The Nationals have signed third baseman Maikel Franco to a minor league deal, reports Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post. Franco is a client of Octagon. Although transactions involving the 40-man roster are frozen during the ongoing lockout, minor league deals are still permitted.
This is the second minor league deal the Nats have given to a veteran infielder in as many days, as they signed Dee Strange-Gordon yesterday. The club has a fairly open infield for 2022, after trading away Trea Turner and Josh Harrison during last year’s deadline fire sale. They’ve since re-signed Alcides Escobar and Cesar Hernandez on major league deals, before adding Strange-Gordon into the mix, to compete with youngsters Luis Garcia and Lucius Fox for middle infield playing time.
Franco, however, should be considered as an option at third base, given that’s where he’s spent the vast majority of his big league time. (He’s also played 15 games at first base in his career, but never more than five in a single season.) Youngster Carter Kieboom seems likely to be Plan A for the Nats at third, despite his struggles at the MLB level thus far. In 106 big league games over the past three seasons, Kieboom has hit .197/.304/.285. However, his Triple-A line is much more impressive, coming in at .286/.400/.464. Given his youth, 24, and prospect pedigree, he’s likely to get an extended run at the hot corner, especially when considering that Washington is likely to spend at least a year retooling after their big selloff. Franco’s presence in the system can offer a veteran fallback plan, should Kieboom continue experiencing growing pains.
Franco has had an inconsistent stretch of late, oscillating wildly from year to year. According to FanGraphs’ wins above replacement, he was worth at least 1.1 fWAR in the past three even-numbered seasons, but was in negative territory during the odd-numbered years. After some of those up-and-down years in Philadelphia, he was non-tendered following the 2019 season and latched on with the Royals. He had a solid showing in the shortened 2020 campaign, hitting .278/.321/.457 for a wRC+ of 106 and 1.3 fWAR in just 60 games. Despite that, the Royals decided not to tender him a contract for 2021, which led to Franco signing with the Orioles. Unfortunately, his yo-yoing continued, as he slumped to a line of .210/.253/.355 in 104 games for Baltimore.
Franco was released in August and signed a minor league deal with Atlanta, but didn’t get another shot at the big leagues. For the Nationals, there’s no harm in having him around to see if he can turn the tide once again. He’s only 29 years old and has shown himself capable of solid production in the past. Even if Kieboom and Franco both get hot at the same time, there’s the likelihood of the National League using the designated hitter in 2022, giving the team some more plate appearances to spread around.
I guess I am confused as to what the rules of engagement are for teams during this lockout. I understand that teams cannot sign players to major league contracts. But it appears that they can still sign any player to a minor league deal AND invite them to spring even if they played in the major leagues last year. If so, what is stopping a team from signing any role player to a minor league deal, and then renegotiating it as a major league deal once the lockout ends? Am I missing something here?
You are missing a massive something. Minor league deals are not guaranteed contracts.
mkeyankee,
You are correct, and my hypothetical would take a BIG verbal commitment between the player’s agent and the interested team. I guess what I am confused by is why can a team still talk to a player like Robinson Chirinos, but not one like Correa? What if a player is at the stage of his career where he has some teams interested in him on a major league contract, while others may see him as a risk and would prefer to sign him to a minor league deal? If the rules are how I understand them, then Team A would be prohibited to talking with this player, but Team B could negotiate however they wished. This feels like a massive loophole, making me think I am missing something big about the lockout’s code of conduct.
Yes, you are missing a big piece here. Only players who were not on a 40-man roster at the end of 2021 can be signed to minor league contracts while the lockout is in place.. Baltimore released him, so he was not on a 40-man roster to end the season. He signed a minor league deal with Atlanta after clearing waivers so he wasn’t signed to Atlanta’s 40-man roster.
Dorothy_Mantooth
Thank you! This makes much more sense (but holy cow that means there are a lot of players that can still sign). Do you know how this rule applies to players who were removed from 40 man rosters at the non-tender deadline?
They can’t be signed
@dmantooth, is it that you cannot sign a minors contract if you ended the season on the 40 or simply that you would forfiet your union benefits (i.e health insurance) if you do?
Yes they can’t have finished year on 40 man
Also the most a minor league contract can guarantee is 4 million which is usually under the asking price for top free agents like correa.
Franco is a guy who could hit big in Korea, make some coin in the process. Dude’s running out of time to cash in as a big leaguer…
Does anyone play MLB the Show
Sure do.
Could be a decent pickup if they go to the universal DH.
Why? He can’t hit. What good is he as a DH?
I believe the article says Franco is 24, but he is 29.
Nah, they are talking about Kieboom being 24
If they rotate him between 1st and DH he might be serviceable. I think the ship has sailed to consider him a big league caliber third baseman at this point. He needs to focus on a less challenging defensive position and his offense. Nothing more.
He doesn’t hit enough to be a DH and backup first baseman isn’t a real need for most teams.
If Zim comes back, especially not.
He can be solid with both the bat and the glove, but he struggles to find consistency. Great guy. I’m really pulling for him.
Von: “…solid with both the bat and the glove……..”
While I was asleep, Webster must have altered the definition for “Solid”! Franco is neither solid with the glove nor the bat. Struggles to produce even an OBP of .300. The glove will always be suspect as the range just isn’t there to be a MLB infielder.
Rooted for him while he was in Philly, but way too many holes in his game that eventually surfaced. Fringe MLB player at best, even with the advent of a universal DH.
RE: Backup Catcher to the Backup Catcher I said “can be solid” and he was at times with the Phillies. There were times he was their hottest player, followed by months of cold streaks. There were times he really impressed with the glove, and times he’d butcher routine plays. Like I said, the talent is there, the consistency is not.
he’s also gonna walk us off
Nationals get the win after Franco homers following a Cesar Hernandez single….It’s gonna happen.
This is a good deal. Nothing crazy but Franco is serviceable, especially on a hot streak. Just too streaky. Can’t be bad on a minor league deal.
Definitely good on a minor league deal
MISSED IT BY THAT [ = ] MUCH !!
According to informed sources, The Marlins were in on Maikel Franco right up until he signed the deal to join the Nationals.. The Marlins made a “strong” offer, but not one that matched the Nationals’ financial commitment. The Marlins weren’t the only team to be outbid.
The Minnesota Twins had also been linked to Franco.
I wonder if Franco still pays Fantex a cut?
https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/philadelphia-phillies/franco-among-players-sell-future-earnings-fantex-cash-now
He should stay in the NL East considering he accumulates most of his stats agaisnt the Mets
That’s a completely different Mets roster now.
Too bad galvis went overseas….Washington could have had 3/4’s of the Phillies old (2016…?) infield… Where art thou Tommy Joseph….?
Not to mention half of the O’s starting IF last year….I’m not sure that’s a ringing endorsement.
Nice work! Beat me to it.
Nice DH option if the universal DH is approved.
I don’t get this thinking. He can’t hit. How is he a good DH option? How?
Franco is not a bad option in case Kieboom struggles again. He could also serve as a replacement for Zimmerman as Josh Bell’s backup if Zim retires
Franco > Kieboom….IMHO
Right now they both stink. But Franco is at the end, Kieboom has tons of potential.
The window hasn’t closed just yet on Kieboom, but, to date, he has looked more like a quad A player, than a major leaguer.
Last sentence of article starts”
“Even if Kieboom and Franco both get hot at the same. . .”
The chances are better of winning the lottery and getting hit by lightning on the same day.
Amen, brother.