The Nationals and infielder Nick Senzel have a one-year deal, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The deal reportedly guarantees Senzel $2MM with an additional $1MM available in performance bonuses.
Senzel, 28, was a highly-touted prospect early in his career, having been selected second overall by the Reds in the 2016 draft. By the time he made his major league debut back in 2019, Senzel was a consensus top-10 prospect in all of baseball. Unfortunately for both Senzel and the Reds, his career hasn’t lived up to that promise to this point. Senzel’s rookie campaign went fairly well, as the then-24-year-old adjusted to become the everyday center fielder in Cincinnati after spending his entire professional career to that point on the infield dirt. Senzel posted a decent .256/.315/.427 slash line in 414 trips to the plate that year, and entered the 2020 season with plenty of reason for optimism that better days would be ahead.
Unfortunately, Senzel struggled to stay healthy over the next two seasons, appearing in just 59 total games between the 2020 and 2021 campaigns. To make matters worse, Senzel posted brutal numbers at the plate when he was healthy enough to take the field, slashing a combined .227/.294/.332 in 202 trips to the plate. While Senzel was healthy enough to return to semi-regular playing time in 2022, his bat didn’t improve, as he posted a similar slash line of .231/.296/.306 across 110 games that season. Senzel’s offense improved slightly in 2023, as he slashed .236/.297/.399 with 13 home runs in 330 plate appearances while splitting time between second base, third base, and all three outfield spots.
That said, Senzel’s performance did not convince the Reds to tender him a contract worth a projected $3MM this offseason (per MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz). Given the excess of young, controllable position player talent in Cincinnati, the club’s decision to part ways with Senzel was hardly a surprising one. Still, Senzel’s positional versatility makes him an intriguing bench option for teams in need of additional depth around the diamond. That’s particularly true of teams that struggle offensively against southpaws, as Senzel owns a career 108 wRC+ against left-handed pitching.
That’s a description that fits the Nationals, who hit a below-average .266/.323/.415 against lefties last season. In particular, Senzel could be a potential platoon partner for Luis Garcia, who slashed just .261/.273/.395 against same-handed pitching last season as the club’s everyday second baseman. While Senzel only played second base briefly in 2023, he also provides the Nationals with another option at third base, where they currently figure to rely on Carter Kieboom, as well as at all three outfield spots. Given Senzel’s relative youth and previous prospect pedigree, it’s a reasonable gamble for the Nationals, on the heels of a 91-loss season that saw them finish dead last in the NL East, to see if they can unlock another gear to the versatile lefty-masher’s game.
The dominoes are starting to fall. How that senzel has signed, ohtani should have a clearer picture of his market
re- hashed joke
Sorry I don’t troll the comments all day long.
Tacoshells you’re really missing out. You could hear that joke plus “world series now” on every minor transaction.
Senzel hasn’t even begun to come into his own. The national cross-checker that signed off on him said that he hadn’t seen such tools since he scouted Jimmie Foxx.
Yeah Jamie Foxx quite the find. Started as a Damon standin- who knew he could sing. Blame it on the Al-Al-Al-cho-hol
Johnny Damon should be in the HOF!!! A handful of hits short of 3K….It’s academic! Over 500 dubs…Over 1000 BB’s…280+ career BA…400+ SB’s…Never struck out more than 80x in a season…Gamer
..
The most nationals move ever
And then the Cubs trade for him in July and then he signs a lucrative free agent contract in 25.
Happy to see Senzel get another chance, but I have to think he will be on the IL by Opening Day or shortly thereafter.
Overpay. Nats are gonna regret this in about 4 years and in about six years it is going to haunt them and it will hogtie or hamstring their payroll for the next decade plus.
A one year $2 million dollar deal is going to haunt them for the next decade?
Bob Nutting is that you?…
Trilly gets another one with the lowest hanging fruit.
Hey- I find that insulting. If you think I’m as cheap as Bob Nutting, you got a nutta thing coming.
I’m cheaper, thank you very much!
John Fisher wishes he was as cheap as I am!
That’s why you are going to be Quadrillionaire Team Operator someday…
That’s Decillion Team Operator to you, buster.
I plan to have so much money to operate a team with, I decimate the world economy a thousand times over.
GoogleplexTeamOperator?
I suppose my final form would be LeminscateTeamOperator
TTO, not ashamed to admit that I looked that word up….You efffing genius! You should be repping Ohtani!!! Why are you not a player agent darnit?!?!?!
Fun Fact: once upon a time I was pre law with a 4.0 headed for law school to focus on contract law.
But life happens a quarter mile at a time, had to deal with an injury in my horse farm and wound up running with my dawgs for the bread. Blessed up and now I’m a blankety blank doing blank.
Fun Fact TTO: I was watching the original “The Fast And The Furious” no longer than 2 hours ago….And that doesn’t suprise me about you. Been following your posts for a long time. We used to be pals when I was under another handle but you know how things go on here…Contract law completely fascinates me…Ever consider criminal law? You seem like a natural trial lawyer..
I still get pressured by some of my closest friends and family to go to law school and try again and I just might do that. We shall see. For now I do what I do. Not sitting back on my laurels by any means, but took a long time to figure some stuff out for myself, focused on achieving things that were less about money or career goals and more about personal goals- achieved those and now, yeah, I may try for law school or something like that.
No one cares.
Good luck to Nick with the Nats. Just no longer any room for him in Cincy.
Anothe ex-Red goes to the Nats.
How do you have a much-needed bounceback season when your previous worse-than-mediocre seasons give you nothing to bounce back to???? This one’s a head-scratcher but I guess he could play in Rochester for $2M. Insurance for Kieboom?
The Reds jerked this player around and he has a chance to play his game with another club. I think it’s possible he succeeds. He was nationally hyped 3B or 2B and Reds put him in CF to fit a need. It was bad idea that didn’t work and he has been lost in Reds organization since very early on, my opinion.
DC is a good landing spot for Senzel. Playing all over the dirt and grass, Nick ought to easily garner 350-400 ABs.
Was hoping my Phillies would sign him. Our bench was horrible last year. And $2 million is chump change these days, so it’s not as though signing him would have cracked open our cookie jar.
Senzel at $2M is not a signing that will hurt the Nats. If he catches fire maybe a deadline flip. He is versatile and can contribute.
If he plays well, they probably keep him, as opposed to flipping him. He has the age and another year of relatively inexpensive arbitration. Maybe next year, if he can show he can stay healthy and is playing well.
If a team spending $2 million on an experienced MLB player who was once the #2 overall pick in the draft “hurts”, then that team needs a new GM.
Senzel is a great signing for the Nats. All upside with little downside risk. Yes, health is a concern, but at that cheap price even if Senzel spends a lot of time on the IL it won’t be a disaster.
This is a smart move for him. He can find himself in a low stress setting. I bet he ends up being their lone All Star in July
I think C.J. Abrams, Mackenzie Gore, Josiah Gray, Hunter Harvey, and Lane Thomas all have a better shot at that, but no one’s a guarantee for ASG on that team.
Upgrade from Alex Call
Senzel had 2 years arbitration remaining when the Reds non-tendered him. Does that mean he’ll still have another arb year with the Nats for 2025?
Yea
Excellent pickup. If he plays well they flip if not little lost and likely no worse than Garcia or Kiaboom.
Remember when Garcia and Kieboom were both top prospects and eventually supposed to anchor the infield post-Rendon.
I can’t believe we’re this deep in a Nick Senzel post without anyone declaring that the Reds ruined him.
They did. 🙂
I hope the Nats will play him wisely.
They overpaid by $1.5 mil
As a big Reds fan I am happy for Senzel. Injuries and all the moves to different positions didn’t help him . he could be a classic change of scenery player who could finally be the player he was drafted to be .