The Nationals announced Friday that they’ve claimed outfielder Josh Palacios off waivers from the Blue Jays and optioned him to Triple-A Rochester. Washington freed a spot on the 40-man roster earlier this week when infielder Dee Strange-Gordon was placed on the COVID-19 injured list.
Palacios, 26, made his big league debut with the Jays in 2021 and went 7-for-35 (all singles) with three walks, a couple of hit-by-pitches and 11 strikeouts. The resulting .200/.293/.200 batting line obviously isn’t appealing, but the 2016 fourth-rounder has a better track record in the minors, where he’s slashed .287/.367/.402 in parts of six seasons.
Capable of playing all three outfield spots, Palacios draws praise in scouting reports for solid defense, above-average speed and good bat-to-ball skills. He’s never had much in the way of power, however, evidenced by a career-high of eight home runs back in 2018 — though it’s perhaps of note that he has already connected on a pair of round-trippers in just 24 Triple-A plate appearances so far in 2022. He’s not a burner on the basepaths but does have a pair of 15-steal seasons under his belt, and Palacios has fanned in under 20% of his minor league plate appearances while walking at a 10% clip.
The Nationals’ current outfield mix includes Lane Thomas, Victor Robles, Yadiel Hernandez, newly recalled Donovan Casey and, of course, superstar outfielder Juan Soto. Palacios could eventually get a look as a versatile fourth-outfield option, but for the time being he’ll provide some depth in the upper minors.
Uncle was Bob Boone’s caddy in KC
His younger brother Richie is a good player in the Cleveland system who should be getting a call up this year. Similar high contact low power profile but I think Richie might be better. Josh has a .769 minor league OPS, Richie’s is .897. He missed a lot of time though.
As a Blue Jays fan, should losing Palacios concern me regarding the Jays depth in the outfield? I know Palacios was offensively limited, but he had some usefulness and value for the team as a “depth piece”, didn’t he?
Basically the exact same player as Tapia and Zimmer in my opinion. And those two already seem redundant with both on the roster.
So of course that begs the question, why exactly did the Jays feel it necessary to give up players(Grichuk and Castro) to get as you say two players that are essentially duplicates of Palacios
RGR, that is the real question. Essentially they traded Castro and Palicios for Zimmer. Seems like a waste of time and poor decision-making. Palacios still has a little upside. Zimmer not so sure.
Just looked up Palacios and realized quickly why……he wasnt drafted by Shatkins whilst Zimmer was, albeit when they were in Cleveland!!1
Grichuk’s departure was pretty much a given for 2 years. Castro sucked with the Jays and has been bouncing around the league. Folks like jimmer will constantly lampoon the moves the Jays make. That’s ok, but the A’s are starting Billy McKinney at 1b today, so he should maybe chill out and respect what he has lol.
My understanding was that Grichuk wanted out because he feels he is a starting outfielder on a team where he is a 4rth outfielder. So they did him a solid and moved him to a place where he probably starts. Also, they save around $5 million and picked up a respectable prospect along with Tapia. One thing about Grichuk was that although he has a terrible OBP – he was streaky enough to provide some big offensive weeks. Tapia won’t do that. I don’t think Tapia is much if any better than Palacios but they had to take his contract back – which shows how little value Grichuk actually has.
You have Chavez Young, you’ll be fine!
Injured atm
I don’t think you need to worry. They have similar and probably wouldn’t have made the move if they didn’t have other options. But he’s made some fans and it’s nice when your team carries likeable players as opposed to just good ones. When they move on like this, it’s good just to be happy for the opportunities they are going to get that weren’t in the plans for them with the former team.
*RICHMOND ROOSTERS
Nationals must have Toronto well scouted. Adams, Murphy, now Palacios. Maybe a Josh Bell rental for a step up from those guys?
Where’s Josh play in TO? I get the sentiment though haha.
DH if necessary. Toronto has no DH, just a rotation of guys through the spot.
About number 5 in the order as a DH. They got nothing from the DH position last year. It’s not going great this year either. Maybe Collins, Zimmer, Tapia break out and no offensive additions need to be made at the deadline. But I’m going to guess they are going to need to add a bat.
You could do a lot worse for a depth outfielder. He’ll probably be the first guy up if they need an outfielder in the coming days.
Zimmer is a 30 30 gold glove defence cfer guy but only if he ever stays healthy and plays everyday. But as a backup guy thats pretty good backup. Stay healthy and hope for 10 10.