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Each Team’s Last Good Homegrown Starting Pitcher

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As bullpen usage has increased in recent years, starting pitching may not be as vital to a team’s success as it used to be.  Still, a team’s ability to draft and develop a player into a good starting pitcher remains important.  Let’s take a look at how recently each team had a good starting pitcher that they drafted or signed as an international free agent.

First, a few ground rules.  I’ll define “good starting pitcher” as at least 3 FanGraphs WAR in a season.  I’ll exclude big money international signings, like the Rangers and Yu Darvish.  And I will include pitchers who began a season with the team that drafted and developed them and were traded that same year.  I also included players who were drafted and developed by a team and eventually signed an extension to stay there, like Clayton Kershaw.

13 different teams had a 3+ WAR starter they drafted or signed as an international free agent in 2021:

4 more teams had their most recent 3 WAR homegrown starter in 2020 – if you are on board with my choice to prorate starting pitchers as if they played a full 162 games instead of just 60.

4 teams had their most recent homegrown 3 WAR starter in 2019:

3 teams date back to 2018 for their most recent homegrown 3 WAR starter:

A look at the six remaining teams, who haven’t enjoyed a homegrown 3+ WAR starter in at least four years:

Of course, it is quite possible to win a World Series with no homegrown 3 WAR starting pitchers.  Let’s see how many were on each of the last 10 World Series winners:

  • 2012 Giants: Matt Cain
  • 2013 Red Sox: Jon Lester
  • 2014 Giants: Madison Bumgarner
  • 2015 Royals: None
  • 2016 Cubs: None.  I didn’t for this exercise, but you may want to give a team credit for acquiring a player before he reached the Majors and developing him into a 3 WAR starter, like the Cubs did with Kyle Hendricks.
  • 2017 Astros: None
  • 2018 Red Sox: None
  • 2019 Nationals: Stephen Strasburg
  • 2020 Dodgers: Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw
  • 2021 Braves: None

Some teams can make up for a lack of draft/international success on starting pitching with trades or free agent signings.  While the Diamondbacks may have the longest drought here, their 2017 rotation actually had four 3+ WAR starters, none of whom they drafted: Zack Greinke, Zack Godley, Robbie Ray, and Patrick Corbin.  The Cubs won a World Series in part because they signed Jon Lester and traded for Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks.

White Sox, Raudy Read Agree To Minor League Deal

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The White Sox have agreed to a minor deal with catcher Raudy Read, as first reported by Antonio Puesan (Twitter link). He’s represented by Octagon.

Read, 28, spent five seasons ranked among the Nationals’ top 30 prospects over at Baseball America. He reached the Majors both in 2017 and 2019 but received very brief auditions, going 4-for-22 and only drawing three starts behind the dish. The 2017 Nats had Matt Wieters locked in as their primary catcher, with Jose Lobaton backing him up. Read served an 80-game PED suspension in 2018, and by 2019 the Nats had moved onto Yan Gomes and Kurt Suzuki as their veteran tandem behind the plate.

There’s no immediate path to playing time in Chicago, where Yasmani Grandal is installed as the starter behind the plate. The backup situation is a bit more fluid, with less-established names like Seby Zavala and Zack Collins currently in the mix. Yermin Mercedes caught 18 games for the ChiSox’ Triple-A affiliate last year as well, though he was used more frequently at first base and at designated hitter.

Read ought to get plenty of reps behind the dish in the upper minors with the South Siders. He’s spent parts of three seasons in Triple-A and owns a .275/.313/.523 batting line with 26 home runs, 24 doubles and three triples through 466 plate appearances at that level. He’s also halted 36% of stolen-base attempts in his pro career,  and BA noted in its 2019 report that he’d made strides in terms of his footwork and receiving over the years.

Mariners, Asher Wojciechowski Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners have agreed to bring righty Asher Wojciechowski back to the organization on a minor league contract, per their official transactions log. The journeyman starter signed on with the M’s on a minor league deal back in July but didn’t get a call to the big leagues. He subsequently became a minor league free agent at season’s end, thus allowing him to sign a minor league deal this offseason.

Wojciechowski, 33, has seen action in parts of five big league seasons, including in each of the past three. He appeared in just one game with the 2021 Yankees, allowing a pair of runs over four innings in a spot start, but was a fairly consistent presence with the Orioles in 2019-20. Baltimore originally acquired Wojciechowski from Cleveland in a cash deal back in 2019, and it looked as though he might simply make a spot start or two at the time of the swap.

Instead, Wojciechowski pitched well enough to quickly grab a spot in a patchwork O’s rotation. He worked to a 3.60 ERA in his first 30 innings, providing the Orioles plenty of reason to give him some leash from there on. Overall, while Wojciechowski didn’t exactly dominate, he gave an Orioles roster that was desperate for pitching a total of 82 1/3 innings of 4.92 ERA ball from July 2 through season’s end.

That proved enough for the O’s to keep Wojciechowski on the 40-man roster all winter, and he headed into the shortened 2020 season with a rotation spot. He continued to hold his own through the first four starts of the 2020 season, but after a swift decline — 19 runs over his next 18 1/3 frames — Wojciechowski was designated for assignment and passed through outright waivers.

Overall, Wojciechowski has 202 innings at the big league level, albeit with an unsightly 5.93 ERA to show for it. He’s fanned a respectable 21.9% of his opponents and posted a better-than-average 7.9% walk rate, but Wojciechowski is also an extreme fly-ball pitcher who’s shown a proclivity for surrendering the long ball. Most of his big time in the Majors has been spent in homer-friendly home parks — Houston, Cincinnati, Baltimore, the Bronx — so if he makes it to Seattle, perhaps T-Mobile Park could help to slightly reduce that problem. Still, with an average of 2.0 homers per nine innings pitched, Wojciechowski’s struggles go beyond the dimensions of his home parks.

As things stand, Wojciechowski is a pure depth option for the M’s. Seattle inked reigning Cy Young winner Robbie Ray to lead its staff in 2022 and beyond. He’ll be followed by stalwart southpaw Marco Gonzales, promising sophomore Logan Gilbert and righty Chris Flexen — a KBO reclamation project that has turned into a resound success for the M’s. Former top prospects Justus Sheffield and Justin Dunn could factor into the mix as well, but the general expectation is that the Mariners will add another veteran to round out the rotation in the days and weeks coming out of the lockout.

Wojciechowski isn’t likely to emerge as an option unless the Mariners incur several injuries, but as far as depth options go, a well-traveled veteran with a 4.33 ERA in 664 2/3 Triple-A innings is a solid one to have on hand.

Poll: Will The Season Start On Time?

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For the second time in three seasons, we’re faced with the possibility that Major League Baseball will fall shy of a full 162-game schedule. Unlike in 2020, when the truncated season was an inevitability due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the potential for missing games in 2022 is entirely of MLB and the MLBPA’s doing. The expiration of the 2016-21 collective bargaining agreement wasn’t some secret, and a second contentious set of negotiations between the league and union has been widely expected for quite some time — particularly since return-to-play talks went about as poorly as one could possibly imagine in 2020.

While there was some talk of proactive negotiations at times, discussions were infrequent, at best. The MLBPA made a core economics proposal back in May. The league countered in August, suggesting — among other major changes — that free agency be linked directly to a player’s age (29.5 years, in MLB’s proposal). The MLBPA, looking to young stars like Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr. and many others who’ll reach free agency well before 29, considered age-based a non-starter. (The league’s proposal also contained a $100MM salary floor — but that came with a major reduction in the luxury-tax threshold, from the prior $210MM down to $180MM.)

A second iteration of the union’s economic plan was put forth on Nov. 5, with key points including a raised minimum salary, earlier arbitration, changes to the draft order (with an eye on eliminating tanking), changes the league’s revenue-sharing structure and earlier free agency for certain players. The league was nonplused.

The MLBPA’s second proposal was met with a counter the following week, wherein the league reportedly kept the age-based free agency requirement and also sought to replace the arbitration system entirely — instead awarding pre-free agent salaries according to a WAR-based algorithm. That came with its own fairly obvious set of issues, as explored here at the time of the offer.

As the CBA’s Dec. 1 expiration ticked nearer, it became clear a deal would not be reached. MLB and the MLBPA agreed to move the deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players (which had been set for Dec. 2) up to Nov. 30. A flurry of free-agent and (to a lesser extent) trade activity ensued in the week leading up to the CBA’s expiration, as a handful of motivated teams sought to get some of their offseason business done before the lockout.

Commissioner Rob Manfred announced in a letter to fans on Dec. 2 that the league had locked out the players. Manfred claimed to have been “forced” into a lockout, which he described as a “mechanism to protect the 2022 season” — one that would “jumpstart” negotiations with the MLBPA. The two sides did not return to the table until mid-January, just over six weeks later.

Major League Baseball has made one formal proposal since implementing the lockout. The MLBPA has made two and has now been awaiting a counter to that second offer for ten days. In the interim, MLB made a request for federal mediation; the MLBPA swiftly rejected, with players banding together to voice a desire for daily negotiations with MLB rather than turning things over to a third party. Daily negotiations (obviously) have not occurred.

Players are still seeking increased minimum salaries, a bonus pool to reward pre-arbitration players based on performance, an increased luxury-tax threshold and measures to eliminate tanking, among other items. An expanded playoff format and the associated spike in television/streaming/gate revenues is among the league’s top priorities, but owners are also pushing back heavily on the extent to which minimum salary should increase and to which pre-arbitration players should be compensated.

Manfred confirmed yesterday that the league will submit a new proposal Saturday. He also declined to announce a delay to the start of Spring Training (although that feels like an inevitability), called missing regular season games “a disastrous outcome for the industry,” and maintained optimism that the season will begin on March 31, as scheduled.

All of that sounds nice, but it’s increasingly difficult to believe the two parties will make swift progress, given the acrimonious nature of talks to date. It’s also worth noting that back in October, Manfred made similar comments about agreeing to a new CBA before Dec. 1, calling an agreement the league’s “number one priority” and expressing optimism a deal would be reached in time.

That rundown of where things stand out of the way, let’s open this up for (further) debate among readers with a poll…

(link to poll for Trade Rumors iOS/Android app users)

Emails For Trade Rumors Front Office Subscribers

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Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers receive exclusive content via email every week.  It’s possible that some people accidentally unsubscribed from our emails, and that’s the purpose of this brief post.  If you’re a paid subscriber and you’re not receiving our emails but you want to, please reach out to us through MLBTR’s contact form.  The most recent email to subscribers came this morning, titled, “Live MLB chat with Anthony Franco: TODAY at 2pm central.”

Manfred Expresses Optimism For Full Season, Says MLB Has Proposed Universal DH And Elimination Of Draft-Pick Compensation

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Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred met with the media for about 30 minutes Thursday morning as the quarterly owners’ meetings drew to a close, discussing the status of the ongoing labor dispute with the MLB Players Association. Among the more concrete takeaways, Manfred said that the league has “agreed” both to the implementation of a universal designated hitter and the elimination of draft-pick compensation for free agents who reject qualifying offers.

However, as MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes reports (Twitter links), the use of “agreed” is a bit misleading. The two parties have not reached a formal agreement on either issue. Rather, Manfred’s use of “agreed” merely indicates that both the universal DH and elimination of draft-pick compensation were included as components of a broader proposal put forth by MLB some time ago.

Still, with regard to the universal designated hitter, this is one of the most concrete indicators of its likely implementation. Both parties, after all, have in the past shown a desire to add a DH to the National League. For the players, this creates another spot in 15 lineups and could create a handful of jobs for free agents. For teams, this all but eliminates the risk of pitchers being injured at the plate and on the bases. Because of that mutual interest, though, the league’s desire to frame the universal DH as something of a concession is somewhat questionable. It’s not clear the union will perceive it as a concession.

With regard to the elimination of pick compensation, Dierkes reports that the league’s proposal instead would award draft picks to teams for losing free agents, based on the quality of player, with no offer of any sort required. That raises issues on how to specifically determine that player’s value, however, and the MLBPA likely harbors concern that by giving teams a pick for losing a free agent, the league is actually disincentivizing clubs from re-signing some of their own players.

Beyond those two more concrete elements of his side’s recent proposal, Manfred offered little in the way of definitive statements. Asked about the status of Spring Training (i.e. whether it will be delayed), the commissioner replied that the “status of Spring Training is no change right now.”

We’re only a week out from the original report date for players and have, to this point, seen no meaningful progress in negotiations between the league and union. A delayed Spring Training feels like a foregone conclusion, but Manfred at least kicked the can down the road a couple days on any such formal declaration, suggesting that the decision was contingent on how Saturday’s meeting with the MLBPA plays out. That said, while Manfred didn’t explicitly state that Spring Training will be delayed, he addressed the possibility, acknowledging that the three-week ramp up period to the pandemic-shortened 2020 season was insufficient.

“The injury data shows that,” Manfred said of 2020’s training period. “We’d like to be [at] 28 [days] — we think four weeks makes sense.” A four-week Spring Training would still fall a good ways shy of the typical six-week period, but the extra week of build-up time in that theoretical scenario would prove beneficial to players, particularly to starting pitchers.

Manfred declared himself an optimist, stating more broadly that he believes the two sides will reach an agreement in time for the regular season to begin, as planned, on March 31. Missing regular-season games would be a “disastrous outcome to this industry,” Manfred said, adding that MLB is “committed to reaching an agreement to avoid that.”

Upon being asked about the league making just one proposal in the ten weeks since implementing the lockout, Manfred demurred and stated that “phones work two ways,” painting the lack of meaningful talks as a two-way street. Whichever side you take in the increasingly ugly battle — and it’s plenty fair if your answer is, “neither!” — it was ownership that locked out the players in, as Manfred stated at the time, an effort to “jumpstart” progress toward a deal. A silent period of more than six weeks followed. It’s plenty defensible to say the union should have been more proactive in instigating talks, but at the very least, the players have spent the past two weeks publicly declaring a desire for daily negotiations.

In one of the more eyebrow-raising moments of the press conference, Manfred was asked whether purchasing an MLB franchise was a “good investment.” He bizarrely implied the contrary, stating that between the purchase price of the team and the money invested into the club on a year-over-year basis, the “return on those investments is below what you’d expect to get in the stock market,” adding that there was greater risk in owning a team. Comments of that nature are sure to further galvanize a union that has repeatedly suggested the league isn’t being genuine or negotiating in good faith.

That term, “good-faith,” is a recurring theme when both sides discuss negotiations, as each indicates that the other is effectively neglecting to operate in such a fashion. For his part, Manfred vowed to make a “good-faith, positive proposal” to the players when the two sides meet Saturday, implying that perhaps this weekend could serve as a turning point.

“One correct move sometimes opens the way to an agreement,” said Manfred. “My view of the world is you always keep looking for that one move that creates that opportunity.”

Jeremy Giambi Passes Away

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FEBRUARY 10: The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner/Coroner’s Office has ruled Giambi’s death a suicide, reports Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle. According to the M.E.’s Office, he died of a gunshot wound to the chest. Barry Zito, Giambi’s former teammate in Oakland, told the Chronicle Giambi was “an incredibly loving human being with a very soft heart and it was evident to us as his teammates that he had some deeper battles going on. I hope this can be a wake-up call for people out there to not go at it alone and for families and friends to trust their intuition when they feel somebody close to them needs help. God bless Jeremy and his family in this difficult time.”

FEBRUARY 9: Former major league outfielder Jeremy Giambi passed away today, agent Joel Wolfe informed reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). He was 47 years old.

Giambi began his professional career in 1996, when the Royals selected him out of Cal State Fullerton. The lefty-hitting outfielder reached the big leagues as a September call-up just two years later. After appearing in 18 games down the stretch, he ranked among Baseball America’s top 100 prospects entering the 1999 season. Giambi played in a bit more than half of Kansas City’s games that year. That offseason, the A’s — for whom his older brother Jason Giambi was already an established star — acquired him in a deal that sent Brett Laxton to Kansas City.

The younger Giambi would spend the next two and a half seasons in Oakland, developing into a productive hitter. After putting up league average offensive numbers in 2000, the California native emerged as a key on-base threat by 2001. He hit .283/.391/.450 over 443 plate appearances that year, then began the following season with a .274/.390/.471 showing. Midway through the year, he was dealt to the Phillies for John Mabry. Giambi continued to produce in Philadelphia, posting a .244/.435/.538 mark with the Phils.

Philadelphia traded Giambi to the Red Sox over the 2002-03 offseason. He appeared in 50 games with Boston the following season, though his numbers dipped to a .197/.342/.354 line. That proved to be his final big league experience, as subsequent stints in the Dodgers and White Sox farm systems didn’t result in another MLB look.

Giambi is likely best remembered for his run with the A’s. The Oakland organization released a statement (via Twitter): We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of a member of our Green and Gold family, Jeremy Giambi. We offer our condolences to Jeanne, Jason, and his family and friends. MLBTR joins countless others around the game in sending our condolences to Giambi’s family, friends, former teammates and loved ones.

Sternberg, Manfred Reiterate Desire For Rays To Stay In Tampa Bay

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The Rays efforts to arrange a split-season home between Tampa Bay and Montreal were dashed last month, when Major League Baseball’s Executive Council officially shot down the idea. The club’s lease at Tropicana Field runs through 2027, but their long-term home remains uncertain.

With the split-city plan dashed, the Rays have pivoted back towards efforts to remain in the Tampa Bay area full-time. Speaking from the quarterly owners’ meetings this week, both Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred expressed optimism about the team’s chances of finding a long-term home there (pair of links from Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times).

Speaking with Topkin yesterday, Sternberg reiterated his surprise with the Executive Council’s decision to nix the split-city plan but said “there’s no value for me rehashing it at this point” and suggested recent talks with Tampa-area officials had been promising. “People want us in the area, which is the most important thing. We want to be in the area, which is the most important thing. And we have both (Tampa mayor Jane Castor) and her administration, and (St. Petersburg mayor Ken Welch) and his administration and the county people, who have been nothing but supportive and eager to engage with us.”

Manfred addressed the situation this morning as the owners’ meetings wrapped up. He reiterated his belief that “Tampa is a major-league market” and called it his hope that the Rays and local officials “find a solution that will keep a full season of baseball in Tampa.” With a bit more than five years remaining on the Tropicana Field lease and the Rays’ desire for the construction of a new stadium, the commissioner told Topkin there’s “a sense of urgency” in talks.

Last week, the Times obtained a copy of a summary report commissioned by the Tampa Sports Authority which estimated the cost of constructing a roofed, full-season facility with a capacity of 27,000 fans in Ybor City would cost in the realm of $892MM. Sternberg and team president Matt Silverman told Topkin they’re awaiting further details, including a comprehensive cost breakdown, from that analysis.

“It’s an incomplete picture of the work that they’ve been doing, and we’re eager to see that full pitch once it’s ready,” Silverman said. “Rather than react to a news report, we’re excited to sit down with the city and the county and the TSA.” Of course, apportioning responsibility for funding a potential new stadium will be key. While their split-season proposal was still on the table, the Rays indicated they were willing to foot half the bill on a stadium with an estimated $700MM overall price tag (thereby putting up around $350MM). The organization has yet to reveal how much they’d be willing to contribute to the construction of a full-season stadium in the Tampa Bay area.

Padres Could Find Themselves In Position To Deal From Catching Depth After Lockout

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As the non-tender deadline approached in late November, the Padres and Marlins lined up on a minor trade. San Diego acquired catcher Jorge Alfaro for cash considerations or a player to be named later, not long after Miami had traded for Jacob Stallings to replace Alfaro as their primary backstop.

To some extent, it was a predictable acquisition. San Diego president of baseball operations A.J. Preller has shown a continued affinity for bringing in players whom the Rangers acquired during his time as a key figure in the Texas scouting department. Alfaro, whom the Rangers signed as an amateur in 2010 and who later blossomed into a top prospect, qualifies. Yet the Marlins had clearly grown dissatisfied with his up-and-down performance at the big league level, and they seemed likely to non-tender him in lieu of paying a projected $2.7MM arbitration salary if they were unable to find a taker in trade.

Yet it also marked something of a curious move for the Friars, who already had three catchers on the 40-man roster. Alfaro is out of minor league option years, meaning he’ll need to break camp with the club or be cut loose. At first glance, however, he’d seem to be fourth on the catching depth chart. Austin Nola’s first full season in San Diego was derailed by injury, but he’s an above-average backstop on both sides of the ball when healthy. Víctor Caratini didn’t have a great showing last year, but he has a strong relationship with Yu Darvish and was behind the plate for 29 of Darvish’s 30 starts last season. Top prospect Luis Campusano doesn’t have much more to prove in the minors after hitting .295/.365/.541 across 326 plate appearances as a 22-year-old in Triple-A.

With Alfaro needing to be on the big league club or cut loose, where does he fit? Perhaps just off the roster bubble. San Diego didn’t give up much to acquire Alfaro, after all. Arbitration salaries aren’t fully guaranteed until Opening Day, with players cut loose during the first half of Spring Training only entitled to thirty days’ termination pay (around one-sixth of their full season salary). In Alfaro’s case, that’s likely to be a touch under $500K. Maybe Preller and his staff saw an opportunity to get a player they like in the building, and they’re willing to move on from him before the season starts if there’s simply no room on the roster.

That said, San Diego valued Alfaro enough to acquire him before the non-tender deadline, swooping in to grab his rights before Miami cut him loose and allowed him free rein to negotiate with all 30 teams. They did so knowing he’s out of options, so they’ve certainly contemplated scenarios where he breaks camp. It seems unlikely they’d carry each of Nola, Alfaro, Caratini and Campusano on the active roster, however.

Nola and Alfaro do each have some experience at first base and in the corner outfield; Nola can play a bit of second or third base as well. That’d perhaps give manager Bob Melvin some flexibility, but both players should spend the bulk of their time at catcher. Nola’s a solid defender behind the dish, and bouncing him to less valuable positions around the diamond to accommodate Caratini or Alfaro is probably less valuable than simply deploying Nola as the primary catcher. Alfaro could see some action rotating through the corners, but he’s spent far more time behind the plate than anywhere else (2,809 2/3 MLB innings at catcher, 144 2/3 innings in the outfield, 27 1/3 frames at first base) and probably isn’t a good enough hitter to live up to the offensive burden of regularly manning a corner.

Maybe the Padres keep Nola, Caratini and Alfaro around and option Campusano back to Triple-A to start the season. So long as he continues to perform well in El Paso, there’ll be pressure to get him major league reps. Campusano, whom Baseball America recently ranked the sport’s #53 overall prospect, arguably already warrants an everyday look. One could argue the Padres aren’t in position to provide that, and San Diego should at least consider the possibility of making him available on the trade market.

San Diego isn’t going to trade a prospect of that caliber expressly because they acquired Alfaro for a song, of course. Alfaro could be let go; the same is perhaps true of Caratini (who still has a minor league option remaining), although the organization no doubt values his rapport with Darvish. Yet having a pair of veteran depth options on hand behind Nola might give Preller and his staff more comfort in contemplating a Campusano trade, which might prove a way to bring back needed outfield help.

It wouldn’t be the first time Campusano’s name were to come up in trade talks. The Padres and Nationals discussed him last summer as part of San Diego’s (ultimately unsuccessful) efforts to land Trea Turner and Max Scherzer at the deadline. Campusano was also at least mentioned in talks about the Cubs assuming some or all of Eric Hosmer’s contract.

Shedding the money due to Hosmer would certainly still be of interest to the Padres, although it seems unlikely they’d part with Campusano solely as a way to cut payroll. We’ve seen instances of teams “buying” a prospect by taking on an undesirable contract (the Giants’ Will Wilson/Zack Cozart deal, the Red Sox/Brewers Jackie Bradley Jr. and prospects for Hunter Renfroe swap are examples), but the young players involved in those moves weren’t as highly-regarded as Campusano currently is. If there’s an opportunity to move Campusano and Hosmer in a trade that also brings back MLB help — they and the Rangers reportedly kicked around frameworks of a deal that could’ve sent Hosmer and prospect Robert Hassell III to Texas for Joey Gallo last summer — San Diego could be more amenable.

However the situation resolves itself, it seems unlikely the Padres will carry all of Nola, Campusano, Caratini and Alfaro on the 40-man roster for too long after the lockout. Perhaps they’re simply stockpiling players of interest and will cut bait with one of the veteran depth options if they’re faced with a roster squeeze. But it also seems the Friars have enough short-term depth to withstand a possible Campusano trade, and we’ve repeatedly seen Preller’s willingness to act boldly if the right opportunity presents itself.

Nationals, Taylor Gushue Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Nationals have signed catcher Taylor Gushue to a minor league contract, according to the team’s transactions log at MLB.com. The 28-year-old elected minor league free agency after being outrighted off the Cubs 40-man roster at the end of last season.

It’s something of a homecoming for Gushue, who has spent the majority of his career in the Washington organization. Originally selected by the Pirates in the 2014 draft, he was traded to the Nats late during the 2016 campaign for Christopher Bostick. Gushue spent the next few seasons as an upper-level depth piece in the Washington organization. He reached Triple-A late in 2018, then spent the entire 2019 campaign at the minors’ top level. With no minor league season in 2020, Gushue spent the year at the alternate training site before electing minor league free agency.

Last offseason, the switch-hitting backstop inked a minors pact with the Cubs. He spent most of the season with their top affiliate in Iowa but got his first big league call in June. He went hitless in four plate appearances and was placed on waivers not long after, spending the remainder of the season with Iowa after passing through unclaimed. Gushue only has that cup of coffee at the MLB level, but he’s a .269/.326/.449 hitter over parts of three Triple-A campaigns.

The Nationals also inked right-hander Ronald Herrera to a minors pact, according to the transactions tracker. Now 26 years old, Herrera made a pair of MLB appearances with the Yankees in 2017 but hasn’t returned to the highest level since. He spent part of last season in the independent Frontier League and has struggled mightily in a limited look at Triple-A. The Venezuela native has decent numbers as a starter up through Double-A, where he’s worked to a 3.87 ERA with a below-average 19.8% strikeout rate but a stingy 5.9% walk percentage over parts of four seasons.

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