MLBTR Podcast: Final Days In Oakland, The Surging Tigers, And If The Nats Will Pursue Soto
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…
- The final games in Oakland for the Athletics (2:25)
- The Tigers have climbed back into the postseason race and have promoted Jackson Jobe (5:40)
- The Nationals are looking for middle-of-the-order bats and maybe Juan Soto could be one of them (16:15)
- The Reds fired manager David Bell (26:45)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- What will the Yankees‘ backup plan be if they don’t re-sign Juan Soto? (30:20)
- Do you see the Pirates making any significant off season moves to put a good offense around Paul Skenes and Jared Jones? (39:30)
- Which three teams will be the most interested in signing Willy Adames? Could he command $100MM over 4 years? (46:10)
Check out our past episodes!
- The Matt Chapman Negotiations, Dodgers’ Pitching Injuries, And Strengths And Weaknesses Of Playoff Contenders – listen here
- Matt Chapman’s Extension, Star Prospect Promotions, Bo Bichette’s Future In Toronto – listen here
- Royals’ Reinforcements, Promoted Angels, And The Terrible White Sox – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Nationals Option CJ Abrams To Triple-A
In a surprising move, the Nationals optioned shortstop CJ Abrams to Triple-A Rochester, the Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli reports (via X). Infielder Trey Lipscomb is being called up in the corresponding move, as per The Washington Post’s Andrew Golden (X link).
Nationals manager Davey Martinez told reporters (including Golden and MASNsports.com’s Dan Kolko) that Abrams was optioned not for his play on the field, but rather “an internal issue” matter that Martinez didn’t discuss in further detail. Abrams will report not to Rochester for the last two games of the Triple-A season but will instead go to the Nats’ spring camp in Florida to work out. Martinez confirmed that Abrams wouldn’t appear in the majors again in 2024, but remains a big piece of the organization’s present and future.
It was just over two months ago that Abrams was representing the Nationals in the All-Star Game, as the 23-year-old was named to the NL squad as a reward for his outstanding first half. Abrams hit .268/.343/.489 with 15 home runs in 398 plate appearances prior to the All-Star break, and looked all the world like a breakout player in his age-23 season. As the sixth overall pick of the 2019 draft and the centerpiece of the trade package Washington received from the Padres in the Juan Soto trade, Abrams has long been seen as a future star, and the early returns of his 2024 season looked like a big step forward from his respectable performance in 2023, his first full MLB campaign.
Since the Midsummer Classic, however, Abrams’ production has tailed off. The shortstop has hit only .203/.260/.326 in 204 PA during the second half, and gone yard only five times. Abrams’ strikeout rate has risen from 20.1% in the first half to 23.53% in the second half, and his line drive rate plummeted from 23.6% to 7.8%. This decline in hard contact indicates that Abrams’ .243 BABIP since the All-Star break is more than just bad batted-ball luck, and his .307 BABIP in the first half wasn’t too far above league average anyways.
This extended slump notwithstanding, it is clear that Abrams wouldn’t have been sent down if it wasn’t for this off-the-field issue. Whatever the circumstances, the club deemed the situation serious enough to send this public message to Abrams as something of a wake-up call or a punishment. There is bound to be some speculation that the Nats might now look to trade Abrams, yet Martinez’s comments about Abrams’ importance to Washington’s future seemed designed to end such speculation before it even got off the ground. Going forward, Martinez feels Abrams “will be better” in the aftermath of the option.
Missing the last nine days of the 2024 season shouldn’t have any impact on Abrams’ Super Two eligibility. As a reminder, “Super Two” players have less than three years of MLB service time, but sit in the top 22 percent of service time of all players between two and three years, and as such are awarded an extra year of arbitration eligibility. Abrams entered the 2024 campaign with one year and 130 days of service time, and thus a full season on Washington’s active roster would’ve put him at the 2.130 mark — almost surely qualifying him for Super Two status based on the cutoff points over the last 15 years.
However, a player only needs to be on an active roster or the Major League injured list for 172 days of the 187-day season to qualify as having received one full year of official service time. As such, since Abrams has already been with the Nationals beyond the 172-day threshold, he has achieved one full year of service time for 2024 and remains on track to be a Super Two player.
Nationals Activate Trevor Williams
September 20: The Nationals announced today that Williams has officially been reinstated, as expected. In corresponding moves, they optioned right-hander Zach Brzykcy and transferred Adon to the 60-day IL.
September 18: The Nationals are planning to reinstate Trevor Williams from the 60-day injured list on Friday, tweets Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. The right-hander will get the start at Wrigley Field in his first MLB outing since the end of May. They’ll need to create a 40-man roster spot but could move Alex Call or Joan Adon to the 60-day IL if they don’t anticipate either player returning this season.
That would position Williams to make a pair of starts before the end of the season. It’s a bigger development for the pitcher than it is for the team. Washington is only trying to play spoiler at this point, but Williams is an impending free agent. The 32-year-old has been out for more than three months after being diagnosed with a flexor strain in his throwing arm. There’s only so much he can do in two starts to answer teams’ questions about his durability. That said, getting back on the mound and showing the caliber of stuff he had early in the season is certainly preferable to ending the year on the shelf.
The injury cut short one of the best stretches of Williams’ career. He worked to a 2.22 ERA in 56 2/3 innings covering 11 starts. He punched out an average 21% of batters faced while getting ground-balls at a 46% clip. Williams isn’t overpowering but he throws a lot of strikes and had dramatically changed his home run fortunes. He led the National League with 34 home runs allowed en route to a 5.55 earned run average over 30 starts last season. He’d surrendered just two longballs (0.32 per nine innings) through the first couple months this year.
There was some level of luck with Williams’ early-season results. He probably wouldn’t have maintained an ace-caliber ERA over a full season. Williams had clearly taken a step forward relative to last year, though, an improvement that coincided with an increased reliance on his breaking stuff at the expense of his four-seam fastball. The injury also robbed the rebuilding Nationals of a chance to flip Williams at the deadline. He won’t be a candidate for a qualifying offer, so they wouldn’t get any kind of compensation if he walks in free agency.
Washington has a rotation consisting of Jake Irvin, MacKenzie Gore, Mitchell Parker, DJ Herz and Patrick Corbin. Zuckerman notes that they’ll go to a six-man staff once Williams returns through season’s end. Corbin is playing out the final couple weeks of his $140MM free agent deal. The other four pitchers are under club control for an extended time.
Each of Irvin, Gore, Parker and Herz has turned in an ERA between 4.07 and 4.44 on the season. That group has tailed off in the second half, though, and none of them look like budding top-of-the-rotation arms. Gore probably has the highest ceiling, but he has yet to truly put everything together over an extended stretch. With Josiah Gray likely to miss next season and Cade Cavalli’s injury history, the Nats need to add at least one high-end starter if they hope to compete for a playoff spot in 2025.
Rizzo: Nationals Looking For Middle-Of-The-Order Bats
The Nationals are wrapping up a fifth straight losing season. They jumped the Marlins to get out of last place for the first time since their 2019 World Series, but there’s still a lot of work to be done to pull out of the rebuild.
Longtime general manager and baseball operations president Mike Rizzo chatted with MLB.com’s Bill Ladson this week. In response to a question about pursuing first base help in the offseason, the GM indicated he’d take a wider approach to acquiring offensive impact.
“I wouldn’t keyhole us at first base,” Rizzo told Ladson. “We need some offense. We need a couple of bats that can hit in the middle of the lineup and take the onus off some of these good young core players and assist them in the run creation of our offense. We have the core players to be middle-of-the-lineup hitters. If we add a bat or two into that group, it takes a little bit of pressure off everybody and everybody can relax a little bit more and develop into the players we think they are going to be.”
Rizzo predictably didn’t identify specific targets, but mentioning a middle-of-the-order bat naturally leads to speculation about the market’s top free agent. Last week, MLBTR’s Steve Adams explored the notion of Washington making a run at bringing back Juan Soto. There’s enough long-term payroll flexibility to make that a possibility, albeit a long shot. Having future payroll space doesn’t necessarily mean ownership wants to dole out a contract that could approach or top $600MM. Soto will also certainly have offers from teams that are clearer contenders in the short term.
Soto is the crown jewel of the class but not the only player who’d qualify as a middle-of-the-order bat. Pete Alonso is one home run away from getting to 35 in all five full seasons of his MLB career. Anthony Santander hits the market with a career-best 41 homers and counting. Teoscar Hernández is probably going to get to 30 longballs amidst a resurgent .267/.334/.487 showing with the Dodgers.
Christian Walker is hitting .258/.342/.484 to go along with Gold Glove defense at first base. Tyler O’Neill has drilled 31 home runs for the Red Sox while obliterating left-handed pitching at a .315/.432/.756 clip. Alex Bregman is more of a well-rounded star than a true masher, but he’s certainly a good enough hitter to land in the middle of a lineup. Jurickson Profar has had a fantastic year in San Diego, while primary DH options J.D. Martinez, Joc Pederson and Justin Turner will be back on the market. There are fewer obvious trade candidates, but players like Jorge Soler, Brandon Lowe and Yandy Díaz could be available.
[Related: Previewing The 2024-25 Free Agent Class, First Base]
While Rizzo suggested they’ll cast a wider net than looking specifically at first base, that’s indeed a position of weakness. Washington first basemen have hit .240/.310/.378 this season, landing in the bottom third of MLB in all three slash stats. Things have been even bleaker at designated hitter, where the Nats are hitting .198/.268/.332. Only the Reds and Rangers have gotten less production out of the bat-only position.
Juan Yepez has hit well in a limited role, but he won’t stand in the way of an impact acquisition. Joey Gallo is headed to free agency and seems unlikely to be retained. Neither Andrés Chaparro nor Joey Meneses is a lock to hold a 40-man roster spot all offseason. The Nats could accommodate both a full-time DH and a first baseman.
They’re in a better spot elsewhere on the diamond. Dylan Crews and James Wood are flanking Gold Glove-caliber center fielder Jacob Young. Washington could certainly add an outfielder like Santander or O’Neill and rotate them through designated hitter while nudging Young into more of a fourth outfield role, but center field is no longer a huge weakness. Washington is unlikely to find an impact bat behind the plate, where they’re committed to Keibert Ruiz for the foreseeable future. The middle infield duo of CJ Abrams and Luis García is questionable defensively, but they’re both good hitters. José Tena seems like an adequate third base stopgap until the arrival of prospect Brady House. Bregman is the only marquee third baseman in the upcoming class.
The Patrick Corbin contract comes off the books this winter, giving the Nationals more financial room than they’ve had in a while. RosterResource calculates their 2025 commitments around $40MM. Their arbitration class — led by Kyle Finnegan, García and first-year salaries for Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore and Abrams — is manageable. There’ll be a lot of breathing room before reaching this year’s approximate $125MM season-opening payroll. It’s possible ownership is willing to push spending higher than that to exit the rebuild. The Nats will need to add at least one established starting pitcher and look to deepen the bullpen, so there’s a lot for the front office to weigh, but this should be their most interesting offseason in quite some time.
Matt Adams Announces Retirement
Veteran first baseman Matt Adams has announced his retirement from baseball. The 36-year-old penned a lengthy farewell to the sport he loves and thanked his teammates, coaches, clubhouse staff, fans and family in a statement you can read in full on Adams’ social media accounts (X link and Instagram link). Adams will sign a ceremonial one-day contract with the Cardinals next week, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, giving him the opportunity to retire as a member of the organization that first selected him in the 23rd round of the 2009 draft.
The 6’3″, 260-pound Adams made his big league debut just three seasons after being drafted, getting a May/June look during his age-23 season and hitting .244/.286/.384 in his first taste of the majors. By 2013, he’d establish himself as a fixture in the Cardinals’ lineup, hitting .284/.335/.503 and popping 17 homers in just 319 plate appearances. “Big City” went on to produce solid offense in the middle of the order from 2013-17, hitting a combined .272/.317/.473 with 73 homers, 97 doubles and six triples in 1762 plate appearances from ’13-’17.
After moving Matt Carpenter to first base for the 2017 season, the Cardinals no longer had regular at-bats for Adams at first base, however. An early-season injury to Freddie Freeman in Atlanta created an opportunity, and the Cardinals flipped Adams to the Braves in exchange for then-prospect Juan Yepez. Adams caught fire in Atlanta, hitting so well early in his time there that Freeman even briefly moved across the diamond upon his return from the IL and played 16 games at third base as a means of keeping both lefty sluggers in the lineup (prior to the NL’s implementation of the designated hitter).
Adams hit free agency that offseason and signed with the Nationals on a one-year deal. He hit well as the Nats’ primary first baseman (.257/.332/.510), and when the Nats wound up embarking on a late-August sell-off that year, Adams found himself on the waiver wire, where he was claimed — by the Cardinals. His return to St. Louis didn’t go as well as his original stint, however. He slashed just .158/.200/.333 in 60 plate appearances over the season’s final six weeks.
Adams became a free agent again at season’s end, and almost one year to the date of his original deal with the Nationals, he re-signed in Washington on another one-year contract in D.C. It was a fateful return, as although Adams hit only .226 with a .276 on-base percentage, he provided a key source of lefty power and big bat off the bench in what wound up being the Nationals’ Cinderella season. Adams belted 20 homers for manager Davey Martinez’s club as the Nats embarked on a near-unfathomable rebound from a 19-31 start to win the 2019 World Series.
That 2019 season marked the last in which Adams saw even semi-regular action in the majors. He returned to Atlanta for a brief spell in 2020, appearing in 16 games but struggling at the plate. He had a similarly brief run with the Rockies in 2021, logging 22 games and again finding it difficult to recapture his form. Adams spent the 2022 season with the Kansas City Monarchs of the independent American Association and returned to the Nationals organization in 2023, though he spent the entire year with their Triple-A club. He’s been playing with the Mexican League’s Toros de Tijuana this season (.272/.309/.491, 13 homers) but will now formally call it a career just two weeks after turning 36.
Adams doesn’t sound like someone who plans to be away from baseball for long. In his retirement statement, he expressed an eagerness to travel down a new path within the game.
“I’m excited to seek out opportunities in coaching, where I can continue to contribute to the sport I love,” wrote Adams. “Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege of taking on a mentoring role as a veteran player. Through that experience, I’ve found a new way to love the game — one that allows me to share my knowledge and help guide the next generation of athletes. That’s the direction I’m eager to explore. … I look forward to the chance to keep competing and winning, this time from a different vantage point.”
With his playing days now formally in the rearview mirror, Adams will turn the page on a career that saw him bat .258/.306/.463 in 2614 major league plate appearances. Along the way, he totaled 624 hits, including 118 home runs, 130 doubles and six triples. Adams scored 297 runs in his career, plated 399 of them, and participated in three different postseasons (2013, 2014 and that 2019 World Series season). He suited up for four major league teams and earned nearly $15MM in salary while accruing more than eight years of big league service. Best wishes to Matt as he takes the next step in his baseball journey.
Why The Nationals Could Pursue A Juan Soto Reunion
The regular season hasn’t even drawn to a close yet, but there’s already ample anticipation regarding what a potential Juan Soto free agency will look like. The 26-year-old superstar will hit the market as the top free agent and one of the most coveted talents in the history of free agency. A bidding war between the Yankees and Mets is already widely expected, and big-money clubs like the Dodgers, Blue Jays and Giants have also been speculated as potential landing spots. Nary a major free agent goes by without Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller at least throwing his hat into the ring. Other clubs will surely be in the mix.
Among the other potential suitors, writes Jorge Castillo of ESPN, could be Soto’s original club. The Nationals “would love a reunion” with Soto, reports Castillo, though it’s not yet clear whether ownership will be willing to offer more than they did when Soto rejected a 15-year, $440MM extension. That decision floored many fans, but it’s proved prudent in the long run. That 15-year term would’ve included Soto’s final two arbitration seasons. He earned a combined $54MM in those two seasons anyhow. Soto need “only” top the remaining $386MM to come out ahead on the gambit, and it would be stunning if he fell short of that mark, given his age, track record and sensational platform season for free agency.
Could that offer still come from the Nationals? It’s impossible to know precisely where the Lerner family (who own the Nationals) lie in terms of their comfort level, but there’s reason to believe they could put forth an even larger offer than last time.
For one, the Nats were in the nascent stages of a rebuild when they made that original offer to Soto. Max Scherzer and Trea Turner had been traded to the Dodgers at the prior season’s deadline. The Nationals weren’t close to competing then but are exponentially closer to doing so now, thanks in no small part to the return they received from trading Soto in the first place. MacKenzie Gore has seized a rotation spot. CJ Abrams has solidified himself as their shortstop, second-half slump notwithstanding. Outfielder James Wood was ranked the top prospect in baseball when he debuted in July. Fellow outfielder Robert Hassell III and left-hander Jarlin Susana are still in the minors.
It also bears emphasizing that the Lerner family was exploring a potential sale of the team at the time. That process began early in 2022. Several potential ownership groups spoke to the current owners about the possibility, but two years later, managing principal owner Mark Lerner (the son of the late Ted Lerner, who passed away in 2023) publicly stated that his family is no longer looking to find a buyer. “We have determined, our family has determined, that we are not going to sell the team,” Lerner told the Washington Post in February.
That shift in long-term planning obviously carries ramifications with regard to how the Lerner family might allocate its resources. While putting forth a $400MM+ offer amid a potential sale process shows a clear willingness to spend, there were also presumably limits as to how much money ownership wanted to put on the long-term books. Any interested buyers would effectively be on the hook for paying out the remainder of that sum, after all — particularly since the offer reportedly did not contain any deferred money (a departure from their prior big-money contracts, which nearly all included deferrals).
Now, more than two years after that extension offer was made, the Nats are closer to contention and have a far cleaner payroll outlook. This is the final season of Patrick Corbin‘s six-year contract. The only players guaranteed any money beyond the current year are Stephen Strasburg, whose career is over but who is still signed through 2026, and catcher Keibert Ruiz, whose relatively modest $50MM extension runs through 2030 and comes with a $6.25MM average annual value. Consider that at their peak in 2019, the Nationals finished the season with a hefty $205MM payroll, per Cot’s Contracts. The Nats can absolutely afford to make a competitive offer and build out a team around him and the rest of their emerging core.
On that note, while any team would move pieces around to make room for Soto in its outfield mix, that likely wouldn’t even be necessary for Washington. The Nats currently have Wood, defensive standout Jacob Young and top prospect Dylan Crews in the outfield. Young is an elite defender but carries just a .255/.315/.336 batting line on the season. He could easily be shifted to a fourth outfield role, or he could play center regularly while the trio of Wood, Crews and Soto rotated through the two corner spots and designated hitter. Getting at-bats for all of those names wouldn’t be particularly challenging.
On top of all that, the Nats themselves still know Soto as well as or better than any team in the game. The majority of the team’s key figures were all in place when they originally signed and developed Soto. Mike Rizzo has been the Nats’ president of baseball operations and general manager since being hired back in 2009, when Soto was 11 years old. The Lerner family has owned the Nats since the former Expos moved from Montreal to D.C. in 2006. Davey Martinez managed every game of Soto’s big league career before he was traded to the Padres. There are of course others in the organization, ranging from coaches to scouts to executives, who are holdovers from Soto’s days in D.C.
The broader question is likely one of whether Soto would want to return to a Nationals club that doesn’t have the look and feel of a present-day contender. He’d need to buy into the team’s farm system and the future and upside of players like Wood, Crews, Abrams, Gore, top prospect Brady House and others. His familiarity with Rizzo and particularly Martinez (with whom he’d interact on a daily basis) would certainly be a prominent factor, but Soto has also surely built rapport with key officials in both San Diego and the Bronx as well. Unless the Lerner family absolutely blew every other bidder out of the water, Soto going back to Washington would likely need to be at least somewhat based on nostalgia and fond memories of his original organization.
Still just 25 years old (26 in October), Soto is poised to land the largest contract ever signed by a position player — likely the largest contract in MLB history in terms of net present value. Shohei Ohtani‘s 10-year, $700MM deal is the current benchmark, although given the colossal slate of deferrals on the deal, the contract’s net present value is nowhere close to that total sum; Ohtani’s deal comes with a $46MM luxury hit, and the MLBPA calculated the NPV to be $437.5MM.
Some might wonder whether Soto and agent Scott Boras would consider a similar deal, though Boras’ comments in the aftermath of that Ohtani deal suggest otherwise. Speaking with Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic, Boras suggested that the deflated NPV of Ohtani’s contract was generally underwhelming for a player of his caliber: “The market remains status quo. No average annual value at or above $44 million. Clear evidence of a strategic and managed effort.” Readers can form their own opinions on the merit of that stance, but it seems to be a clear indicator that Boras will be looking to set a more concrete new precedent in terms of present-day value when he takes his own unicorn free agent to the market this winter.
Soto is already a four-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger winner (he’ll win a fifth this season), a World Series champion and a Home Run Derby champion. He’s a lifetime .285/.421/.533 hitter in the majors, and he’s currently enjoying the best 162-game season of his career, on a rate basis. He’s slashed .289/.418/.580 with a career-high 39 home runs while walking in 18% of his plate appearances against just a 16.2% strikeout rate. He’s on track for a fifth straight season walking more often than he’s struck out.
By measure of Statcast, Soto ranks in the 94th percentile or better among all MLB players in terms of average exit velocity, hard-hit rate, barrel rate, bat speed, chase rate, expected batting average, expected slugging percentage, expected wOBA and walk rate. He’s ultra-durable, averaging 155 games per season from 2021-23, and will match or exceed that pace again in 2024, barring a late injury. Defense has been a knock on him in the past, but Soto has delivered the best defensive grades of his career this season. Statcast credits him with 97th percentile arm strength. He has below-average but not plodding speed, which does limit his range and restrict him to the outfield corners.
The Nats and other clubs know all this quite well, of course. Soto is due for a record-setting contract. Everyone expects as much. The incumbent Yankees figure to be viewed as the favorites, but competition will be steep, and there are plenty of reasons to think Soto’s original club could emerge as a genuine threat in the bidding war to come.
Travis Blankenhorn Elects Free Agency
The Nationals announced that infielder/outfielder Travis Blankenhorn elected free agency following last week’s DFA. The left-handed hitter had that right once he cleared waivers because he has been outrighted multiple times in his career. Washington took him off the 40-man roster when they claimed reliever Michael Rucker from Philadelphia.
Blankenhorn has gotten to the majors in five consecutive seasons without ever getting consistent playing time. He has tallied exactly 100 trips to the plate at the highest level. That includes 32 plate appearances since the Nats selected his contract around the time of the trade deadline. Blankenhorn only hit .129 with one walk and nine strikeouts in that limited look. He has a career .154/.230/.264 slash against MLB arms.
While he hasn’t performed in his sporadic MLB chances, the 28-year-old has a solid minor league track record. Blankenhorn popped 23 home runs in Triple-A for the Nats a year ago. He connected on another 26 longballs in 106 contests with their top affiliate this season. Blankenhorn has power but has also struggled to make contact consistently in the minors. That continued this year, as he fanned in 26% of his plate appearances.
A third-round pick of the Twins in 2015, Blankenhorn has also had a brief stint with the Mets and spent time in the Mariners’ and Dodgers’ farm systems. He should be able to find another minor league opportunity heading into 2025. Speculatively speaking, his Triple-A power numbers could lead to offseason interest from teams in foreign leagues as well.
Nationals Claim Michael Rucker, Designate Travis Blankenhorn
The Nationals announced Friday that they’ve claimed right-hander Michael Rucker off waivers from the Phillies and opened a spot on the 40-man roster by designating infielder/outfielder Travis Blankenhorn for assignment. Rucker was optioned to Triple-A Rochester. Washington’s 40-man roster remains at capacity.
The 30-year-old Rucker was designated for assignment by the Phillies earlier this week when they selected Nick Nelson’s contract from Triple-A. The Phils picked Rucker up in a cash deal with the Cubs back in February after he’d been designated for assignment in Chicago. He never got into a game with the Phillies in the majors, instead spending most of the season on the 60-day injured list owing to an arterial vasospasm in his right hand. The Phils reinstated and optioned him prior to the trade deadline. He’s pitched 26 minor league innings this season and been tagged for a 6.58 ERA, with the bulk of the damage coming in Triple-A.
Grim as Rucker’s run-prevention has been, his 26.7% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate are both fine marks (particularly the former). He’s also kept the ball on the ground at a strong 45.2% clip. Rucker, however, has been plagued by an astronomical .479 average on balls in play during his time with the IronPigs.
As recently as 2022, Rucker was a solid member of the Cubs’ bullpen. He pitched a career-high 54 2/3 innings and logged a 3.95 ERA with a 21.8% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate in that time. His followup effort in 2023 resulted in a more troubling 4.91 ERA in 40 2/3 frames, but his strikeout and walk numbers remained generally serviceable and his grounder rate spiked to a strong 51.4%. Overall, Rucker carries a 4.96 ERA in 123 1/3 innings as a major leaguer.
As for Blankenhorn, he’s spent the past two seasons as a depth option in the Nationals’ system, appearing in a combined 23 games and batting .145/.232/.210 in 69 trips to the plate. Those are obviously woeful numbers but come in a small sample; Blankenhorn popped 23 homers for the Nats’ Rochester affiliate last season while batting .262/.360/.517, and he’s tallied another 26 big flies in Triple-A this year while hitting .238/.322/.499.
Originally a third-round pick by the Twins back in 2015, Blankenhorn has bounced around the diamond in his pro career, seeing time at all of the non-shortstop infield positions and in both outfield corners. He’s a career .154/.230/.264 hitter in exactly 100 big league plate appearances but carries a more productive .254/.343/.489 slash and 74 homers in 363 Triple-A games. This is Blankenhorn’s final minor league option season. He’ll presumably clear waivers and soon become a minor league free agent, whether by rejecting an outright assignment or by exercising that right at season’s end.
Nationals Select Darren Baker
September 1: The Nationals have officially announced the selection of Baker’s contract. Right-hander Trevor Williams was transferred to the 60-day IL to make room for Baker on the 40-man roster, and righty Zach Brzykcy has been recalled from the minors to fill the additional pitching roster spot created by today’s roster expansion. Brzykcy’s first appearance will be his MLB debut. The righty’s impending call-up was firs reported by Talk Nats.
August 31: The Nationals are planning to select the contract of second baseman/left fielder Darren Baker on Sunday, according to the Talk Nats feed (X link). Some space will need to be cleared on Washington’s 40-man roster, but a corresponding move on the active roster might not be necessary, since rosters expand from 26 to 28 players on Sunday.
A 10th-round pick for the Nats in the 2021 draft, Baker isn’t considered one of Washington’s top 30 prospects by either Baseball America or MLB Pipeline. However, he has been red-hot at the plate in August, building his season-long slash line to .285/.348/.340 over 483 plate appearances with Triple-A Rochester. While he doesn’t offer much power, Baker makes a lot of contact and is a threat on the basepaths, with 38 steals in 43 attempts this season.
Baker has primarily played second base and left field during his minor league career, but might not get a ton of action at either position since Luis Garcia Jr. and James Wood (both left-handed batters, like Baker) are established in everyday roles. Baker has played a bit of center field so he could get some platoon work up the middle with Jacob Young, and he could join the DH mix with the likes of Juan Yepez, Andres Chaparro, and veteran Joey Gallo.
Baker will be making his MLB debut whenever he appears in a game, but the 25-year-old is no stranger to the big leagues. The son of legendary manager Dusty Baker, Darren became known to fans when he was just three years old, and working as a batboy for the father’s Giants team during the 2002 World Series. During Game 5, Baker was running towards home plate to pick up Kenny Lofton‘s bat after a two-run triple, and might have been run over by baserunner David Bell if J.T. Snow hadn’t quickly grabbed the youngster out of harm’s way after Snow scored earlier on the play.
That incident led to the league instituting a rule that all batboys had to be at least 14 years old, and thus “the Darren Baker rule” has already ensured Baker some level of notoriety within baseball history. Now, he can create a new name for himself by officially becoming a Major League player, and continuing the Baker family’s on-field legacy in the game. (Current fans may know Dusty Baker best as a manager, but the elder Baker was a two-time All-Star and former NLCS MVP during an outstanding 19-year playing career.)
Nationals Promote Dylan Crews
Aug. 26: The Nationals have formally selected Crews’ contract, per a team announcement. Their 40-man roster is now at capacity.
Aug. 25: The Nationals announced that they have optioned catcher Riley Adams to Triple-A, making room for Crews to join the active roster tomorrow.
Aug. 23: The Nationals are planning to promote prospect Dylan Crews, reports Grant Paulsen of MLB Network Radio on X. Crews will be making his major league debut when the Nats host the Yankees on Monday. The young outfielder is not currently on the club’s 40-man roster but they already have a vacancy there. Unless they use that roster spot over the weekend, only a corresponding active roster move will be necessary.
Crews, now 22, was selected with the second overall pick in last year’s draft, after his Louisiana State teammate Paul Skenes was taken first by the Pirates. Crews put up huge numbers at the plate throughout his college career and carried that over into his professional career. After drafting him last summer, the Nats got his feet wet with some time at the Complex League level, Single-A and Double-A. He slashed .292/.377/.467 in 159 plate appearances for a wRC+ of 135.
Coming into 2024, Crews was already considered one of the top ten prospects in the sport and he has continued to justify that status here in 2024. The Nats started him at Double-A and he got into 51 games at that level this year. He slashed .274/.343/.446 for a 122 wRC+ while also stealing 15 bases. He was then promoted to Triple-A and has played in 48 games at that level, producing a line of .271/.343/.464 and a 108 wRC+ while swiping another 10 bags.
In addition to that strong work at the plate and on the basepaths, Crews is considered a strong defender who could stick in center field for the long term. The Nats have given him a bit of time in the corners but have mostly had him up the middle, and will likely view him as a fit there for the future.
With his ability to contribute in all facets of the game, he is unanimously viewed as one of the best prospects in the sport at the moment. Baseball America currently lists him fourth overall, though fellow Nat James Wood is listed #1 and has since graduated from prospect status, effectively putting Crews in the #3 spot. The other two guys ahead of Crews are already in the majors: Jackson Holliday of the Orioles and Junior Caminero of the Rays. FanGraphs has Crews at #6, with MLB Pipeline at #3, ESPN at #12 and Keith Law of The Athletic at #7.
The Nats have been in rebuilding mode for a few years and have been gradually building a core of young and controllable talent. In addition to the aforementioned Wood, they have shortstop CJ Abrams, pitcher MacKenzie Gore and others. Their record is 58-70 this year, well out of contention, so they can focus on playing young players and getting them acclimated to the big leagues.
It’s likely not a coincidence that Crews is being promoted at this part of the calendar, as the Nats should be able to keep his rookie status intact for 2025. To lose rookie status, a position player needs to either spend 45 days on an active roster or log 130 at-bats. There are now less than 45 days left in the 2024 season, so the Nats will undoubtedly manage his playing time in such a way that he doesn’t get to that 130 at-bat threshold.
That is significant due to the prospect promotion incentive. In an attempt to mitigate service time manipulation, the collective bargaining agreement allows clubs the chance to earn an extra draft pick if they promote a top prospect for a full season and that player goes on to win Rookie of the Year or meet other awards voting criteria. By keeping Crews a rookie for 2025, the Nats will have a chance to reap that reward if he ends up sticking on their roster for all of next year.
For now, it will be interesting to see how the Nats deploy Crews in the outfield. As mentioned, Crews is considered a capable defender in center but has seen some time in the corners. The Nats currently have Jacob Young, one of the best defensive center fielders in the league. Young has hit just .248/.308/.318 this year for a 79 wRC+ but he has 13 Defensive Runs Saved and 18 Outs Above Average. That OAA total is tops among all fielders at all positions this year, while the DRS mark is third among center fielders behind Jarren Duran and Daulton Varsho.
Perhaps the club will have Wood in left, Young in center and Crews in right, though they could also have Alex Call in right and bump Young down to fourth outfielder status. Call is slashing .347/.429/.531 this year in his 112 plate appearances.
Regardless of how they disperse the playing time, it’s yet another promotion that is part of the Nats putting together a young group they can build around. As they push towards opening a new competitive window, their payroll slate is fairly clean. With the Patrick Corbin contract off the books after this season, their two notable commitments will be for catcher Keibert Ruiz and retired star Stephen Strasburg. Perhaps that will make them an interesting player in the upcoming offseason, though that might depend on how their young players perform in the remainder of the schedule.