Nationals Return Rule 5 Pick Griff McGarry To Phillies
March 24th: The Phillies announced that McGarry is back in the organization and has been assigned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
March 22nd: The Nationals announced today that they’ve designated right-hander Griff McGarry for assignment. The move clears a spot for Jorbit Vivas on the 40-man roster, whose previously reported acquisition from the Yankees is now official. McGarry was the Nationals’ Rule 5 draft pick back in December and now will be available to any of the league’s other clubs who are willing to claim him with Rule 5 stipulations attached. If he goes unclaimed, he must be offered back to the Phillies for $50K. If the Phillies pass on reacquiring McGarry, he can be outrighted off the roster into the Nationals’ farm system.
McGarry, 26, was a fifth-round pick by the Phillies back in 2021 and got some top-100 prospect attention earlier in his career. That was before his career took a turn for the worse in 2023, when he posted an ugly 6.00 ERA in 17 starts thanks to lackluster command. Those command issues caused the organization to move McGarry to the bullpen for the 2024 season, but his already-high 18.5% walk rate from 2023 ballooned to a whopping 24.0% when he moved into a relief role. That led the Phillies to return the right-hander to the rotation for 2025, and he turned in decent numbers across 21 starts, most of which were at the Double-A level. He still walked too many batters, with 13.9% of his opponents getting a free pass, but he managed to make up for that elevated walk rate with a sensational 35.1% strikeout rate.
That improvement was enough for the Nationals to roll the dice on McGarry back in December, but his signature command issues once again resurfaced during Spring Training. While he managed a decent 3.18 ERA in 5 2/3 innings of work, he walked (five) nearly as many batters as he struck out (six) in that time, leaving him with an 18.5% walk rate that would be difficult to justify carrying on a big league roster even for a rebuilding club. With optionable youngsters like Brad Lord and Ken Waldichuk capable of offering multi-inning relief with considerable upside and no Rule 5 restrictions, it’s not necessarily a surprising decision that the Nationals would opt for those arms rather than McGarry as they fill out their roster.
Should he go unclaimed on waivers, his upside is still considerable enough that it would be a surprise if the Phillies didn’t jump at the opportunity to reacquire him and continue his development throughout the 2026 campaign. Of course, it’s not impossible that he could be claimed; after all, McGarry was just the third-overall selection in the draft, meaning a number of teams later in the draft may well have considered drafting him themselves if he had fallen to them. Of course, it’s also a lot easier to draft a Rule 5 pick in December than it is to actually carry that player on their roster come March, so McGarry’s trip through the waiver wire will be one to watch over the coming days.
Josiah Gray Diagnosed With Flexor Strain
Nationals right-hander Josiah Gray has been diagnosed with a flexor strain, the team announced. He has been placed on the 60-day injured list and will miss at least the first two months of the season. That opens a 40-man roster spot for lefty reliever Cionel Pérez, whose contract has officially been selected. Washington also placed righty reliever Paxton Schultz on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to March 22, with elbow inflammation.
It’s a tough blow for Gray, as he’d seemingly just gotten healthy after undergoing Tommy John surgery two years ago. Gray missed the entire ’25 season rehabbing from the operation, which took place the previous July. The ligament damage was ominously preceded by a flexor strain diagnosis three months earlier.
The Nats hadn’t provided any indication that Gray was dealing with renewed elbow discomfort. His most recent Spring Training appearance came on March 7, though it’s common for teams to give pitchers additional rest in camp when they’re coming off a significant injury. The Nationals announced last week that Gray had been optioned and would begin the season in Triple-A. That’ll be rescinded with the flexor sending him to the major league injured list instead.
Manager Blake Butera will presumably provide some kind of update on Gray’s health outlook in the coming days. It’s not clear whether another procedure is a possible outcome, though any significant arm injury this close to a previous surgery is disheartening. Gray is making a $1.35MM salary this season and under arbitration control through 2027.
Nationals To Select Cionel Pérez
Left-handed reliever Cionel Pérez has been informed that he’s made the Nationals’ Opening Day roster, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com. Pérez is in camp as a non-roster invitee, so the Nats will need to open a 40-man roster spot in order to formally add him to the club.
Pérez, 29, signed a minor league deal back in February and has had a terrific spring. The veteran southpaw has pitched six innings and held opponents scoreless on only two hits and a walk with five strikeouts. He’s kept a hearty 53.3% of batted balls against him on the ground and sat 95.7 mph with his four-seamer and 95.5 mph with his sinker.
Originally signed by the Astros after defecting from Cuba, Pérez struggled through several seasons in Houston and Cincinnati before breaking out with the Orioles in 2022. A then-26-year-old Pérez fired 57 2/3 innings with a pristine 1.40 ERA. For three seasons, Pérez was a largely reliable arm in Baltimore, compiling 164 2/3 innings with a 3.12 ERA, 57 holds and six saves.
In 2025, Pérez stumbled badly out of the gate and never managed to find his footing. He opened the season with 21 2/3 innings of 8.31 ERA ball, including five runs in his final appearance, before being designated for assignment. He went unclaimed on waivers and spent the rest of the season in Triple-A Norfolk, where he posted a 6.65 ERA in 22 1/3 innings.
Pérez’s undoing last season was a sudden erosion of his already sub-par command. Even during his three quality seasons with the O’s, he walked 10-11% of his opponents. In 2025, he walked more than 16% of the batters he faced both in the majors and in Triple-A. He also lost a mile per hour off his four-seamer and a half-mile off his sinker.
Pérez will reportedly earn $1.9MM on his deal now that he’s made the roster. He can pick up another $700K worth of incentives. He has just under five years of big league service, meaning if he gets back on track, the Nats can control him through 2027 via arbitration. Pérez instantly becomes the most experienced reliever in the rebuilding Nationals’ bullpen and could even find himself in high-leverage spots, given the team’s lack of established relievers.
Nationals To Acquire Jorbit Vivas
The Nationals are acquiring infielder Jorbit Vivas from the Yankees, according to a report from Andrew Golden of The Baltimore Banner. Pitching prospect Sean Paul Linan is headed back to New York in exchange for Vivas’s services.
Vivas, 25, made his big league debut with the Yankees last year. He hit .161/.266/.250 for the club across 66 plate appearances last year while splitting time between second and third base in a bench role for the club, though there’s reason to believe he’s a good bit better than that small sample might suggest. His xwOBA of .304 is much closer to league average, and a lackluster .190 BABIP surely limited his production in the majors last year. He hit quite well for the Yankees when at Triple-A last season as well, with a .270/.389/.364 (110 wRC+) line in 100 games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The youngster is now headed to the Nationals, where he should have a much better opportunity to get playing time at the big league level. With Amed Rosario, Jose Caballero, Ryan McMahon, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. all on the roster, Anthony Volpe set to return from the injured list early in the year, and players like Oswaldo Cabrera and Paul DeJong at Triple-A, it seems likely that Vivas would have wound up buried on the Yankees’ infield depth chart this year. There’s no such fear with the Nationals, who are in the midst of a rebuild and will be relying on Brady House, Nasim Nunez, and Jose Tena to cover second and third base with CJ Abrams locking down shortstop.
In return for Vivas’s services, the Yankees pick up the right-handed Linan. The 21-year-old Colombia native signed with the Dodgers as an amateur back in 2022 and was acquired by the Nationals as part of the Alex Call deal at last year’s trade deadline. Linan had an up-and-down season with the Dodgers and Nationals in the minors last year, with a 3.03 ERA across three levels of the minors, but he finished well enough with five innings of one-run ball in the Arizona Fall League. Linan seems likely to begin the 2022 season at Double-A for the Yankees and has served mostly as a starter throughout his career, but the 27th-ranked prospect in the Nationals’ farm per MLB Pipeline lacks a second standout offering to pair with his elite changeup and struggled with control in brief looks at both Triple-A and the AFL. That could portend a move to relief in Linan’s future, which might be able to help him advance to the upper levels of the minors more quickly.
Nationals Release Drew Smith
The Nationals announced that right-hander Drew Smith has been released. Smith signed a minor league deal last month, and the Nats had to make a decision by this weekend about including the righty on the 40-man roster, or else Smith could trigger the first of three built-in opt-out dates within his contract.
Smith hasn’t pitched in the majors or minors since June 2024, as a UCL surgery kept the veteran reliever in rehab and recovery mode for the entirety of the 2025 season. Back in November, the Mets declined their $2MM club option on Smith’s services for next year, sending him to free agency for the second straight winter. The minor league deal with Washington seemed to provide a good opportunity for Smith given the unsettled state of the Nats’ bullpen, and 5 1/3 scoreless innings this spring seemed to be boost for Smith’s bid for a roster spot.
Instead, the Nationals have decided to move on from the 32-year-old. It could be that the Nationals wanted to focus more on younger arms, or the timing of the opt-out clause forced the Nats into a decision they didn’t yet want to make about Smith’s status. As is sometimes the case with the Article XX(B) deadline, Smith could possibly re-sign with Washington on a fresh minors deal in a few days, with today’s release just a means to sidestep the first opt-out deadline and give the team a little more time to evaluate their options.
If Smith does test the market, he might well find some interest given his past track record with the Mets. Smith posted a 3.48 ERA, 24.5% strikeout rate, and 9.3% walk rate for New York over 196 1/3 innings from 2018-24. That walk rate spiked upward in 2023-24 but his 29.1K% in 2024 was also a career best, and Smith has pretty evenly solid numbers against both right-handed and left-handed batters over his career.
Nationals Option Dylan Crews
The Nationals announced that outfielder Dylan Crews has been optioned to Triple-A Rochester. That seems to set them up to have an Opening Day outfield mix consisting of James Wood, Jacob Young and Daylen Lile, perhaps with Joey Wiemer and/or Christian Franklin on the bench.
Crews, now 24, was once one of the top prospects in the league. The Nats took him with the second overall pick in the 2023 draft. He shot through the minors and was up in the big leagues by August of 2024, barely a year after being drafted. At that time, he was considered one of the five to ten best prospects in the whole league.
The shine has come off a bit since then as he hasn’t shown success at the major league level yet. He missed about three months of the 2025 season due to an oblique strain. To this point, he has 454 big league plate appearances with a .211/.282/.352 line. His defense has been good and he has already swiped 29 bags but the Nats clearly expected more offensively. Crews had a monster .380/.498/.689 line for Louisiana State University and then hit .275/.351/.455 in the minors before his 2024 call-up.
Despite his lack of major league success, it was expected that he would get some runway in 2026. The Nats are rebuilding and don’t plan to contend soon, as evidenced by their offseason deals of MacKenzie Gore and Jose A. Ferrer. But Crews put up an awful .103/.206/.103 line in spring training this year, striking out in 11 of his 34 plate appearances, a 32.4% clip.
It’s possible the demotion is about playing time, as Crews would ideally be getting regular reps to get back on track after his injury-marred 2025. At the big league level, Wood is one of the best players on the club and will certainly be out there. Young doesn’t hit much but is an elite defensive center fielder. Lile debuted last year and was rough on defense but hit .299/.347/.498.
Wiemer is a good fit as a fourth outfielder since he’s a strong defender and his right-handed bat could help him form a platoon with the lefty-swinging Lile. Franklin hasn’t yet made his major league debut but he’s considered a well-rounded player who is decent at just about everything, so he could slot into the mix in various ways if he makes the team, either as a defensive replacement, pinch hitter or pinch runner. Both Wiemer and Franklin are optionable, so it’s possible one of them ends up getting sent down in the coming days but the Nats also might roster five outfielders.
Jamming Crews into that mix would have perhaps meant taking a bit of playing time away from everyone, so the Nats have decided it best to let Crews rediscover himself at the Triple-A level. He will join Robert Hassell III in that regard. Hassell is also a former first round pick who has struggled at the major league level. He was optioned to the minors earlier this week.
The move could have implications for Crews, depending on how much time he ultimately spends down on the farm. He currently has one year and 35 days of service time. If he stayed up in the majors, he would be under club control through the 2030 season. If he spends about two months or more on optional assignment, he wouldn’t get to the two-year mark in 2026, therefore pushing his path to free agency by a year. His path to arbitration could also be impacted.
Those will be concerns to be worked out in the future. For now, the Nats and Crews need to find a way for him to reach his potential and establish himself as a major leaguer. As mentioned, the Nats don’t really hope to be good in 2026 but their future chances will improve if young players like Crews can take steps forward.
Photo courtesy of Geoff Burke, Imagn Images
Offseason In Review: Washington Nationals
The reloaded rebuild officially got underway in D.C., as the MacKenzie Gore trade signaled that the Nationals are still years away from contention.
Major League Signings
- Zack Littell, RHP: One year, $7MM (includes $4MM buyout of a mutual option for the 2027 season)
- Foster Griffin, LHP: One year, $5.5MM
- Miles Mikolas, RHP: One year, $2.25MM
2026 spending: $14.75MM
Total spending: $14.75M
Trades And Claims
- Acquired five minor leaguers (SS Gavin Fien, RHP Alejandro Rosario, 1B/OF Abimelec Ortiz, IF Devin Fitz-Gerald, OF Yeremy Cabrera) from Rangers for LHP MacKenzie Gore
- Acquired C Harry Ford and RHP Isaac Lyon from Mariners for LHP Jose A. Ferrer
- Acquired RHP Andre Granillo from Cardinals for RHP George Soriano (Nats claimed Soriano off waivers from Braves earlier in the offseason)
- Acquired RHP Luis Perales from Red Sox for LHP Jake Bennett
- Claimed OF Joey Wiemer off waivers from Giants
- Claimed LHP Ken Waldichuk off waivers from Rays
- Claimed RHP Paxton Schultz off waivers from Blue Jays
- Claimed RHP Gus Varland off waivers from Diamondbacks
- Selected RHP Griff McGarry from Phillies in Rule 5 Draft
Option Decisions
- None
Notable Minor League Signings
- Cionel Perez, Matt Mervis, Sergio Alcantara, Trevor Gott, Drew Smith, Zach Penrod, Warming Bernabel, Tres Barrera, Levi Jordan, Bryce Montes de Oca
Extensions
- Cade Cavalli, RHP: One year, $870K (includes $7.5K buyout of $4MM club option for 2027)
Notable Losses
- Gore, Josh Bell, Paul DeJong, Jorge Alfaro, Ryan Loutos, Zach Brzykcy, Konnor Pilkington, Erick Mejia, Sauryn Lao
Acquiring young players is a key plank of any rebuild, but the Nationals took it a step further by also beginning a youth movement off the field. Newly-hired president of baseball operations Paul Toboni is only 36 years old, new general manager Anirudh Kilambi is 32, new manager Blake Butera is only 33, and most of Butera’s new coaching staff are also under age 40. (Bench coach Michael Johns is the relative greybeard of the group at age 50.)
This wasn’t an entirely intentional goal for Toboni or Nats ownership, as more experienced names like Brandon Hyde, Rocco Baldelli, and interim manager Miguel Cairo also drew interest in the managerial search. The end result, however, is clear — the Nationals have brought a lot of fresh perspectives into the overhauled organization, following the 19-year tenure of former PBO Mike Rizzo and longtime manager Davey Martinez.
The Rizzo/Martinez era was highlighted by the Nationals’ 2019 World Series title, but the team has now posted six straight losing seasons since that championship year. Heading into 2025, Washington had some buzz as a darkhorse playoff contender, as it seemed like the team’s young core was starting to gel and a full breakout might be in the offing. Instead, the Nats were 37-53 at the time of Rizzo and Martinez’s firing in early July, and they finished with a 66-96 record.
Given the circumstances, it was never likely that Toboni was being hired to win in 2026. The only question was how active Toboni might be in tearing the roster down, or standing pat to take 2026 as something of an evaluation year for the organization (similar to Scott Harris’ quiet first offseason as the Tigers’ president of baseball ops). While Washington didn’t go into full fire-sale mode or anything, the decision was made to move one of the team’s more obvious trade candidates in Gore.
As Toboni plainly told the media after Gore was dealt to the Rangers, “we lost 96 games last year. To turn it around in one year and make the playoffs….not to say it can’t be done, but it’s a challenge. What we want to do is make sure we build this really strong foundation, so when we do start to push chips in, we can win for an extended period of time.”
Gore is only arbitration-controlled through the 2027 season, thus making him superfluous to a Nats team that doesn’t look like it will be trying to compete within the next two years. As one might expect, a controllable, 27-year-old southpaw who has shown some front-of-the-rotation upside drew a lot of interest, as reports indicated that up to half of the league checked in on Gore’s availability. The Orioles, Royals, and Yankees were all publicly mentioned as Gore suitors, but it was Texas who sealed the deal with a five-prospect trade package.
The preseason top-100 prospect rankings from Baseball America and MLB Pipeline didn’t include any of the five players from the Gore trade, with Gavin Fien (the 12th overall pick of the 2025 draft) ranked highest of the group by both outlets as the fifth-best prospect in the Nats’ farm system. According to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, Toboni was very high on Fien last summer when Toboni was still working as the Red Sox assistant GM and running Boston’s draft room, except the Rangers took Fien just before Boston could make the 15th overall selection.
This may well have been the ace up the Rangers’ sleeve in winning the Gore bidding, and since Fien just turned 19, he also fits into what seems to be a longer-term blueprint for Toboni. Abimelec Ortiz is the only player of the five who could conceivably reach the big league roster before 2028, and Ortiz may have a ceiling on his potential as a powerful but raw slugger who has struggled against lefties and may be limited to first base duty.
Given all of the interest in Gore, D.C. fans may have been a little dismayed that the team opted for a trade package that looks like quantity over quality, in terms of true blue-chip prospects. Ironically, many Mariners fans had similar feeling when top-100 list fixture Harry Ford was dealt to Washington for Jose A. Ferrer in early December, as the Seattle fanbase felt a highly-touted catching prospect should’ve brought back more than “just” a relief pitcher.
Ferrer is a hard-throwing left-hander who projects as another high-leverage arm for a Mariners team that is trying to win it all in 2026. Since he was controlled through 2029, Ferrer wasn’t viewed as an obvious trade candidate, yet Toboni may have been looking to sell high on a reliever who (despite impressive velocity) has shown to be more of a grounder specialist than a strikeout artist.
Ford was the 12th overall pick of the 2021 draft, but his potential as Seattle’s catcher of the future was quickly usurped by Cal Raleigh‘s rise to stardom. While Ford will begin his 2026 season with Triple-A Rochester, his path to future playing time in Washington isn’t nearly as crowded, even though Keibert Ruiz is still under contract through at least the 2030 season. Just three years removed from signing an eight-year, $50MM contract extension, Ruiz struggled both offensively and defensively in 2024-25, and the Ford trade may indicate that the writing on the wall about Ruiz’s status with Washington’s new front office.
Trading Ruiz will be difficult given his contract and lack of recent success, so even a decent first half (or however long it is before Ford to be called up) likely wouldn’t be enough to recoup much trade value. While Ruiz is probably not going anywhere, the same might not be true of Jacob Young or CJ Abrams, who each drew trade buzz this past winter but now look to at least make it to Opening Day in a Nationals uniform.
Young is a fantastic defensive center fielder who hasn’t yet hit at the MLB level, so the Nats could look to move him if the team feels Young’s bat just won’t come around. The Joey Wiemer waiver claim was probably more about adding outfield depth than the Nationals finding a potential Young replacement in center, but it does give D.C. an alternative if a center field-needy team suddenly came calling with a tempting offer.
Abrams and Gore were two of the principles in the blockbuster trade package the Nationals received from the Padres for Juan Soto in 2022, and like Gore, Abrams has been solid if not a true finished product yet at the big league level. Abrams’ last two seasons have seen him hit well in the first half before tailing off badly in the second half, plus his shortstop glovework is well below par.
Such teams as the Royals and Giants were linked to Abrams’ market this winter, with both of those teams surely viewing Abrams more as a second baseman than a shortstop. Since Abrams is arb-controlled through 2028, Washington isn’t in any kind of a rush to trade him immediately, and waiting a bit longer might be a preferable option for both the Nats and rival teams. A consistent 2026 campaign from Abrams would both make suitors more comfortable in making a solid offer for the infielder, and the Nationals more likely to land their desired asking price.
More future-focused moves came in the form of Griff McGarry’s selection in the Rule 5 Draft, and the trades that respectively brought right-handers Andre Granillo and Luis Perales from the Cardinals and Red Sox. Control problems stalled McGarry’s progress as a starter in the Phillies’ farm system, but the Nats could give him a look all year on the big league roster in order to evaluate the right-hander and fully secure his rights. Granillo also issued a good deal of walks during his time in the St. Louis farm system, but he is a big league-ready reliever with 21 innings of experience in the Show. Perales is a hard-throwing righty still working his way back from a Tommy John surgery, and Toboni is obviously quite familiar with Perales from their time in the Boston organization.
Since the Nationals still have a season to play in 2026, they also made some moves to more directly address the current roster. Any of Zack Littell, Miles Mikolas, or Foster Griffin could find themselves on the move at the trade deadline as rental pieces, but for now, they’ll reinforce a D.C. rotation that badly needed some stability.
Littell could be considered the de facto ace, given that he had a 3.88 ERA and an elite 4.2% walk rate over 186 2/3 innings with the Rays and Reds last season. However, Littell’s penchant for allowing home runs and his lack of velocity or strikeout power were all reasons why the veteran was still a free agent less than two weeks ago, and why he was available for a one-year, $7MM deal. That’s still quite a decent price for even just an innings eater, and Nationals Park should prove to be a little friendlier to Littell than his homer-happy home stadiums in 2025.
Mikolas has a similar resume as a low-strikeout pitcher with excellent control and the ability to cover innings, and he has a longer track record in rotations since Littell only became a full-time starter in 2023. Mikolas has posted only a 4.98 ERA over 529 1/3 innings since the start of the 2023 season, and his pinpoint control has only been able to do so much to paper over the right-hander’s diminishing effectiveness.
After posting a 6.75 ERA over eight MLB innings with the Royals and Blue Jays from 2020-22, Griffin revived his career with a 2.57 ERA across 315 2/3 innings with the Yomiuri Giants over the last three seasons. The 30-year-old represents an intriguing wild card for the Nationals, and Washington’s ability to offer Griffin a clear-cut rotation job might’ve helped the Nats win the bidding amidst multiple teams interested in Griffin’s market.
The free agent trio with join Cade Cavalli (tabbed as the Opening Day starter) and Jake Irvin in the Nationals’ starting rotation. DJ Herz and Trevor Williams are expected to make midseason returns from elbow surgeries and could slot into an rotation spot opened up by a pre-deadline trade. Any of Josiah Gray, Andrew Alvarez, Mitchell Parker, swingman Brad Lord, Jake Eder, or Perales could all end up getting starts before 2026 is out, either due to injuries, trades, or because the Nats want to audition as many starters as possible.
Evaluation is really the key word for this year’s District squad. This is a very young Nationals roster without a lot of Major League experience, and the bullpen in particular will be very inexperienced unless a minor league signing like Cionel Perez or Drew Smith makes the team. Among the position players, even the more seasoned members of that group (i.e. Ruiz, Luis Garcia Jr.) are probably more focused on trying to re-establish themselves as quality big leaguers than they are being relative mentors to their younger teammates.
While Washington is probably going to have one of the worst records in baseball, this chaos can be a ladder. There is plenty of room here for youngsters to step up and become part of future plans, and to put a couple of building blocks in place for the Nationals’ next winning roster. It will also be interesting to see how Butera (the youngest Major League manager in over 50 years) adjusts to being a skipper in the big leagues, and if he can become the latest ex-Rays staffer to find success in another organization.
How would you grade the Nationals' offseason?
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C 33% (388)
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D 33% (388)
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F 18% (204)
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B 13% (146)
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A 3% (38)
Total votes: 1,164
Nationals Option Josiah Gray, Robert Hassell III
The Nationals announced a trio of camp cuts this morning. Starter Josiah Gray, outfielder Robert Hassell III and reliever Julian Fernández will all begin the season in the minors.
Gray was an All-Star in 2023 after making 30 starts with a 3.91 ERA. He was hit hard over two starts the following season and underwent UCL surgery in July. Gray didn’t pitch in MLB last year as he rehabbed the injury. He made a trio of abbreviated starts in the minors to at least get some game action in before the offseason began.
The 28-year-old has taken the ball twice in camp. He pitched 4 2/3 frames of one-run ball with five strikeouts. The Nationals will continue his buildup as a depth starter at Triple-A Rochester. Mitchell Parker, Andrew Alvarez and Jake Eder are also on the 40-man roster but beginning the season in the minors.
Gray’s demotion seemingly positions Jake Irvin as Washington’s fifth starter. Cade Cavalli will take the ball on Opening Day against Matthew Boyd and the Cubs. Miles Mikolas, Foster Griffin and Zack Littell signed one-year free agent deals that should lock them into the rotation.
Irvin led the team with 180 innings last season, but he was tagged for an ugly 5.70 ERA while striking out fewer than 16% of opponents. That left him to compete for a rotation role this spring. To his credit, the 29-year-old righty has had an excellent camp. Irvin has allowed just two runs while striking out 15 across 13 1/3 innings. He has toyed with a deeper pitch mix, throwing more cutters and sliders after leaning mostly on his fastballs and curveball last year.
Hassell, a former top 10 pick who came over from San Diego in the Juan Soto trade, hit .223/.257/.315 over his first 70 MLB games last year. He struck out nine times while walking just once in 29 spring plate appearances. Hassell heads back to Triple-A, where he had a strong season (.310/.383/.456 in 76 games) a year ago.
The Nationals have James Wood, Jacob Young and Daylen Lile assured of spots in the MLB outfield. Dylan Crews will presumably be in there as well, though it’s at least conceivable that the Nats could determine he’d benefit from Triple-A reps. The former second overall pick limped to a .208/.280/.352 showing in his first full MLB season. He has only picked up three hits while striking out 10 times in 32 plate appearances this spring. Offseason waiver pickup Joey Wiemer has also had a rough camp and still has an option remaining.
Nationals Option Harry Ford
The Nationals announced today that catcher Harry Ford has been optioned to Triple-A Rochester while fellow backstop Riley Adams has been reassigned to minor league camp. That seems to set the stage for Keibert Ruiz and Drew Millas to be the club’s catching tandem at the beginning of the season.
The Nats have an interesting long-term catching mix. They acquired Ruiz from the Dodgers as part of the 2021 deal sending Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to the Dodgers. He and the club agreed to an extension in 2023, a deal which runs through 2030 and has club options for 2031 and 2032.
But since the start of 2024, he has poor defensive numbers and a .235/.266/.345 batting line. FanGraphs has considered him to be 1.3 wins below replacement level in that span. He was acquired and extended by the previous front office regime. President of baseball operations Mike Rizzo was fired last year as the club’s rebuild failed to proceed as hoped.
Paul Toboni was hired to replace Rizzo. One of the first significant moves of his tenure was to trade reliever Jose A. Ferrer to the Mariners, with Ford being the headliner of the return. Ford is one of the top catching prospects in the league. Seattle drafted him 12th overall in 2021 and signed him to a bonus of $4.4MM. With Cal Raleigh locked in as the catcher in Seattle, it made sense for the Mariners to put Ford on the trade block. Presumably, the Nats hope Ford is their primary catcher in the long term.
Ford’s major league track record consists of just eight games so far. He got into 97 Triple-A games last year and put up a .283/.408/.460 line. Even in the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League, that was 25% better than league average, by measure of wRC+. His defense was once considered questionable but he has made enough progress that he is expected by many evaluators to stick behind the plate for the long term.
Though Ford is still only 23 years old and lacking in experience, the Nats could have considered carrying him on the Opening Day roster due to the Prospect Promotion Incentive. He would have been PPI eligible if the Nats kept him on the active roster for long enough to earn a full year of service time. He could have then earned them an extra draft pick if he won Rookie of the Year or Most Valuable Player in his pre-arbitration seasons.
The Nats didn’t get a long look at him during Spring Training, as Ford joined the Great Britain team in the World Baseball Classic. He has only appeared in seven Grapefruit League contests, with a lackluster .214 /.353/.286 line in those.
For now, it seems the Nats will have Ford getting regular reps in the minors. That will give Ruiz a chance to continue as the regular catcher in the big leagues. Despite his recent struggles, it’s not out of the question for Ruiz to get back on track. He is only 27 years old and was able to be a league average hitter as of a few years ago.
If that doesn’t come to fruition, then it’s possible a time will come where Ford pushes for a regular role, which will get Ruiz bumped into being an overpaid backup. His contract isn’t especially onerous on an annual basis but there’s still quite a ways to go. He will make $5MM this year and next, followed by a salary of $7MM in 2028 and then $9MM in each of the final two years. That means he is still guaranteed $35MM over the next five years. The club options are valued at $12MM and $14MM, with no buyouts.
The timing of Ford’s eventual recall to the majors will impact his future earning power. He currently has 28 days of service time. If he spends about six weeks or more on optional assignment this year, he won’t be able to reach the one-year mark, which will push his path to free agency by a year. It also could impact when he qualifies for arbitration, depending on where the Super Two cutoff lands in future seasons.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
Mets Claim Richard Lovelady
The Mets announced that left-hander Richard Lovelady has been claimed off waivers from the Nationals. Right-hander Justin Hagenman was placed on New York’s 60-day injured list in the corresponding move, as Hagenman will now miss the first two months of the season recovering from a rib fracture.
It’s a quick return to Queens for Lovelady, who was designated for assignment by the Mets in late January and then claimed by the Nationals. After a little over a month in Washington’s spring camp, Lovelady was DFA’ed again since the Nats needed roster space for the newly-signed Zack Littell.
Lovelady broke into the majors with the Royals in 2019, and he spent his first three big league seasons in Kansas City before a Tommy John surgery cost him the entirety of the 2022 season. Since recovering from his surgery, Lovelady has become a regular on the transactions list, as he has bounced around to multiple clubs in a series of trades, waiver claims, signings and re-signings. Since the start of the 2023 campaign, Lovelady has a 5.19 ERA, 20.7% strikeout rate, and 9.0% walk rate over 69 1/3 innings with five different teams at the Major League level.
This nomadic stretch includes multiple stints with the Mets over the last year, beginning last June when New York signed Lovelady after he’d opted out of a minor league contract with the Twins. Lovelady ended up posting a 6.30 ERA over 10 innings with the Amazins, while also being DFA’ed and outrighted three different times. The southpaw refused the first of those outrights and elected free agency, but soon re-signed with the Mets.
Lovelady has been out of minor league options following the 2024 season, which is why he has been ping-ponged around without much roster security. While the Mets clearly see enough in Lovelady to keep re-acquiring him, he is likely viewed as no more than left-handed bullpen depth, and a possible candidate for another DFA if New York needs roster space. Lovelady is signed for 2026 on a split contract that he inked with the Mets in October, and is guaranteed a $350K salary in the minors and $1MM in the majors.
Hagenman was a 23rd-round pick for the Dodgers in the 2018 draft, and signing with the Mets last offseason helped pave the way for the righty to make his MLB debut in 2025 as part of the Mets’ revolving door of pitchers. Hagenman posted a 4.56 ERA across his first 23 2/3 innings in the Show, with an impressive 23 strikeouts against only two walks but also four homers allowed.
After spending most of his minor league career in a strict relief role, Hagenman has been used more as a swingman in Boston and New York’s Triple-A teams over the last two years. He was viewed as a longshot candidate to make the Mets’ Opening Day roster anyway, but this rib injury will now heavily delay Hagenman’s work even at Triple-A Syracuse. One minor silver lining is that the placement on the big league 60-day IL will earn Hagenman some Major League service time.