Nationals Rumors

Nationals Claim George Soriano, Designate Tsung-Che Cheng For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | January 30, 2026 at 1:00pm CDT

The Nationals announced that they have claimed right-hander George Soriano off waivers from the Braves. Atlanta designated him for assignment earlier this week when they claimed José Suarez off waivers from the Orioles. To open a spot for Soriano today, Washington has designated infielder Tsung-Che Cheng for assignment.

Both players involved here have been riding the DFA carousel this winter. Soriano finished the 2025 season with the Marlins but has since gone to Baltimore, Atlanta and now Washington via waivers. Cheng was on the Pirates as of a few months ago but has gone to the Rays, Mets and Nationals via the waiver wire. For each of these two and many others this winter, it seems that several teams are hoping to pass the player through waivers, therefore keeping him as non-roster depth.

Soriano, 27 in March, hasn’t found major league success yet. He logged 118 innings for the Marlins over the past three years, allowing 5.95 earned runs per nine with a 22% strikeout rate, 10.3% walk rate and 38.7% ground ball rate. He exhausted his three option years in that time.

But he did just wrap up a strong season in the minors. He tossed 42 2/3 Triple-A innings last year with a 2.32 ERA. He struck out 28.8% of batters faced, gave out walks at an 8.8% clip and induced grounders on 55.7% of balls in play. He averages about 96 miles per hour with both his four-seamer and sinker while also featuring a slider and a changeup.

Teams are clearly intrigued by Soriano but seemingly prefer to have him aboard in a non-roster capacity. If he is passed through waivers at some point, he would not have the right to elect free agency since he has less than three years of service time and does not have a previous career outright.

Perhaps the Nats will put him back on waivers later but they could certainly use the arms. The Washington bullpen had a 5.59 ERA last year, worst in the majors. They subtracted from the group when they traded Jose A. Ferrer to the Mariners for catcher Harry Ford. If Soriano can hang onto his roster spot, he can be controlled for five full seasons.

Cheng, 24, still has an option remaining but his appeal is nonetheless borderline enough for him to be barely clinging to a 40-man spot. He appears to have a decent floor as a speed-and-defense infielder. Throughout his minor league career, he has played a bunch of the three infield spots to the left of first base, generally getting good reviews for his glovework. He’s been good for 20-ish steals per year in the minors as well.

The bat is more of a question. He hit well through Single-A but has struggled at the upper levels. Over the past two years, he has a combined .217/.319/.312 batting line on the farm, which translates to an 81 wRC+. He was also sent to the plate seven times in the majors and struck out three times without getting a hit.

It appears he has some appeal as a glove-first depth infielder but not enough for any club to put him firmly in their plans. The Nats will likely put him back on waivers soon. DFA limbo can last as long as a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so he should be back on the wire at some point in the next five days.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

Nationals Claim Richard Lovelady, Designate Mickey Gasper For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | January 29, 2026 at 3:10pm CDT

The Nationals announced that they have claimed left-hander Richard Lovelady off waivers from the Mets. New York designated him for assignment a week ago when they acquired Vidal Bruján. To open a spot for Lovelady today, the Nats have designated utility player Mickey Gasper for assignment.

Lovelady, 30, hasn’t found much major league success yet but has received a number of chances due to better numbers in the minors. He has 111 big league innings spread over multiple seasons and in various different jerseys. In that time, he posted a 5.35 earned run average, 21.1% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and 50.9% ground ball rate.

Since he’s out of options, he bounced around the league via numerous transactions last year. He went from the Blue Jays to the Twins and then the Mets, the latter club bouncing him on and off the roster multiple times. He only made ten big league appearances around the transactions with an 8.49 ERA. But in Triple-A, he logged 38 innings with a 1.66 ERA, 26.3% strikeout rate, 8.6% walk rate and 52.6% ground ball rate.

He didn’t have a roster spot at the end of the season but the Mets quickly re-signed him in October to a split deal which would pay him $1MM in the majors and $350K in the minors. It might seem odd to sign a player and then put him on waivers a few months later but that was likely by design.

As mentioned, Lovelady is out of options, meaning he can’t be sent to the minors without first clearing waivers. If he were to clear, he would have the right to elect free agency, since he has at least three years of big league service time. But with his service time below five years, that means Lovelady would have to walk away from the money on his deal in exercising that right. The Mets likely signed him to that deal hoping that it would both disincentivize other clubs from claiming him and also motivate Lovelady to accept an assignment to Triple-A.

The Nationals have foiled that plan by swooping in with a claim. That’s understandable since their bullpen is one of the worst in the majors, if not the very worst. Washington relievers had a collective 5.59 ERA in 2025, highest in the big leagues. The Rockies were second-worst at 5.18.

Washington traded Jose A. Ferrer to the Mariners this winter, which thinned out the relief corps generally and also left them fairly light in terms of lefties. Before this claim, PJ Poulin was the only southpaw reliever on the roster, unless the Nats plan to move some of their starters to the pen. Poulin has only 28 big league games under his belt.

It’s possible the Nats try to pass Lovelady through waivers in the future and other moves could change the roster picture, but for now he has landed in a spot where he has a pretty good chance to earn an Opening Day job. If he still has a roster spot at season’s end, he can be controlled for another two seasons via arbitration.

Gasper, 30, hasn’t done much in the majors yet but has strong minor league numbers and defensive flexibility. He made his big league debut with the Red Sox in 2024 and appeared with the Twins last year, slashing .133/.250/.195 in his first 133 big league plate appearances.

He hit .285/.385/.531 in 208 Triple-A appearances last year. He was 29 years old at the time and that was his third season with at least some Triple-A action but the 137 wRC+ was nonetheless impressive. Even if that’s setting the offensive expectations too high, the defensive versatility is real. Gasper has experience behind the plate, at the three non-shortstop infield positions and left field.

The entire package makes him fairly attractive as a multi-positional bench piece, especially since he’s a switch-hitter. He also has options and doesn’t need to be guaranteed a big league roster spot. The Twins put him on waivers last week and he was claimed by the Nats, one of the clubs nearest the front of the waiver wire priority queue. Washington will now likely put him back on waivers at some point in the next five days.

Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images

MLBTR Podcast: Examining MLB’s Parity Situation – Also, Bellinger, Peralta, Robert, And Gore

By Darragh McDonald | January 28, 2026 at 11:30pm 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 Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Tim’s recent post looking at MLB’s economics and issues of parity (1:20)
The possibility of a salary cap coming into existence at some point in the future (5:25)
Comparing the salary cap path to alterations to the current revenue sharing system (8:40)
The public relations battle with fans knowing all about players and their salaries but not necessarily knowing so much about the owners and their finances (17:35)
Is there any hope of the owners working out some new revenue sharing arrangement? (20:45)
Are deferrals a massive problem or is the Shohei Ohtani deal just an extreme outlier that had led to increased angst? (26:50)
What kind of compromise are we likely to get in the next collective bargaining agreement? (32:45)
The Yankees re-signing Cody Bellinger (37:35)
The Mets acquiring Freddy Peralta from the Brewers and Luis Robert Jr. from the White Sox (47:20)
The Brewers’ end of the Peralta trade (53:20)
The White Sox’ end of the Robert deal (56:15)
The Rangers sending five prospects to the Nationals to acquire MacKenzie Gore (1:02:00)

Check out our past episodes!

What The Tucker And Bichette Contracts Mean For Baseball – Also, Nolan Arenado And Ranger Suarez – listen here
The Cubs Land Cabrera And Bregman, Remaining Free Agents, And Skubal’s Arbitration Filing – listen here
Contracts For Imai And Okamoto, And Thoughts On The Pirates And Giants – 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 Michael McLoone, Imagn Images

Nationals Outright Riley Adams

By Anthony Franco | January 28, 2026 at 8:06pm CDT

The Nationals sent catcher Riley Adams outright to Triple-A Rochester, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. Washington designated him for assignment last week when they claimed reliever Gus Varland from Arizona. The Nats announced that Adams has accepted the minor league assignment.

Adams has between three and four years of MLB service time. That gave him the right to elect free agency in lieu of an outright assignment but meant he’d have forfeited his salary to do so. Adams and the Nats agreed to a split contract in November to avoid arbitration. That pays him at a $1MM rate for time in the big leagues and $500K for his minor league work. It was unlikely that Adams would pass on that guaranteed half-million dollars when he’d be limited to minor league offers as a free agent.

Now that he’s staying in the organization, Adams will provide non-roster depth behind the plate. The 29-year-old is a .211/.287/.354 hitter in 263 MLB games spanning five seasons. Almost all of it has come in Washington, as the Nats acquired him from the Blue Jays 12 games into his rookie season. Adams has above-average power but strikes out far too often to be a productive hitter. Defensive metrics haven’t been keen on his receiving work, though he does have a strong arm and cut down 28.8% of attempted base stealers last year.

Washington acquired rookie catcher Harry Ford in the trade sending hard-throwing reliever Jose A. Ferrer to Seattle. Ford should get run as Blake Butera’s primary catcher. Former top prospect Keibert Ruiz hasn’t lived up to expectations and now looks ticketed for a backup job. Drew Millas and catcher/utility player Mickey Gasper are on the 40-man roster. The Nationals also reunited with Tres Barrera on a minor league deal that includes a non-roster invite to Spring Training last week.

Nationals To Sign Sergio Alcántara To Minor League Deal

By Darragh McDonald | January 28, 2026 at 5:42pm CDT

The Nationals and infielder Sergio Alcántara have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Francys Romero of Beisbol FR. The Movement Baseball client receives an invite to big league camp in spring training.

Alcántara, 29, has generally been a light-hitting but sure-handed utility player in his career. He has appeared in 193 big league games dating back to his 2020 debut, suiting up for the Tigers, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Padres and Giants. He has 506 plate appearances between those clubs with a .207/.278/.340 batting line.

Defensively, he has played all three infield spots to the left of first base. The plurality of his playing time has been as a shortstop, with 532 innings there, plus 300-350 innings at both second and third base. His grades at short have been strong, with three Defensive Runs Saved and seven Outs Above Average. His grades at second and third aren’t as good, which is a bit odd since most plus shortstops can easily handle the other infield spots.

Teams must feel pretty good about his glovework as he’s not hitting his way into his opportunities. His numbers at the plate have been a bit better in the minors but not by much. Over the past three years, he has a .263/.377/.387 line and 94 wRC+ at the Triple-A level.

There’s plenty of uncertainty in the Washington infield. CJ Abrams has been the club’s shortstop for a few years now but he has appeared in some recent trade rumors. Even if he’s not dealt before the beginning of the upcoming season, he would be a trade candidate at the summer deadline. The top shortstop options behind him are Tsung-Che Chung, Nasim Nuñez and José Tena, who haven’t done much to impress in the big leagues thus far.

There are also question marks at the other spots. Luis García Jr. has been the regular at the keystone but the Nats moved him to first base late last year. That will put more pressure on his bat, which has been subpar. Even if he plays well, he would be a midseason trade candidate like Abrams.

Nuñez may be the heir apparent at second base. Brady House hasn’t seized the third base job as hoped. Both of those two still have options. Andrés Chaparro is in the mix at the corners and also has options. Abimelec Ortiz, just acquired in the MacKenzie Gore trade, is another first base candidate with options. The Nats have former prospect Orelvis Martinez aboard as some non-roster depth, though he hasn’t played shortstop in a few years.

It’s possible there’s a decent amount of shuffling throughout the season as the rebuilding Nats experiment with the guys in that group, with the whole picture potentially changing due to some future trades.. Alcántara adds some glove-first depth on the infield, particularly at shortstop, without taking up a roster spot. If he’s eventually added, he is out of options.

Photo courtesy of Dennis Lee, Imagn Images

Nationals Claim Tsung-Che Cheng, Designate Konnor Pilkington

By Steve Adams | January 28, 2026 at 2:47pm CDT

The Nationals announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed infielder Tsung-Che Cheng off waivers from the Mets. Left-hander Konnor Pilkington has been designated for assignment to create space on the 40-man roster.

In 2025, Cheng made his big league debut with the Pirates, albeit in the smallest of samples (seven hitless plate appearances). The 24-year-old batted just .207/.305/.267 through 410 Triple-A plate appearances, connecting on just one homer with a dozen doubles and trio of triples.

Obviously, that’s poor production at the plate, but Cheng is a plus runner who swiped 20 bags and can play solid defense at three infield spots (shortstop, third base, second base). He’s walked in 12.5% of his minor league plate appearances as well and has a career .350 on-base percentage in the minors.

Cheng still has a minor league option year remaining. He’ll head to spring training with the Nats in hopes of securing a utility infield job, and he can provide some defensive-minded depth behind third baseman Brady House, shortstop CJ Abrams and second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. Abrams has seen his name pop up in trade chatter recently and could still be moved. Cheng certainly wouldn’t be thrust into the starter’s role in that scenario, but it’d create further opportunities for him in the majors, depending on how the Nats would go about replacing Abrams in that hypothetical scenario.

Pilkington, 28, pitched 28 1/3 innings for Washington last season. He worked to a 4.45 ERA, fanned 27.6% of his opponents and logged an ugly 13.8% walk rate. That marked the left-hander’s third season with at least some big league time. He’s totaled 88 1/3 frames in the majors and turned in a solid 3.97 ERA, albeit with a pedestrian 22% strikeout rate and a beefy 12.9% walk rate.

A former third-round pick (White Sox, 2018), Pilkington has spent parts of four seasons in Triple-A, where he’s pitched to a 6.10 earned run average with comparable strikeout rates to his major league level but an even more alarming 14.1% walk rate. Moving from a starting role to a pure relief role bumped Pilkington’s average fastball to a career-best 94.5 mph this past season but didn’t help him rein in his command at all.

Pilkington still has one minor league option year remaining, and while his overall track record in Triple-A isn’t good, he notched a 2.59 ERA in 42 1/3 innings with Washington’s top affiliate in Rochester this past season. Even amid that seemingly strong showing, however, Pilkington walked 15% of his opponents. It’s possible another club is intrigued by his uptick in velocity and the strikeout numbers following a move to the bullpen, but unless he can dramatically cut back on his walk rate, it’s hard to imagine Pilkington carving out a lasting role in the big leagues.

The Nationals can trade Pilkington or place him on waivers at any point within the next five days. Waivers are a 48-hour process. His DFA will be resolved within a week’s time.

Nationals Outright Andry Lara

By Darragh McDonald | January 27, 2026 at 2:53pm CDT

The Nationals announced that right-hander Andry Lara has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Rochester. He had been designated for assignment a week ago when the club claimed utility player Mickey Gasper.

Lara, 23, was an international signing out of Venezuela in 2019. He had a bit of a breakout in 2024, tossing 134 2/3 innings over 25 starts between High-A and Double-A. He allowed 3.34 earned runs per nine with a 24.3% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate. The Nats gave him a 40-man spot in November of that year to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.

His 2025 wasn’t as pleasant. He did get to make his major league debut but posted an 8.79 ERA in 14 1/3 innings. Down on the farm, he had a 7.55 ERA in 56 innings split between High-A, Double-A and Triple-A.

That performance bumped him off Washington’s roster and none of the other 29 clubs were willing to give him a spot either. Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he does not have the right to elect free agency. He will stick with the Nats and try to pitch his way back onto the roster.

The club is rebuilding and had a collective 5.35 ERA in 2025. This winter, they have thinned out the staff by trading away MacKenzie Gore and Jose A. Ferrer. They have also made a few additions by signing Foster Griffin, claiming Gus Varland and selecting Griff McGarry in the Rule 5 draft. On the whole, the staff is lacking in experience and very few guys have spots locked down, so there are paths for Lara or other pitchers to take advantage of the situation.

Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images

Nationals Discussing Trades Involving CJ Abrams, Jacob Young

By Anthony Franco | January 24, 2026 at 7:36am CDT

TODAY: In a radio interview on 106.7 The Fan (hat tip to Talk Nats), Toboni pushed back on the idea that the Nationals are trying to move Abrams. “I will give you the cliche response that probably every GM in every sport gives — we’d be dumb not to listen, right?” Toboni said. “It’s not like we are calling other teams and looking to trade CJ….While we’ll always listen, we’re going to take it day-by-day. And see what comes our way. If there’s something that makes sense, we’ll talk about it. But it hasn’t even come close at this point in time.”

JANUARY 22: Paul Toboni made the most significant move of his first offseason running baseball operations for the Nationals. The Nats shipped MacKenzie Gore to the Rangers for a five-prospect package headlined by last year’s 12th overall pick Gavin Fien. Washington also swapped high-upside reliever Jose A. Ferrer to the Mariners for rookie catcher Harry Ford early in the offseason.

The team remains amidst a rebuild, as Toboni acknowledged without using that specific term. “I think we’ve got to be honest with ourselves,” he told reporters after the Gore deal (link via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com). “The truth is – and I don’t think this is a mystery to the fanbase, the media or anyone – 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.”

That naturally leads to speculation about their other veteran players. Shortstop CJ Abrams has come up in rumors throughout the offseason. Spencer Nusbaum, Andrew Golden and Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post write that the Nationals have shopped Abrams and center fielder Jacob Young over the winter.

In Abrams’ case, that could simply be a matter of semantics. It’s no secret the Nationals have heard teams out on the talented infielder, who has reportedly gotten interest from the Royals (surely among various other clubs). Whether they’re initiating the calls or simply seriously considering interest isn’t a major distinction. The asking price remains high, as The Washington Post report indicates the Nats may need a stronger return to move Abrams than the one they received for Gore.

That’s motivated largely by the club control window. Gore was down to two seasons of arbitration eligibility; Abrams is three years away from free agency. The infielder is also marginally cheaper, as he’s signed for $4.2MM compared to Gore’s $5.6MM salary. The extra control year is the bigger factor, as the Nationals presumably expect to contend by 2028 even if they’re not trying to compete this year.

In each of the past two seasons, Abrams has been an excellent hitter through the All-Star Break before tailing off in the second half. He has been a little better than average overall, hitting .252/.315/.433 in more than 1200 plate appearances over the past two years. Abrams has 39 homers and 62 stolen bases with slightly lower than average strikeout and walk marks in that time. He’s an above-average regular who has an All-Star level ceiling that he has yet to consistently reach.

Abrams gives back some of the value with the glove. He’s one of the weaker shortstops in MLB and trails only Elly De La Cruz with 39 errors over the past two seasons. They’ve mostly been of the throwing variety, yet Statcast hasn’t looked favorably upon his range either. Abrams would project better at second base or potentially in center field. He has been a full-time shortstop on a Washington team that has probably had the worst all-around infield defense in the majors.

Despite the drawbacks, Abrams should have substantial appeal on the trade market. He’s a 25-year-old plus athlete who fits somewhere in the middle of the diamond. He’s a former sixth overall pick and top prospect who has stretches where he’s an excellent table-setter in one of the top two lineup spots. The Nats should demand a haul to part with him when he’s controllable for three seasons. In addition to Kansas City, teams like the Giants, Red Sox, Mariners and Padres (the club that drafted him and dealt him to Washington in the Juan Soto deal) are speculative fits. Those teams could all upgrade at second base, and many of them have been involved on another lefty-hitting trade chip, Brendan Donovan.

Young hasn’t gotten much attention as a trade candidate this winter. He’s overshadowed by bigger names like Gore and Abrams and certainly wouldn’t command as big a return. However, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes that the Nationals have gotten interest from teams looking to improve in center field. Those clubs would be on Young for his years of affordable control and elite glove.

The 26-year-old is still in his pre-arbitration seasons and at least four years from free agency. He stole 33 bases and probably should have won a Gold Glove in 2024, as he led MLB outfielders with 20 Outs Above Average that season. Defensive Runs Saved wasn’t quite so bullish but graded him 12 runs above par. Young posted similarly impressive defensive metrics last year, tallying +13 DRS and 14 OAA despite losing nearly 350 innings of playing time relative to the prior season. He missed a couple weeks between May and June after spraining the AC joint in his left shoulder when he ran into a wall at Camden Yards tracking a Ramón Laureano fly ball.

Excellent as Young is defensively, he’s not going to provide much at the plate. He’s coming off a .231/.296/.287 season and has a career .247/.310/.316 batting line in just over 1000 plate appearances. Young makes a lot of contact but puts most of it on the ground and has very little power. The right-handed hitter has been slightly better against southpaws over his career, but he’s a below-average offensive player against pitchers of either handedness.

There are some parallels between Young and top free agent center fielder Harrison Bader, but the latter is coming off a career year at the plate. Teams that don’t want to meet Bader’s asking price could view Young as a reasonable fallback. The center field market is almost always thin, both in free agency and trade. The Diamondbacks, Guardians, Royals, Phillies, Angels, Tigers, White Sox and Orioles are among the teams that could use a righty-hitting center fielder/fourth outfielder. Washington has no need to force a Young trade, but they could deal him and play Dylan Crews in center between a corner outfield tandem of James Wood and Daylen Lile.

Nationals Rebuffed Interest From Giants In CJ Abrams

By Anthony Franco | January 23, 2026 at 8:13pm CDT

The Giants made an unsuccessful push to acquire CJ Abrams from the Nationals, reports Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. It’s not clear precisely what package San Francisco would have put together, though Baggarly adds that they were open to building the deal around top shortstop prospect Josuar Gonzalez.

Washington traded MacKenzie Gore to the Rangers for a five-player package led by last year’s first-rounder Gavin Fien. The Washington Post reported they’ve been shopping Abrams as well, albeit with potentially a loftier ask than they had on Gore. Abrams is under arbitration control for three seasons compared to Gore’s two.

Gonzalez respectively placed 30th and 44th on updated Top 100 prospect lists from Baseball America and MLB Pipeline this week. None of the players whom the Nationals acquired for Gore landed on either list. It seems fair to assume Washington’s evaluators rate Fien more highly than those outlets do. They probably would not have traded two years of Gore’s arbitration window if they didn’t feel they were getting a Top 100 caliber talent.

It’s also possible they’re simply not as high on Gonzalez as some others. It’s common for clubs to have differing opinions on prospects. That’s especially true for someone like Gonzalez, an 18-year-old whose professional experience consists of 52 games in the Dominican Summer League. Teams don’t have much of a statistical track record with which to work, so evaluations for players that far from MLB readiness are weighted very heavily towards their individual scouts.

In any case, Baggarly’s report certainly doesn’t push back against the idea that the Nationals could demand more for Abrams than they had for Gore. The report suggests that while the Giants aren’t interested in trading their top prospect, rookie first baseman Bryce Eldridge, they discussed most of their other high-end talents with Washington. Eldridge and Gonzalez are San Francisco’s only Top 100 prospects at MLB Pipeline. Baseball America had outfielder Bo Davidson and infielder Jhonny Level in the back quarter of their list. Baggarly’s piece has more specifics on the prospects who surfaced in conversations, and Giants fans are encouraged to give it a full read.

Abrams would have been the prize of a quiet San Francisco offseason to date. They opted for floor over ceiling with their rotation signings of Tyler Mahle and Adrian Houser. They’ve done nothing to address a lackluster outfield (especially in right), nor have they come away with their desired upgrade over Casey Schmitt at second base. He’s a passable regular but fits better as a high-end utility infielder. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported last week that the Giants were looking for a significant second base move on the trade front.

San Francisco has been linked to Brendan Donovan and Nico Hoerner at various points throughout the offseason. Neither player has been traded. Donovan still seems likelier than not to move — certainly before the trade deadline if not by Opening Day — while the Cubs should be reluctant to deal Hoerner. Abrams is still available as well, although it’s not clear if those teams intend to reengage.

Nationals Sign Bryce Montes de Oca, Tres Barrera To Minor League Deals

By Darragh McDonald | January 23, 2026 at 5:48pm CDT

The Nationals announced that they have signed right-hander Bryce Montes de Oca and catcher Tres Barrera to minor league deals. Both players also receive invites to big league camp in spring training. The righty is represented by Excel Sports Management and the backstop by ACES.

Montes de Oca, 30 in April, debuted with the Mets in 2022. He only made three appearances but the stuff was intriguing. He averaged 99.9 miles per hour with his sinker, 95.4 mph with his cutter and 86.8 mph with his slider. As is often the case with power pitchers, he could get guys out but also put them on first base. He tossed 51 1/3 minor league innings that year with 3.33 earned run average, 34.6% strikeout rate and 49.1% ground ball rate but a massive 16.5% walk rate.

Unfortunately, those three appearances still make up the entirety of his major league track record to this point, as he’s been on a brutal injury odyssey since then. In March of 2023, he underwent elbow surgery. Doctors were planning to simply remove bone chips but discovered during the surgery that the pitcher required Tommy John surgery. He stayed on the injured list through the 2023 season and was outrighted at the end of the campaign.

He got back on the mound in 2024, making some rehab appearances in June and July. But then he required yet another Tommy John surgery shortly thereafter. Mike Mayer of Metsmerized reported in February of 2025 that the surgery occurred late in 2024. Today, Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post relays that the surgery took place in August of that year. Montes de Oca spent 2025 on the minor league injured list and became a free agent at season’s end.

The righty is clearly a big wild card. He had poor control even when he was healthy and has now essentially missed three whole seasons. But the stuff is tantalizing and the Nats are one of the clubs best positioned to take a flier on him. They are clearly in rebuilding mode, with five straight seasons of at least 91 losses. They just traded two years of MacKenzie Gore for five prospects, most of whom aren’t close to the majors. Trades of CJ Abrams and Jacob Young are reportedly possible as well, with those players having three and four years of remaining club control, respectively. In short, they don’t expect to be competitive soon.

Washington’s bullpen had a collective 5.59 ERA last year, the worst such mark in the majors. They further thinned out their relief corps by trading Jose A. Ferrer to the Mariners last month. If Montes de Oca can stay healthy and pitch his way onto the roster, he has a full slate of options. Thanks to spending the 2023 season on the IL, he has one year and 33 days of service time, which still puts him years away from arbitration and even further from free agency.

Barrera, 31, played in 57 big league games from 2019 to 2023. Most of that came with the Nats though he also spent some time with the Cardinals. He has a career batting line of .228/.313/.310 but a decent defensive reputation.

The Nats acquired catching prospect Harry Ford in the aforementioned Ferrer trade. He is perhaps the catcher of the future, though the club also has Keibert Ruiz, Drew Millas and Mickey Gasper on the roster. Riley Adams was designated for assignment this week and would stick in the system as non-roster depth if he clears waivers. Even if Adams ends up with another club, the Nats will have some non-roster depth in the form of Barrera.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

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