Testing With Elbow Discomfort

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The Nationals are dealing with a worrisome situation regarding one of their top pitchers. Josiah Gray told reporters that he came out of his most recent rehab start with elbow discomfort and fatigue (X link via Andrew Golden of the Washington Post). He’ll head for additional testing. Manager Dave Martinez indicated they’ll hold off on that imaging until around the All-Star Break (relayed on X by The Post’s Spencer Nusbaum).

Gray has been on the injured list since the second week of the season. He went on the shelf on April 9 with what the team called a forearm strain. The right-hander has missed nearly three months but appeared to be nearing a return. He’d begun a rehab assignment on June 9 and has made five starts in the minors in recent weeks. Gray was likely ticketed for one final rehab outing next weekend before rejoining the MLB rotation.

Those plans are on hold as the Nats hope for encouraging test results. Even if testing doesn’t reveal any kind of structural damage, the club will assuredly be very cautious in building Gray’s throwing program back up. Gray likened the discomfort to the soreness he initially felt in April, raising the possibility of another extended absence.

This clearly hasn’t been the desired follow-up to the righty’s first All-Star season. Gray turned in a 3.91 earned run average while logging 159 innings (second on the team behind Patrick Corbin’s 180 frames) a year ago. While Gray’s production tailed off down the stretch, it was a generally encouraging season for the former top prospect.

The Nats have patched together a reasonably productive rotation despite absences to both Gray and Trevor Williams, who hasn’t pitched in over a month because of a muscle strain in his forearm. Washington ranks 12th with a 3.90 ERA from its starters. They’re in the bottom third of the league with a 21.3% strikeout rate but have generally shown decent control and done a solid job keeping the ball on the ground.

MacKenzie Gore has turned in a 3.47 ERA with a strong 27.2% strikeout rate in the best season of his young career. Jake Irvin and rookie Mitchell Parker have each managed an earned run average in the low-3.00s despite middling strikeout numbers. Parker, in particular, has shown surprisingly strong control after struggling with walks throughout his minor league days. DJ Herz, who stepped into the rotation since Williams went down, has been inconsistent but has flashed bat-missing ability through his first five MLB starts.

Corbin is on his way to his fourth consecutive season allowing more than five earned runs per nine. The veteran southpaw was better in June than he’d been through the first couple months, though he still posted a 4.71 ERA in 28 2/3 innings. His rotation spot might have been in jeopardy if Gray were healthy, but he figures to get a longer leash after the latter’s setback.

The Nationals have dropped seven of their last 10 and fallen towards the back of the group of mid-level teams in the National League. They’re 39-45, tied with the Reds and narrowly ahead of the Cubs but behind five teams for the NL’s last Wild Card spot.

While it doesn’t seem they’ll put themselves in position to acquire impactful rotation help at the deadline, they’ll at least have the opportunity to play their way into buying. They’re amidst a three-game series with the Mets. After that, they’ll take on the Cardinals, Mets, Brewers, Reds, Padres and St. Louis again before kicking off a set with the D-Backs heading into the deadline. Apart from Milwaukee, all those teams are jumbled in the Wild Card mix.

Nationals Promote James Wood, Designate Eddie Rosario For Assignment

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The Nationals have made top prospect James Wood’s previously reported promotion to the major leagues official, formally announcing the selection of his contract from Triple-A Rochester. In a corresponding move, veteran outfielder Eddie Rosario has been designated for assignment.

Wood’s promotion to the majors was reported last Friday, and MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald broke down the vaunted outfielder’s impending ascension to the majors at the time. The 21-year-old had laid waste to upper-minors pitching this season, delivering an outrageous .353/.463/.595 slash with 10 homers, 16 doubles and nearly as many walks (40) as strikeouts (42). Wood has drawn a free pass in a massive 17.3% of his trips to the plate and chipped in a 10-for-11 showing in stolen base attempts as well.

A second-round pick of the Padres back in 2021, Wood has elevated his status to the point that he’s widely regarded as the top yet-to-debut prospect in the sport. Baseball America and MLB.com both rank him as the game’s No. 3 prospect, but the players ahead of him between those two lists (Paul Skenes, Jackson Holliday, Junior Caminero) have all reached the majors at least briefly. Based on the timing of his promotion, Wood will now be under team control through at least the 2030 season and won’t be eligible for arbitration until the 2027-28 offseason.

Wood now joins top Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore and shortstop CJ Abrams as potential core pieces acquired by the Nationals in the blockbuster trade that sent Juan Soto to San Diego two summers ago. The Nats still have minor league outfielder Robert Hassell III and minor league lefty Jarlin Susana working their way through the system as well. Neither is viewed as having the type of ceiling Wood, Abrams and Gore have already shown, but Hassell is still just 22 and reached Double-A this year, while the 20-year-old Susana is in his second season at Low-A. Both players could yet reach the big leagues in the next few years.

Turning to the 32-year-old Rosario, he’s long been seen as a potential casualty of Wood’s big league promotion. The former Twins, Braves and Guardians outfielder signed a minor league deal with a $2MM base salary during spring training and made the team’s Opening Day roster despite a poor showing in nine spring contests. Rosario had an awful first month of the season (.088/.137/.162 through the end of April), followed by a blistering May (.253/.319/.530) before falling into another major swoon (.191/.200/.250 in June).

Overall, Rosario’s time with the Nats will draw to a close with a .183/.226/.329 batting line. That’s 46% worse than league-average production, by measure of wRC+ (54). Rosario’s 5.5% walk rate was his lowest since 2019, while his 23% strikeout rate is roughly in line with the 2022-23 rates he showed in Atlanta (but a far cry from the 16.1% mark he turned in from 2017-21).

The Braves acquired Rosario in a 2021 salary-dump deal with Cleveland and immediately saw him go on a magical run down the stretch, slashing .271/.330/.573 with seven homers in 106 plate appearances. He went on to deliver a legendary 14-for-25 performance with three home runs during the National League Championship Series, taking home NLCS MVP honors in the process, before slumping in the World Series.

Rosario’s late surge with Atlanta prompted the team to re-sign him on a two-year, $18MM contract that proved regrettable. He hit .212/.259/.328 in his first season of that contract, and while Rosario bounced back with 21 homers in 2023, his overall batting line was effectively league average (100 wRC+) while his defense continued to receive lackluster grades. Rosario was a productive everyday outfielder with the Twins from 2017-20 but in four seasons since that time he’s turned in a .236/.283/.403 batting line with poor defense and mounting strikeout rates.

The Nats will have five days to trade Rosario, release him or place him on outright waivers, though a veteran with Rosario’s service time would surely just reject an outright assignment to Triple-A anyhow. It’s unlikely that any team would claim even the modest remainder on Rosario’s contract. The likeliest outcome is a release, at which point Rosario will be free to sign with any team. A new club could owe him only the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster. That sum would be subtracted from what the Nats still owe him, but Washington will be on the hook for the majority of his contract at this point.

Nationals Planning To Call Up James Wood On Monday

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Nationals fan can circle Monday, July 1 as one of the most anticipated days in recent franchise history. They’re planning to promote top outfield prospect James Wood for his MLB debut when they return home for a series against the Mets that day, reports Grant Paulsen of 106.7 FM The Fan. Talk Nats recently suggested that could be a potential target date for the ballyhooed prospect’s debut, and it seems that is indeed the Nats’ plan. Washington will need to formally select Wood’s contract to get him onto the 40-man roster. The 21-year-old Wood, currently the game’s No. 3 overall prospect at Baseball America, was one of the centerpieces in the blockbuster trade sending Juan Soto from Washington to San Diego two years ago.

Wood, now 21, was selected by the Padres in the second round of the 2021 draft. Baseball America ranked him the #5 prospect in San Diego’s system going into 2022. He increased his prospect stock almost immediately, with a strong showing in 50 Single-A games that year. He hit ten home runs, stole 15 bases and drew a walk in 15.7% of his plate appearances, striking out just 17.8% of the time. His .337/.453/.601 batting line translated to a 168 wRC+.

As mentioned, Wood changed teams in the 2022 deal that sent Soto to the Padres, with the Nationals also getting CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit. Wood continued at the Single-A level after that deal, slashing .293/.366/.463 for his new organization.

Going into 2023, Wood was generally considered to be one of the top 20 prospects around the league and he just kept hitting. He got into 129 games last year between High-A and Double-A, launching 26 homers and swiping 18 bags. His 31.5% strikeout rate was a bit high but he was still getting walked at a string 11.8% clip.

This year, Wood’s progression has continued with more amazing numbers, though with a slight injury hiccup. In late May, he suffered a hamstring injury and missed closed to a month, but he returned to the field and has looked no worse for wear. Through 51 Triple-A games this season, he currently sports a monster line of .346/.458/.578. That includes ten home runs, ten steals and a 17.3% walk rate. He’s also trimmed his strikeout rate to a tidy 18.2% level.

Wood is clearly ready for the next step and will try tackling major league pitching. Not all prospects find immediate success when brought up to the big leagues, so it shouldn’t be a massive surprise if he can’t keep putting up video game numbers like he has in the minors, but he has little left to prove and it’s time for the show.

For the Nationals, it’s a very interesting transition time for this promotion. They spent most of the previous decade in contention, with rosters featuring star players like Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Trea Turner, Max Scherzer, Soto and others, winning a title in 2019. But the bottom quickly fell out after they won that World Series, which led to trades of Scherzer, Turner and Soto.

Though dealing a generational talent like Soto may have been tough for the Washington front office and its fans, it has played a huge role in what seems to be a relatively quick return to respectable baseball. Abrams’ defense is still a work in progress but he’s putting up huge offensive numbers from the shortstop position and stealing bases as well, while Gore is having himself a very nice season on the mound.

The Nats came into this season clearly still in rebuild mode but they haven’t fallen completely out of the playoff picture in the weak National League race. Their 38-42 record is clearly subpar but they are only three games back of a Wild Card spot at the moment.

If Wood is able to succeed in the majors right away, that would obviously be a boost for their chances of hanging around that playoff race. Wood has experience at all three outfield spots but has been in left field since coming back from his injury, perhaps suggesting that is where the Nats plan to slot him in. Jesse Winker has been playing that spot and is having a nice season, but he’s not considered a strong defender and may be moved into a designated hitter role. Eddie Rosario has been serving as the DH for most of this month but is hitting just .181/.226/.330 for the year. If he’s going to be the one relinquishing the most playing time to Wood, it will be a low bar to clear for Wood in providing the Nats with an immediate upgrade.

Whether the Nats can be a surprise contender this year or not, Wood is still lined up to be a big part of a new core that has been gradually forming in Washington. As mentioned, Abrams and Gore are having good seasons. Jacob Young hasn’t hit much yet but has a strong floor in center field thanks to his speed and defense. Young and controllable pitchers like Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz have shown encouraging signs to various degrees. Cade Cavalli will be back in that mix after he finishes rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. And Wood won’t be the last exciting prospect promotion, with Dylan Crews, Brady House and others on the way.

The trade deadline is on July 30, just over a month away, so the club can take that time to decide if they want to try for something this year or just focus on putting the pieces together for the future. Either way, there’s plenty to like in the long-term view. In addition to the talent, the onerous Patrick Corbin contract is set to expire at the end of this season. That will leave the future payroll relatively clean, Keibert Ruiz and Strasburg the only notable deals on the books. The Ruiz deal has a fairly low average annual value while Strasburg’s deal was renegotiated to defer some money as part of his retirement. In short, the club has plenty of ability to build around their budding core going forward.

For Wood, he won’t be able to earn a full year of service time this year. Top prospects called up midseason can earn a full service year by finishing in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting, but that will be essentially impossible for him at this point. Even if he crushes the ball for the next three months, he won’t be able to catch guys like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Paul Skenes, Joey Ortiz and the other rookies that have already had plenty of time to pull ahead.

He also won’t have enough time to get to Super Two status after 2026, based on where previous cutoffs have been. The earliest he could qualify for arbitration is after 2027 and his earliest free agency would be after 2030. Future optional assignments could push those timelines back but that won’t be a concern if he keeps mashing the way he has been on the farm.

MLBTR Podcast: Injured Trade Candidates, The Cristopher Sánchez Extension And Blue Jays’ Woes

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • “What would it take for the Rockies to consider trading some young assets like Ryan McMahon or Brendan Rodgers?” (23:55)
  • “The Astros are clearly out of it, so why isn’t Ryan Pressly a top target of teams with bad bullpens?” (30:35)
  • “Would the Marlins or Nationals trade with the Mets, Phillies or Braves, with Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Lane Thomas being good fits?” (39:25)
  • “Will T.J. McFarland of the Athletics be traded to the Cubs or another contender?” (47:45)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Nationals Select Harold Ramírez

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The Nationals announced on Monday that they’ve selected outfielder/designated hitter Harold Ramírez. Washington optioned corner infielder Trey Lipscomb to Triple-A Rochester to clear a spot on the active roster. The Nats have had a vacancy on the 40-man for weeks, so they didn’t need to make a move in that regard.

Ramírez inked a minor league deal with Washington a couple weeks ago. The Rays had somewhat surprisingly released him after a slow start to the season. The 29-year-old had hit .268/.284/.305 over 48 games. While the batting average was solid, he only hit one homer and drew walks in fewer than 2% of his plate appearances. Between the diminished offense and Ramírez’s limited defensive profile, he was squeezed off the Tampa Bay roster.

All 29 other teams passed on a chance to add Ramírez for the $2MM+ which remained on his $3.8MM arbitration salary. Once he cleared waivers, the Rays were left on the hook for that money (minus the prorated portion of the $740K league minimum for any time he spent on another team’s MLB roster). While he didn’t immediately secure a big league spot, Ramírez only needed seven games in Rochester to play his way back to the big leagues. He tattooed Triple-A pitching, picking up nine hits and drawing six walks over 31 trips to the dish.

The Nationals have left-handed hitting Jesse Winker and Eddie Rosario as their respective starters at designated hitter and in left field. Ramírez could ostensibly take some reps against left-handed pitching at either spot. The righty-swinging Ramírez has mashed southpaws at a .361/.393/.483 clip in 303 plate appearances since the start of the 2022 season. He owns a more pedestrian .274/.314/.380 line against right-handed arms over that stretch.

Ramírez has more than five years of MLB service time, so the Nats can’t send him back to the minors without his consent. Washington can keep him around through the 2025 season via arbitration, though he will need to hit better than he did early in the year with Tampa Bay to avoid being non-tendered.

Andrew Golden of the Washington Post first reported (on X) that Ramírez was joining the Nats.

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