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Nationals Rumors

Nationals Outright Four Players

By Darragh McDonald | October 29, 2025 at 5:50pm CDT

The Nationals announced that four players have cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Rochester. They are right-handers Eduardo Salazar and Mason Thompson, left-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara and catcher CJ Stubbs. Salazar and Thompson have already elected free agency.

These types of moves are common at this time of year. The 60-day injured list goes away five days after the World Series, meaning players on the shelf need to be added back to the 40-man roster. Most teams have a few impending free agents, which can open a few spots, but there is often a squeeze. Prior to these moves, RosterResource projected the Nats to have 42 players for their 40 spots, so opening some breathing room was inevitable.

Thompson, 28 in February, is the most experienced of the bunch. He made his debut with the Padres back in 2021 and was traded to the Nationals at that year’s deadline as part of the Daniel Hudson deal. He has largely been an up-and-down reliever for the Nats since then, though he missed the 2024 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. Overall, he has thrown 114 big league innings, allowing 5.21 earned runs per nine. His 50.6% ground ball rate is good but his 17.8% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate are both subpar.

The righty exhausted his final option season in 2025, meaning he would have been out of options in 2026. Given his uninspiring numbers, he would have had a hard time hanging onto a roster spot going forward. Since he has at least three years of big league service time, he had the right to elect free agency.

Salazar, 28 in May, came to the Nats via a waiver claim last summer. Between the Reds, Dodgers and Nationals, he has thrown 70 2/3 innings with a 5.99 ERA. Similar to Thompson, his 52.8% ground ball rate is strong but his 16% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate are subpar figures. Also like Thompson, he just exhausted his final option season and will be out of options going forward. He was outrighted by the Reds in 2023, which gave him the right to reject this outright assignment.

Ogasawara, now 28, just wrapped up his first season in North America. After years of pitching in Japan, he was posted for MLB clubs last winter. The Nats gave him a two-year, $3.5MM deal, plus a $700K posting fee to the Chunichi Dragons of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.

They didn’t get much from that $4.2MM investment. The lefty spent a decent chunk of the 2025 season in the minors. When in the majors, he posted a 6.98 ERA over 38 2/3 innings. His 17.3% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate and 36.4% ground ball rate were all subpar.

Players normally require three years of service time or a previous career outright to have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. A player coming over from Asia will sometimes have special language in their contract allowing them to circumvent standard MLB rules. Unless Ogasawara’s deal has such language, he’ll stick with the Nats as non-roster depth.

Stubbs, 29 in November, was added to the roster late in the year in emergency fashion. At the time, Keibert Ruiz and Drew Millas were both injured, leaving the Nats with Riley Adams as their only healthy catcher. Stubbs got into one game, going hitless in three at-bats. Shortly thereafter, the Nats signed Jorge Alfaro and bumped Stubbs back to the minors.

Going into the winter, Stubbs was the least experienced of five catchers on the 40-man roster. He also has a 35% strikeout rate in his minor league career. The Nats bumped him off the roster and no club put in a claim. Since he has spent most of the past seven years in the minors, he should qualify for minor league free agency five days after the conclusion of the World Series.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images

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Nationals Won’t Hire Miguel Cairo As Manager; Interested In Rocco Baldelli, Danny Lehmann

By Mark Polishuk | October 29, 2025 at 1:51pm CDT

The Nationals’ managerial search continues to take shape, and one prominent candidate has already been eliminated from consideration.  The Washington Post’s Andrew Golden reports that interim manager Miguel Cairo has been told that he won’t be the team’s full-time bench boss next season, while former Twins manger Rocco Baldelli and Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehmann have each drawn interest as possible candidates.  Both Baldelli and Lehmann declined comment when asked if they’d already interviewed with the Nats.

Cairo, Brandon Hyde, and Craig Albernaz are the only three names known to have interviewed for the Washington job, and Albernaz is naturally no longer an option after the Orioles hired him as their manager.  Since the Nats and most teams are pretty guarded when it comes to public information on managerial searches, it is entirely possible that other names are being considered, or have already interviewed.  (As an example, Albernaz wasn’t known to be a candidate for the O’s until reports emerged that the team was on the verge of hiring him.)

Cairo was midway through his second season as Washington’s bench coach when manager Davey Martinez and president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo were fired in July.  Cairo was bumped up to the interim manager role, and he posted a 29-43 record as the Nationals stumbled to a 66-96 overall record this year.  This was Cairo’s second time stepping into a managerial role, as he was as acting manager for 34 games with the 2022 White Sox when Tony La Russa was absent on medical leave.

While Cairo did enough to merit at least an interview about the full-time Nats job, it always seemed more likely that new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni was going to bring in a fresh voice as the team’s next skipper.  That would continue Toboni’s early trend of shaking things up within the organization, as multiple changes have already been made within the front office, scouting and training staffs.

The shake-up will also extend to the Nationals’ coaching staff, as Golden writes that six coaches (pitching coach Jim Hickey, hitting coach Darnell Coles, first base coach Gerardo Parra, third base coach Ricky Gutierrez, bullpen coach Ricky Bones, and catching/strategy coach Henry Blanco) have been told they won’t be retained unless the new manager wants them to stay.  This news doesn’t come as a large surprise, as the Nats had already given their coaches permission to explore jobs with other teams.  While Cairo wasn’t specifically mentioned as also being on the way out, it can be assumed that he won’t be back in his old bench coach role.

Like Hyde, Baldelli would bring some Major League managerial experience to a Nationals team that has hit some snags in its rebuild.  Baldelli posted a 527-505 record over seven seasons with the Twins, winning three AL Central crowns and (in 2023) the club’s first postseason series victory since 2002.  Since that playoff triumph, however, the Twins collapsed down the stretch in 2024 to finish with an 82-80 record, and things continued to spiral this year with a 70-92 record.

Baldelli was fired at season’s end, yet it is hard to entirely fault him for the Twins’ struggles given how ownership responded to the 2023 postseason by immediately cutting the payroll.  At this year’s trade deadline, the club had a fire sale of both impending free agents and some controllable players, further positioning Minnesota toward a rebuild period.  It seems like the league as a whole didn’t assign much blame to Baldelli for the Twins’ situation, as the ex-skipper said that he’d heard from 10 teams about job openings in the wake of his dismissal, though Golden’s report is the first time Baldelli has been linked to one of the many managerial openings around baseball this fall.

Lehmann’s name recently surfaced in connection with the Braves’ managerial vacancy, and he received interest from the White Sox in their managerial search last offseason before Chicago hired Will Venable.  Lehmann spent eight years as a player in the Twins’ farm system and in independent ball from 2007-14, and has since been working with the Dodgers in such roles as an advanced video scout, a special assistant, and a game planning/communications coach.  His four seasons in that coaching role led to his promotion to the bench coach job prior to the 2023 season.

The Dodgers’ ongoing postseason run could be somewhat complicating Lehmann’s candidacy, as he would have only been able to interview in between playoff rounds or on off-days within a series.  It could be that Lehmann is waiting until L.A. has entirely concluded the World Series before turning his attention to managerial possibilities, though this wait may not have hurt his chances, given how the Nats, Braves, and other teams still have openings for the top dugout jobs.

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Nationals Interview Brandon Hyde, Craig Albernaz

By Anthony Franco | October 25, 2025 at 2:47pm CDT

2:47PM: The Nationals also conducted interviews with both Cairo and Guardians associate manager Craig Albernaz within the last week, the Washington Post’s Andrew Golden reports. Albernaz has been a candidate for managerial vacancies with the Giants, Guardians, White Sox, and Marlins over the last two years, and was a finalist for both the Chicago and Miami jobs.

Albernaz worked as Cleveland’s bench coach in 2024 before moving into his current job title this season. Before arriving in Cleveland, Albernaz spent four years on the Giants’ staff as a bullpen/catching coach, and four seasons in various roles in the Rays’ minor league system (including two managerial stints).

2:24PM: Brandon Hyde has interviewed with the Nationals about the team’s managerial vacancy, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Hyde becomes the first known candidate for the manager’s job, as Washington’s first order of business was its search for new front office boss.

Paul Toboni has now had a month as president of baseball operations. The Nats haven’t formally ruled out retaining interim manager Miguel Cairo, but it appears likelier that Toboni will want to hire his own replacement. He’s already begun reshaping the front office, including tabbing Justin Horowitz as an assistant general manager on Friday afternoon.

Hyde is plenty familiar with the Beltway after managing in Baltimore for parts of seven seasons. The O’s won 46.1% of games during Hyde’s tenure, though that’s largely weighed down by the full rebuild in which they were mired for the first three years. Hyde led the O’s to three consecutive winning seasons, including playoff berths in 2023 and ’24. Baltimore didn’t find any playoff success in either of those years but went into this season expecting to compete in the AL East.

A terrible start tanked those plans by April. The O’s were 15-28 when they fired Hyde on May 17. Baltimore played roughly .500 ball the rest of the way under Tony Mansolino. Hyde has been clear that he hopes to find another managerial opportunity. He was very loosely tied to the Giants’ and Angels’ searches that respectively landed on Tony Vitello and Kurt Suzuki. It’s not clear if Hyde ever interviewed for either position, though Heyman writes that he has had interviews beyond the sit-down with Washington.

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Nationals To Hire Justin Horowitz As Assistant GM

By Leo Morgenstern | October 24, 2025 at 2:18pm CDT

The Nationals are set to hire Justin Horowitz as an assistant general manager, as first reported by Joe Doyle of Over-Slot Baseball. Previously the Pirates’ director of amateur scouting, Horowitz will now work under Washington’s new president of baseball operations, Paul Toboni.

Toboni, like Horowitz, has a background in amateur scouting. In fact, Horowitz worked under Toboni in the Red Sox’s amateur scouting department for several years. That’s surely no coincidence. To that point, the first assistant GM Toboni hired this offseason was Devin Pearson, who just so happened to be his successor as Boston’s director of amateur scouting in 2023. Toboni clearly wants to improve Washington’s draft performance – years of poor drafting almost certainly led to Mike Rizzo’s unceremonious ousting just before the draft this past summer – and hiring Horowitz is a step toward achieving that goal. While it’s difficult to accurately evaluate a draft class without the benefit of hindsight, Pittsburgh’s performance in two drafts under Horowitz, 2024 and 2025, was widely praised.

The Nationals made several personnel changes after hiring Toboni, and former assistant GMs Eddie Longosz and Mark Scialabba were among the casualties. Mike DeBartolo, Washington’s interim GM between the Rizzo and Toboni eras, remains with the organization, but it’s unclear if he will serve as an AGM alongside Horowitz and Pearson or if he’s taking on a new role. DeBartolo has worked in the Nationals’ front office for than a decade, including as an AGM from 2019 until his temporary promotion in July.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Brittany Ghiroli initially reported that Toboni would bring on a GM “soon,” but that was now a month ago, so it’s unclear if hiring a second-in-command remains a priority for the Nationals and their new chief baseball executive. Ironically enough, the Nationals are also without a director of amateur scouting after losing Brad Ciolek to the Tigers last month. According to Doyle, this is a hole the team does indeed still intend to fill.

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MLBTR Podcast: Murakami To Be Posted This Offseason, Managerial Vacancies, And More!

By Darragh McDonald | October 15, 2025 at 8:48am CDT

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…

  • Munetaka Murakami to be posted for MLB clubs this offseason (2:20)
  • Ten teams will go into 2026 with a new manager, with eight of those jobs currently vacant (18:50)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Can the Mets get Tarik Skubal from the Tigers? (29:55)
  • Would Pete Alonso return to the Mets if they offered $150MM over five years? (38:20)
  • The White Sox have a lot of #4 or #5 starters. Which other teams might be interested in them? (40:00)
  • The Nationals have lots of outfielders, one of whom is 6’7″ tall, and no first baseman. Is it stupid to consider James Wood for first base? (44:20)
  • Will this finally be the Mariners’ year and can they keep Josh Naylor? (49:20)

Check out our past episodes!

  • Rockies’ Front Office Changes, Skip Schumaker, And ABS Talk – listen here
  • Mike Elias On The State Of The Orioles – listen here
  • The Tigers And Astros Try To Hang On, And Brewers’ Rotation Issues – listen here

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

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

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Offseason Outlook: Washington Nationals

By Steve Adams | October 10, 2025 at 6:43pm CDT

The Nationals hoped the 2025 season would represent a step forward in their rebuild, but the opposite took place. The results were discouraging enough that ownership fired not only manager Davey Martinez but longtime president/general manager Mike Rizzo, who'd run the team's baseball operations for nearly two decades. A new front office regime will try to turn things around for a club that won more games in 2024 (71) than in 2025 (66).

Guaranteed Contracts

  • Keibert Ruiz, C: $35MM through 2030 (contract contains club options for 2031-32; neither has a buyout)
  • Trevor Williams, RHP: $7MM through 2026
  • Shinnosuke Ogasawara, LHP: $2MM through 2026

Other Financial Commitments

  • $35MM in dead money owed to RHP Stephen Strasburg

Total 2026 commitments: $49MM
Total long-term commitments: $79MM through 2030

Option Decisions

  • None

Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; salary projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz):

  • Jorge Alfaro (5.160): $1MM
  • Luis Garcia Jr. (4.142): $7MM
  • Josiah Gray (4.075): $1.35MM
  • Mason Thompson (4.022): $1MM
  • MacKenzie Gore (4.000): $4.7MM
  • Riley Adams (3.171): $1.5MM
  • CJ Abrams (3.130): $5.6MM
  • Jake Irvin (2.152): $3.3MM
  • Cade Cavalli (2.141): $1.3MM

Non-tender candidates: Alfaro, Garcia, Thompson, Adams

Free Agents

  • Josh Bell, Paul DeJong, Derek Law

The Nationals' summer ousting of Rizzo kicked off an executive search while longtime Rizzo lieutenant Mike DeBartolo ran baseball operations through the trade deadline and the end of the season. Washington spoke with executives from multiple clubs and ultimately settled on Red Sox assistant general manager Paul Toboni to head up the organization. Because he was in the running to be promoted to Red Sox general manager under chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, Toboni was hired with the title president of baseball operations. The Nats could hire a GM to work underneath him at some point, but it wasn't framed as an immediate priority at Toboni's introductory press conference.

Changes in the front office have already begun. The Nats will retain DeBartolo in a yet-to-be-announced role, but assistant GMs Eddie Longosz and Mark Scialabba are set to depart the organization amid further changes in the scouting department. Even if Toboni doesn't immediately add a general manager, it seems likely that he'll bring on some new hires to take over some of the AGM and scouting responsibilities (particularly if DeBartolo is moved to a role other than assistant general manager).

The Nats will also need to hire a new skipper. Interim manager Miguel Cairo is a candidate in the team's ongoing search, Toboni indicated this week, but the Nationals are also in the process of interviewing candidates from outside the organization. Washington is one of an incredible seven teams looking for a new manager and one of an even more remarkable nine clubs that will have a different manager on Opening Day 2026 than on Opening Day 2025.

Of course, beyond the broader changes at the highest levels of the organization, fans are more concerned with what the offseason will look like under the new regime. Toboni naturally didn't delve into specifics at his introduction. He spoke in general terms, repeatedly mentioning the desire to build a "scouting and player development monster" that eventually stands as the envy of the industry.

Even more pressing, however, is what the future holds for some of the organization's key young players. While emerging outfielders like James Wood and Daylen Lile are controlled for another five-plus seasons, many of the team's other most important contributors are already halfway -- or more -- through their original level of club control. That'll put Toboni in an interesting spot this winter as he looks to determine whether some of his core players are building blocks or whether they're best used as trade currency to further stock a farm system that, even after picking No. 1 overall in July and trading several players at the 2025 deadline, ranked 21st in the majors at Baseball America and 23rd at MLB.com.

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Nationals Retain Mike DeBartolo; Part Ways With Assistant GMs Eddie Longosz, Mark Scialabba

By Mark Polishuk | October 8, 2025 at 12:21pm CDT

12:21PM: DeBartolo will be staying on in Washington’s front office, Ghiroli reports in a follow-up.

12:19PM: Assistant general managers Eddie Longosz and Mark Scialabba won’t be returning to the Nationals in 2026, The Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli reports.  These departures are two of what seems to be multiple changes made under new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, as Ghiroli writes that “several scouts and members of the team’s staff in Florida” are also on the way out.

It isn’t surprising that Toboni’s hiring has triggered a staff overhaul, as some prominent names left the organization even before Toboni was hired two weeks ago.  Since the start of September, former scouting director Danny Haas and senior director of amateur scouting Brad Ciolek each left the Nats for jobs with the Orioles and Tigers, respectively.  It is fair to wonder exactly how many members of Mike Rizzo’s front office will continue on with the Nationals under Toboni — most prominently, assistant GM and former interim GM Mike DeBartolo’s role with the team remains unclear.

Rizzo himself shook up the front office and player development staffs a few years ago, but Longosz and Scialabba were two of the longtime Washington staffers who stayed put.  Longosz started with the Nats in 2010 and worked as the club’s director of scouting operations for the eight seasons prior to his elevation to the AGM and vice-president role in 2023.  Specifically, Longosz was the assistant general manager of player development and administration.

Scialabba’s ties to the organization stretch back even longer, as he first joined the team in 2006.  Working as the Nationals’ director of minor league operations from 2009-13, Scialabba took over the player development department in 2013 before becoming the assistant GM of player development following the 2019 campaign.

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MLBTR Podcast: Mike Elias On The State Of The Orioles

By Darragh McDonald | October 1, 2025 at 11:59pm CDT

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 Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias to discuss…

  • Elias’s promotion from general manager to president of baseball operations (1:45)
  • Why the Orioles underperformed in 2025 (3:30)
  • The club’s lack of investment in free agent pitching (5:25)
  • The decision making about playing time for prospects when they don’t find immediate big league success (9:20)
  • How Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo can co-exist on the roster (12:35)
  • Getting six prospects from the Padres in the Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano trade (14:50)
  • Trading Bryan Baker to the Rays for a draft pick (16:55)
  • Seeing the potential in O’Hearn before his breakout (18:45)

Plus, Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors joins the show to discuss…

  • The Cardinals going into a rebuild, which should put a bunch of interesting names on the trade block (21:50)
  • The Rangers parting ways with Bruce Bochy with questions about how aggressively they will be trying to contend in 2026 (33:20)
  • The Mets just missing the postseason with Pete Alonso becoming a free agent again (42:10)
  • The Nationals hiring Paul Toboni as their new president of baseball operations (52:45)
  • The Blue Jays putting Alek Manoah on waivers, who is claimed by the Braves (1:00:55)

Check out our past episodes!

  • The Tigers And Astros Try To Hang On, And Brewers’ Rotation Issues – listen here
  • The Struggling Mets, Bryce Eldridge, And Trey Yesavage – listen here
  • Talking Mariners With Jerry Dipoto – listen here

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

Photo courtesy of Tim Heitman, Imagn Images

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Michael A. Taylor Announces Retirement

By Darragh McDonald | September 28, 2025 at 1:45pm CDT

White Sox outfielder Michael A. Taylor announced his retirement to members of the media today, ahead of the Sox facing the Nationals in Washington, a place he played for many years. “To be able to play my last games of my career here in this ballpark in front of these fans, it’s just the icing on the cake,” Taylor said, per Andrew Golden of The Washington Post. He is in the lineup for the Sox today, playing center field and batting ninth, in what will be his final game.

Michael A. Taylor | Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY SportsTaylor, now 34, was a sixth-round pick of the Nationals back in 2009. He was a shortstop at that time, considered to be raw, but in possession of some elite tools. He was moved to the outfield and quickly showed the potential to be a strong defender. He also showed more pop with the bat as he climbed the ladder, hitting 23 homers in the minors in 2014.

Going into 2015, he was considered to be one of the top 100 prospects in the game. Baseball America gave him the #32 spot, MLB Pipeline had him at #42, Baseball Prospectus at #57 and ESPN at #71. FanGraphs was a bit more bearish, putting him at #133 on their top 200 list.

Taylor had already made a brief major league debut in 2014 but got more properly established in 2015. He got into 138 games for the Nats, popping 14 homers and stealing 16 bags, but his overall value was held back by subpar walk and strikeout rates of 6.8% and 30.9%. Over his career, he would have his ups and downs, but his contributions mostly took that shape. He could put the ball over the fence, track it down with his glove and swipe some bags, but the plate discipline was never good.

Despite his flaws, he was a useful player for the Nats during their best stretch in Washington. The club finished above .500 in each season from 2012 to 2019, making the playoffs in five of those eight seasons. Those clubs featured stars like Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Trea Turner, Juan Soto, Max Scherzer, Anthony Rendon and others, but Taylor often played a solid supporting role.

In 2019, Taylor spent a decent chunk of the year in the minors, only getting into 53 big league games with one home run. But he took on a more prominent role at just the right time. As the Nats made a miracle charge through the postseason, Taylor got into eight of the club’s playoff contests. He clinched the NLDS over the Dodgers with a diving catch, as seen in this video from MLB.com. He also slashed .333/.391/.619 in his 23 plate appearances as the Nats eventually went on to win the World Series.

In the shortened 2020 season, Taylor had a rough showing, slashing .196/.253/.424. At the end of that campaign, the Nats put him on waivers and he elected free agency after clearing. That led to a one-year, $1.75MM deal with the Royals for 2021. He bounced back somewhat that year with a .244/.297/.356 line and 14 stolen bases. As the season was winding down, the Royals didn’t want him to get away, so they gave him a two-year, $9MM extension for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

He had a somewhat similar campaign in the first year of that extension but the Royals flipped him to the Twins for 2023. He hit a career-high 21 home runs for Minnesota that year but also struck out at a 33.5% rate, leading to a .220/.278/.442 batting line.

That was a relatively strong campaign for him but he remained unsigned into mid-March of 2024, when he settled for a one-year, $4MM deal with the Pirates. His year in Pittsburgh turned out to be fairly forgettable, as he hit just five home runs and put up a .193/.253/.290 line. He then secured a one-year, $1.95MM deal to join the rebuilding White Sox this year. With one game remaining, he is currently sporting a .199/.256/.366 line.

Taylor currently has 1,215 games played with 3,797 plate appearances, with one more contest to go. He has 806 hits, including 109 home runs. He has drawn walks at a 6.9% clip and struck out 30.7% of the time, producing a .232/.287/.379 batting line. He stole 128 bases. He was credited with 90 Defensive Runs Saved and 61 Outs Above Average in his career as an outfielder. For the 2014-2025 period, that DRS total was sixth among outfielders and his OAA tally was eighth. FanGraphs credited him with 10.2 wins above replacement. Baseball Reference gave him 12.6 WAR and pegs his career earnings above $27MM.

We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Taylor on a solid career and wish him the best in whatever comes next. He tells Golden that he plans to spend more time with his kids but would consider a coaching role in the future.

Photos courtesy of Geoff Burke, Steve Mitchell, Imagn Images

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Nationals, Orelvis Martinez Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | September 26, 2025 at 11:47am CDT

The Nationals and former top prospect Orelvis Martinez have agreed to a minor league deal that’ll carry into the 2026 season, reports Andrew Golden of the Washington Post. Martinez was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays and subsequently released earlier in the month.

Still just 23 years old (24 in November), Martinez ranked among the sport’s top-100 prospects at Baseball America for four years from 2021-24. The slugging infielder posted huge numbers, belting a combined 86 home runs in 1481 plate appearances from 2021-23. His defensive home was always something of a question mark — he’s spent time at shortstop, third base and second base — but Martinez’s plus power and consistent production seemed to be setting the stage for a possible long-term role in the Toronto infield.

Things changed dramatically early in 2024, however, when Martinez received an 80-game ban for PED usage. He hit well down the stretch in a small sample after returning late last season in Triple-A (.304/.360/.522 in 50 plate appearances), but the 2025 season has been a disaster.

Martinez spent the entire season in Triple-A this year and looked like a shell of his former self. In 99 games, he took 394 plate appearances and mustered only a .176/.288/.348 batting line (73 wRC+). His 28.4% strikeout rate tied the highest mark of his career, and he averaged just 86.8 mph off the bat with a tepid 36.8% hard-hit rate. Though the Jays had given him plenty of run at shortstop and third base earlier in his career, he slid further down the defensive spectrum in ’25 and spent the vast majority of his time at second base (79 games) and designated hitter (14) with only a handful of appearances at the hot corner.

The Nats will provide Martinez with a fresh start next season. He’s a lottery ticket for Washington, but there’s no harm in bringing him aboard on a non-guaranteed deal to see what he looks like next spring. The Nats have Luis Garcia Jr. at second base, but he’s a non-tender candidate this offseason. Former first-rounder Brady House made his big league debut at the hot corner in 2025 but has yet to establish himself as a firm option there. Martinez’s shortstop days are seemingly behind him, but the Nats have CJ Abrams entrenched there anyhow. Martinez will compete for an opportunity next spring, and if he doesn’t break camp with the club he’ll head to Triple-A Rochester and give Washington some additional infield depth.

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