The Nationals have released left-hander Matt Purke, according to the team’s transactions page. The 24-year-old Purke, who had been on the 40-man roster, underwent Tommy John surgery in late May.
Purke was a high-profile acquisition by the Nats in the 2011 draft, as he received a Major League deal and a total of $4.15MM ($2.75MM of which was in the form of a signing bonus) in the third round. The 6’4″, 215-pound southpaw was originally selected by the Ranges with the No. 14 overall pick in 2009, but he elected to attend college at TCU instead. Injuries are nothing new for Purke, as they were the main factor for his slide from the first round to the third round, although those concerns were pertaining to his shoulder.
Purke has totaled just 136 2/3 innings since being drafted in 2011, posting an even 5.00 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9. He did pitch well in 90 innings in 2012, posting a 3.80 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9, although his best work came at Class A Hagerstown. Baseball America ranked him 11th among Nats prospect a year ago at this time, noting that he’d lost some life on his fastball but still had a changeup that projected as above-average to plus and that he his floor was a big league reliever if he could stay healthy.
There you go Braves pick him up.
Always sucks to read stories like this. I remember Purke being talked about going number 1 overall.
He was selected in the first round and turned it down. Unfortunately he didn’t see it as the following -You can always go back to school but you have a small and unknown window to play professional sports. Should have taken the money early.
That’s why I never understood when someone is drafted in the first round why they turn down the money and reenter the draft later. There really wasn’t that much of a difference between what he would have received between 16 and a top 10 pick. He’s very lucky to have gotten the money that he got.
The Rangers reportedly offered 4 million. Purke held out for 6 million. But at the time, the Rangers could not offer any more than 4 million due to the pending bankruptcy issues. I guess sometimes bankruptcy is a good thing…
Anyone that wants him remember he will miss at least half of the upcoming season recovering from Tommy john surgery
So give him a <$1MM for a two year deal, throw in some incentives, help him rehab, and hope he can contribute at age 25.
Much less than a mil. At this point he’ll get closer to 50k with incentives and rehab.
Wonder if the Rangers could offer him a minor league deal & give him rehab to come back.
Sad. I had high hopes because he was so highly regarded in the prior draft, but he’s just never been healthy since the Nats drafted him. Hopefully he heals up and has a successful career somewhere.
24 y/o lefty? Someone will take a flyer on this kid.
Not after two surgeries on his shoulder and a tommy john surgery last June. Maybe im wrong, just don’t think so
If Andrew Bailey keeps getting work, this kid will at least get a “prove-it” deal in the minors.
Very true. You make a good point sir
Good reminder that so many prospects just don’t make it. That’s a big signing bonus for 0 return
The Nats took a chance and it didn’t work. However, they have drafted others while injured when they fell to them, with great success. They got Anthony Rendon at #6 because of injuries. They got Lucas Giolito at #16. Who knows how Eric Fedde will turn out, but if some don’t work, you move on. The truth is that even supposed sure things don’t work out often for reasons other than injuries. Many kids are being released this winter- at least he got one big pay day.
This is one disadvantage for the draftees who signed Major League deals. The Nats have better players they need to put on the 40-man roster to protect them from next week’s Rule 5 draft. Going forward, I don’t know why anybody would pay him to rehabilitate when he is nowhere near Major League ready.
Sorry, kid. Good luck going forward.
I hope to see him back on the Nats. If anyone will understand Purke’s medicals, and if he’s worth a short, it will be them. They have had good luck in times past with taking risks on players with injury-concerns, and have already partially invested in his rehabilitation. It’s just a given he can’t be on the 40-man roster. If they didn’t want him in the system they could have released him any time, but the timing coinciding with the Rule 5 draft seems to imply a more practical reasoning for doing what is essentially the necessary thing in protecting other players.