TODAY: Adams will wait until at least Tuesday to decide on his future, the infielder told Mark Zuckerman and other reporters. He’ll report to the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate unless another team presents a clear big league opportunity in the coming days.
MARCH 25: With Opening Day now less than a week away, teams around the league are making their final roster decisions. The Nationals announced several such decisions today, with right-hander Paolo Espino and infielder Jeter Downs getting optioned to the minors, while non-roster invitees right-hander Alex Colome, Andres Machado and Wily Peralta were all reassigned to minor league camp. Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com spoke to manager Dave Martinez about the roster configuration, who added that first baseman Matt Adams has been informed that he won’t be making the club.
These moves bring the club’s roster down to 26, which suggests everyone who has not been cut has made the team. However, it seems that is not set in stone, with the Nats staying open to a late waiver claim or perhaps some other player become available by an opt-out. “There’s no set roster right now,” Martinez said. “We still have decisions to make. We probably won’t make any decisions until we go back to D.C.” Several veterans on minor league deals have opt-outs they could trigger this weekend and other players could wind up on waivers as teams make their final roster decisions, so the Nats aren’t carving things in stone. However, the cuts do seem to indicate who won’t be on the club.
Espino, 36, seems like he could be the first one called if the Nats need another starter. With Stephen Strasburg on the shelf for the foreseeable future and Cade Cavalli set to miss the entire season due to Tommy John surgery, the club’s rotation has already taken a couple of hits. It seems like they will start the year with Patrick Corbin, Trevor Williams, Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore and Chad Kuhl as the top five, with Espino staying stretched out in Triple-A.
“I think I’ve done a really good job in spring,” Espino said. “But at the same time, I have options. There’s always a possibility (of getting demoted) having options. I know some of the guys, most of them, don’t have options. It’s just part of the game, part of baseball, and some decisions they have to make. For my part, I’m just going to go where they send me and I’m going to put in the innings I need to do to get the job done. And hopefully be back up soon.”
Of the five aforementioned rotation members, only Gray and Gore can be optioned, but they are two of the club’s top prospects. Getting them big league experience is a priority for the team this year, which seemingly nudged Espino down to the minors. Kuhl is not yet on the 40-man but can opt out of his minor league deal today if he doesn’t get a spot. Espino operated as a swingman for the club last year, posting a 4.84 ERA in 113 1/3 innings. It seems highly likely he’ll get another shot in the big leagues as soon as health or fatigue among the other pitchers warrants it.
Colome and Machado, meanwhile, both seem likely to factor into the Nats bullpen at some point this season, while Peralta could feasibly contribute in either role, given 139 of his 258 career appearances have come as a starter, though the Nationals mostly used him as a reliever during camp. Of course, Colome and Peralta will both have the ability to opt out of their contracts this weekend, should their wish to do so.
With ten seasons under his belt as a big league reliever, Colome is among the more experienced options at Washington’s disposal for their bullpen, but with a 4.82 ERA (92 ERA+) since the start of the 2021 season, it’s easy to wonder if the 34 year old Colome might not reclaim the success he saw from 2016 to 2020, when he posted a 2.62 ERA (163 ERA+) in 274 2/3 innings while racking up 138 saves for the Rays, Mariners, and White Sox.
Machado, 29, has posted a 3.41 ERA (117 ERA+) in 95 innings of work in the big leagues since making his Nationals debut in 2021. That being said, underlying metrics don’t rate the right-hander’s work so highly, with subpar strikeout (18.3%) and walk (9.9%) rates explaining his 4.56 FIP over the past two seasons. Peralta, meanwhile, provides the Nationals with a veteran swing-man who has posted a 4.29 ERA (95 ERA+) in 911 1/3 innings of work over ten seasons in the major leagues.
On the positional side, Downs was among the more highly regarded prospects in baseball in the lead-up to the 2020 season, when he was shipped from Los Angeles to Boston as part of the Mookie Betts deal. Since, then, however, Downs has struggled mightily, with a .661 OPS in 180 games at the Triple-A level. Downs figures to attempt to right the ship in Triple-A with the Nationals to begin the season, and could supplant Ildemaro Vargas as a middle infield option for the big league roster sometime this season if he manages to bounce back.
Adams was a member of the World Series champion 2019 Nationals, though he struggled to a .226/.276/.465 slash line in 111 games that season. A power bat with a high strikeout rate, Adams stood as the primary challenger to Michael Chavis for a role as a pinch hitter off the bench. That role appears to be poised to go to Chavis while Adams, 34, will decide whether or not to try his luck in another organization or stick with the Nationals.
Underrated organization and Mike Rizzo is still laughing his ass off about how much he played the Padres in the Juan So-so trade.
wat
Mike traded Juan So-so when he was at his all time worst and SD gave Mike a return for So-so as though So-so was putting up 2020/2021 type numbers. Then So-so went to SD and not only didn’t improve, but in fact performed significantly worse. .236/.388/.390 with only 6 lousy HR in 1/3 of a season.
Marlins fan, saying the same dumb joke 3 different times in one comment is not funny. Do better.
Yeah you’re stupid. Juan Soto top 8 player in the game. Gore and Abrams will both be busts. Hassell is the only good player padres gave up.
Abrams will be really good if he can learn how to hit major league pitching. I think that Gore will ultimately become a decent, but not great, middle of the rotation arm.
Thanks. That comment on Abrams gave me a chuckle.
“Tim Tebow would have been a really good QB if he could you know, throw the football”.
“So and so would be a great pitcher if he added 10 mph to his fastball, learned how to throw a slider, and wasn’t hurt half of every year”
Abrams is a decent defensive player, he’s extremely fast and he’s still just a kid. Give him a break.
Wood in that deal?
I think James Wood will be much better than Hassell. We will see in three or four years.
Soto is what… 23 or 24? He’s a generational talent who has already put up some otherworldly numbers. The Nats got some good players, but Robert Hassell and CJ Abrams werent going to be able to help the Padres in the short term.
Why not roll the dice? It sends a positive message to the fan base. Worst case scenario: Soto falls flat (and I don’t think he will) and Preller flips him for a few really good players.
Marlins_Fan… You know as much about baseball as I know about knitting. And I bet you will not dare show up around here with your feisty little donut hole wide open when Soto goes off to put up, well…, Soto-like numbers once again. Little whiny crybabies like you love going around stirring up animosities, but can’t defend your arguments with facts and don’t have the balls to come back later to admit you were wrong.
Geovany Soto has been out of MLB since 2017. Maybe you’re referring to Juan So-so. And no, Juan So-so will never again be as good as his peak with the NATIONALS.
I understand. Your low IQ impairs your reasoning. Even distinguishing one name from another seems like such a hard task. No problem here… let it be soso then if that makes your childish little self happy. But please grow up soon. Your failed comedic demeanor seems rather awkward even for a 7th grader. Get out of the basement and go find a girlfriend. Mommy won’t punish you for leaving her side for a little bit!
I think Tatis will have a better season than Soto. But Soto is still a top 10-20 player in the league. The Padres gave up some decent players in Wood, Abrams, Hassel and Gore. Neither side was fleeced. But, in 2023, I think the Nationals will be even worse than the Pirates, Reds and Rockies.
If soto is in 10-20 range – padres got super fleeced; padres need him to be a top 5 player for what they paid. Gore is a beast – he will put it together this season.
Nationals are probably better at loosing then the teams u mentioned. When well ran organizations tank – they usually do a better job at it than the teams that are always there.
So if they get progression from this young core – watch out for nationals next year on the FA market – they’ll be players.
What exactly is giving you all this confidence in the Nationals as an organization? The team that lets Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Max Scherzer, and Juan Soto all leave within a 5 year span is considered a good org?
They let Harper walk, and then the Nationals all got Rings, and a flag (which I’m told flies forever). Harper still doesn’t have one. Is this really the example you want to use? Soto was offered a quarter billion, turned it down, and has looked more like Adam Dunn, since. I’d say the Nationals have made some good decisions.
Yeah, signing Corbin and Strasburg to long-term extensions was some great decision-making.
Bryce Harper: The Nationals won the WS the very 1st year Bryce Harper was gone, so there’s that one.
Trea Turner: Traded, smart move given how extension talks were going
Max Scherzer: 38 years old and falling apart and only pitched 145 innings in his first year gone from DC. It would have been stupid to resign him.
Juan So-so: The best move for the Nationals of all of them. Mike completely played SD in that trade and So-so was at his all time worst and yet SD paid for him as though he was putting up 2020 type numbers. So-so then went to SD and performed significantly worse than he was in DC last season. Incredible trade for the Nationals and SD largely gave up their future for Juan Effin So-so and the Nationals farm system is stacked in large part because of SD’s desperation to get Jan So-so.
Anthony Rendon: Let him walk, and he immediately fell on his face in Anaheim and he is garbage now.
The Nationals are a very well run organization.
Apparently half a season of Soto playing slightly under his established level means he’s Adam Dunn. And what about Scherzer? Turner?
How could anyone take this kind of “analysis” seriously? You just clearly have several bones to pick with these specific players because not a single evaluation is objective here. Thank God no one is letting you near the reins of a baseball franchise.
The Nats were arguably the best team of the 2010s. Certainly best from 2012 on. They won the World Series in 2019. Angelo’s refusal to pay what he agreed to with the MASN has made the Nats have to operate as a mid market team even though their actual market is large. Rizzo got a huge haul from the Padres for Soto — and the Nats have as good a chance as anyone signing him in December 2024. We in DC will enjoy watching the kids this year while dreaming of what 2025 could bring. I think Scherzer will also be back in ‘25 as his MLB swan song. He loved being a Nat.
Soto was offered $440 million over 15 years with a quarter of that deferred. He had a 149 OPS+ last season after turning that down. Dunn’s best season was not as good as Soto’s worst and Dunn’s calling card, the strike out, is something that Soto is not afflicted with.
Hiring Davey Johnson and jonny Baker were very bad decisions. You offer your first choice Bud Black one year and when he turns it down you offer your second choice Jonny two years. Where is the logic here?
Pretty much all the projections are saying Soto is going to put up a 170 OPS+ with 25-30 HR. If Tatis does better than that the Padres will be hard to beat.
Hassel is the only one I really wished they’d kept. Not a knock on the other players the Nationals received but I think he has the highest ceiling…
James Wood comes the closest.
Losing Wood hurt the most, and yes that’s what she said. Susana hurt the 2nd most, imho. Bobby “3-Sticks” Hassell is falling down prospect lists for a reason.
Yall are silly. Gore is a tor pitcher. That makes him the greatest loss. He’s primed to breakout this year
Gore had Whip way over 1 and his ERA was 4.50, Nationals need to let him develop a little more.
Gore is a bust
Gore seems to me like a lot of uber talented young pitchers selected in the first round. They go through high school and college putting up ridiculous numbers against, well, high schoolers and college jocks. They’re used to striking out literally everyone at that level, then struggle when they have to start facing better hitters.
That’s why the MLB draft is basically a crapshoot. Everyone knows who the top 30 players in the NFL draft are going to be, and the epic busts that you see in the baseball draft are relatively rare. In baseball, it seems like the guys who are just a notch below elite levels in high school and college, who have to struggle and work and claw their way into a major league lineup are the players who have the longest and most productive careers.
Gore had a 4.50 ERA last season, a 4.95 ERA this spring with a 16% BB rate against a 19% K rate. Nothing I saw last season or this spring screams TOR.
Adams should.try oakland
I’m not sure why Washington invited Adams to camp. He hit well in ST and they still cut him.
Nobody fleeces the Nationals and Rizzo more than Scott Boras.
I’m still trying to figure out what happened to Patrick Corbin. I’m thinking the career high in innings + the World Series run just may have ruined his arm.
Didn’t he pitch out of the bullpen in October?
Mike Rizzo and Dave Martinez are underrated.
“Since, then, however, Downs has struggled mightily…”
Are you writing a list? It’s comical how MLBTR writers don’t understand how commas should be used. Either figure it out, hire an editor, or both.
Also, how many times can you interrupt the flow of your sentence with the word “meanwhile” when you could just start the sentence with it? You could also pick a different word instead of using it ad nauseum.
Pay for the site or don’t complain about what you are getting for free.