JUNE 1: The Nationals announced that they have requested unconditional release waivers on Robles. The Talk Nats blog reported earlier today that the team was looking for a trade partner for Robles, but Washington will now instead move on from Robles entirely since it appears no deal was found.
MAY 27: The Nationals announced today that outfielder Lane Thomas has been reinstated from the injured list with fellow outfielder Víctor Robles designated for assignment in a corresponding move. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 38.
Robles, now 27, was once the club’s top prospect and one of the top prospects in the entire league. Per the rankings from Baseball America, he was the Nationals’ #1 prospect in three straight years from 2017 to 2019. He was also on BA’s top 100 league-wide list from 2016 to 2019, getting as high as #5 overall going into 2018. The expectation at that time was that Robles had the capability of being an all-around contributor and a long-term part of the outfield in Washington.
Things seemed to be in a good place in 2019, the year the Nats won the World Series. Robles hit 17 home runs and slashed .255/.326/.419. Despite the long balls, his 5.7% walk rate kept the on-base low and the wRC+ of 92 indicates he was actually a bit below average offensively overall. But thanks to above-average defense and stealing 28 bases, FanGraphs credited him as being worth 3.7 wins above replacement in his age-22 season.
Given his youth, the Nats undoubtedly expected him to continue evolving as a hitter as he aged. Unfortunately, things moved in the opposite direction in the years to come. From 2020 to 2022, Robles got into 291 games with the Nats but hit just .216/.291/.306 in that time for a wRC+ of 66. The club’s fortunes also faded in that time and they entered a rebuilding phase.
That theoretically left Robles with plenty of playing time to get back on track, but his health hasn’t really allowed him to do so. He only got into 36 games last year due to back spasms in the lumbar spine. He did perform well when on the field, hitting a solid .299/.385/.364, but hasn’t carried that over in 2024. He spent about a month on the injured list due to left hamstring strain and has produced a brutal line of .120/.281/.120 in the 14 games he has played.
Robles was slated to reach free agency after the 2024 campaign and the Nationals were likely hoping for a nice run of play this season, at least allowing them to flip Robles for something at the deadline before he slipped away from them for nothing. Unfortunately, his performance hasn’t inspired much confidence and they are cutting him off the roster today.
They will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers, though any interest is likely to be fairly modest after years of poor performance and injury absences. He’s making a salary of $2.65MM this year, with still about two thirds of that left to be paid out. Perhaps the Nats will try to eat some of that money to facilitate a deal but it’s also possible that Robles just ends up released. He has enough service time that he can reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency while keeping all that money intact.
It’s undeniably been a disappointing few years and hardly what the club had in mind, given the prospect pedigree and the promising start to his career. But for Robles personally, it’s not too late for him to find a second act somewhere. He just turned 27 last week and could perhaps get back on track with a run of good health and the right opportunity.
Well that’s the end of him in dc remember when he was viewed as a better prospect than Soto? lol
I will take the bait on this.
Victor Robles: Age 27, 6.4 career WAR, -0.1 WAR this season
Juan Soto: Age 25, 31.3 career WAR, 2.8 WAR this season
I think you are the only one that would take Robles.
Thank you.
The only reason to take Robles over Soto is his next time isn’t gonna pay him 45+mil aav for the next decade and a half.
Which is already an insane amount of time for a contract.
He’s a strong candidate to join the White Sox’ revolving door of outfielders who can’t hit.
Lol did that post even warrant a reply even Stevie wonder could see that Soto is better than robles
Daddy – You could have just said one is on the verge of a half-billion dollar contract while the other was just designated for assignment.
Honestly I don’t know why we humor some of these purely attention-seeking comments.
End of an era. Sad to see.
Especially considering both those guys are at least 3 years older than their listed ages. Amazing how most fans have just overlooked how basically every guy in the last 20 years who comes up very young is from the DR. Add in the fact MLB dropped an announcement in the dead of the off-season about a massive age-gate scandal from the Dominican…
Great point, Jersey. Soto’s probably 31.
I’m very surprised this topic isn’t more widely discussed or looked into. I remember when I first read about the Brewers rookie Jackson Chourio when he was coming up thru the Minor’s and looked at pictures of him! I thought it was a joke at the time he was an “,18yr” old prospect, but when I saw his picture he looked at least 23years old! Even guy’s like Eloy Jimenez and Luis Roberts of the White Sox, they’re listed at 27 and 26 year’s old. There is ZERO chance that Eloy Jimenez is anything under the age of 30. And same goes for Luis Roberts Jr.
Yeah, people seem to not want to notice. My team again but… Dominquez (21) has the body of a 26 year old guy who has been taking extra Flinstones for years.. To be clear I don’t blame the players but it’s become comical.
Not trying to start a war but they also inject PEDS into these kids as young as 12 years old in the DR. That’s why most positive PED suspensions are Dominican players. Your body stops producing testosterone if you stop using. It’s a major major problem among Dominican players along with lying about their age. The adults doing it are getting percentages of their contracts. Evil SOBs. Dominican players think Hispanics are being unfairly targeted. My question to those people is why are Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Mexicans, Venezuelans not failing at anywhere close to the same rate as Dominican players?
There is absolutely no accountability from this country to try to put an end to it. Just look the other way and blame MLB for unfairly targeting a group of people? Ya no. MLB should investigate more thoroughly
@jerseyjohn I don’t feel like doing research on everyone called up to mlb 22 years old or younger over the last 20 years but off the top of my head just from the nationals organization bryce harper was 19 and Stephen Strasburg was 21 and both are American. Also my favorite team, the Pirates, currently have 2/5ths of their starting rotation 22 years old or younger and both are American
I used AI and Baseball reference.. Currently, 10% of the MLB player population is from the DR yet they have 33% of the youngest players since 2005.
I don’t begrudge the guys lying to get paid, my concern begins and ends with my team signing a guy under false pretenses. Either a prospect who is older therefore not as projectable or an established guy claiming to be 25 and actually being older. It’s performance-based in both scenarios I don’t want me team blowing resources on guys likely to disappoint.
MLB is 70% American born players as of 2024 so throwing out a few names actually makes my point stronger when you think about it.
he was pointing out a time that this was true. I rmember thinking Soto was at least a year away when Soto made the team over Robles. (i think they both played most of that year, but soto got the call first).
Prospect evaluators and lists tend to ignore guys under 18, so a guy like Soto did not have a chance to really show up on any of the litsts- whereas Robles had a few years. Also the 17hr and 28 sb season (and always having a good glove) made him an obvious 4 tool guy- that the 5th tool (hitting for any sort of average) killed him. The mike Cameron mold is a fickle one- that very few guys ever do well without figuring out the hitting for average tool
Robles got the first call. He got injured. Then Soto got the call and answered it.
I think Robles might even have been on the 2017 post season roster.
Can no one read?
Look at 2018 mlb prospect lists, Robles was being ranked on the top 10 of all of them, and Soto was top 40-50.
It was due to his level, but the comment is correct, Robles was viewed as a better prospect at one point. Why are you bringing up today? No one would say Robles is better than Soto. Maybe read a little clearer.
Ya, the reply made no sense. And then it got almost 40 thumbs up. SMH No one ever said he is better than Soto, just at the time he viewed as better. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised in today’s world.
I think he was talking about as a PROSPECT. And he may have been correct.
He’s saying back in 2017 Victor Robles was higher rated. He is correct. Robles was a top 10 prospect in all of MLB 2017-2019. Soto was 56th in 2018. Then of course the rest is history.
I’m surprised no one corrected you on this as the whole thread seems to think this guy actually is saying Robles is better than Soto. That should have been a red flag right there that there was a misunderstanding.
He wasn’t saying Robles was better but at one time he was considered as good.
Very good, we get it, Juan so so. Once was enough.
I sure appreciate the mute option
……(toilet flush)
Toss – Robles was even a disaster on the basepaths, he handed a win to the Red Sox with his running blunders.
Toss – Speed has nothing to do with making outs on the basepath. Mental errors and lack of fundamentals do.
It amazes us all that your father could have pulled out and didn’t.
@trojan toss,
Your use of “gay” is homophobic and unnecessary.
LongTime: Oh, so you’ve decidedly diagnosed him with having a….phobia??!! Based on a smart-ass comment about something extremely controversial and propagandized?
How odd of you.
Plus, what the hell do YOU care what someone else thinks about the radical propaganda?!
Toss – Speeds nice but u can’t steal 1st base n if ur dummy on basepaths it kinda neutralizes it.
That first paragraph had to have been written by a 5 year old. Imagine what a petulant little worm you’d have to be to write that as an adult.
gay person here (obviously by my name) I don’t think its homophobic, and it is very necessary.
No such thing, Femboy.
alright :3 XD
Mental illness.
guess we both have one :3
Not me. Nice try, though.
mhm sure lmao
You mean in 2018 when Soto started the season in…[checks notes]…High-A?
Okay, explain? Makes no sense
I just looked at soto’s stats. He’s having a monster year. What are you talking about
I remember when he was one of the most coveted prospects in all of baseball… Just highlights the randomness of scouting.
To me it more illustrates that succeeding at the major league level is hard.
Calce – Very true, which is why those who believe it’s necessary for their team to tank while their prospects are developing couldn’t be more foolish. 9 out of 10 top prospects never materialize.
It worked out pretty darn well for the Astros, Cubs & Orioles.
coop – I didn’t say tanking never works, I said it isn’t necessary …. because it’s not.
The Yankees haven’t tanked since 1989-1992, and the Dodgers haven’t tanked since 1986-1987.
It is not necessary for Yankees and Dodgers. Because 1 out 10 top prospects is too bad a chance for them. They are perennial winners, which mean to win 9 out of 10 seasons.
It is possibly necessary for those teams who are perennial losers, losing 9 out of 10 seasons. Gambling on 1 out 10 top prospects seems quite OK.
nany – The thing is with those two teams and some others, how do they manage to have top prospects in their system all the time? They never have good draft positioning because they basically never finish with a losing record, and they are often losing draft picks due to signing free agents and trading for elite players like Soto.
This is why I laugh when people say the Red Sox need to forfeit multiple seasons until their prospects are scheduled to arrive in the majors, it’s 100% not necessary.
It is harder now with the draft lottery, particularly with teams considered large market which makes them ineligible for back to back draft lotteries.
depends on the level of the prospect- but they are all super risky.
Looking at the Os- Holliday has like a 70% chance of being at least an all star level player. Mayo is closer to a 50/50 shot at that level; and guys like Fabian and Beavers are closer to a 10% shot… below that the goal is just reaching the bigs (and maybe getting some regular run).
That is why teams have so many guys in the minors. If you have 100 guys in the minors- you are not considering more than about 50 to be actual prospects- half your AAA roster alone will be the 27th-35th best players you could find for this year (like a 6th SP, a few releivers you can shuttle up and down, a 3rd catcher, a 5th OF option, ect).. Every level has some of these guys who just sort of mop up playing time around the guys with way more upside.
there are 3 groups in MLB-
The redsox are in the group that can pay 300 million for their roster this year if they chose to. Those teams do not need middle of the road prospects since they will never crack their roster. They want only the guys with huge upside so they can keep that cost down slightly.
A team like the Os, Royals, ect (most of the league) basically regroups every few years since they need to keep the competative roster cost down by a lot. So they have a use for the “mlb starter” upside guy since they do not have the cash to drop 10m per for that guy.
The bottom group are teams like the As that cannot buy anything. They are always scap heap roster building, and normally flipping them for other stuff.
A few teams got lucky “tanking”. The Cubs? I’m not sure about. The Astros were fortunate and also cheated, and the Orioles haven’t won anything yet. It takes getting lucky with health, drafting correctly, and then not messing up the development. Good luck would be tankers!
James123 what do you mean “that cannot buy anything”?
Do you mean those teams that don’t WANT to buy anything?
Ask the Reds how that’s going.
You just named the 2 richest teams. It’s easy when you can buy a team of all-stars.
Not at all lol
It does but also why you can’t get suckered in by “tools” that haven’t been shown yet. No power, no hit tool, he’s just fast I guess? Came up in the majors super young as most of the Nats prospects did but his flaws were hidden from his potential that was never fulfilled.. Injuries don’t help either but glad they are moving on, praying on potential is a good way for people to lose their jobs.
Perhaps in his house, but nowhere else.
Sadly, St. Louis is seeing the same thing happen with Jordan Walker..
Walker still has a bunch of time, same with Gorman
But if St. Louis wants to help those 2 young men they need goldy and arenado out so walker can go to 1st and Gorman to 3rd
I think Walker needs to stay in right field at this point. He’s been much better recently out there. Gorman yes he could play 3b today and while he’s not Arenado out there he’s solid.
Walker got rushed to the big leagues. He just turned 22 long term he will be a good player the question is really when he puts it all together.
meangreandancingmachine, no Saint Louis isn’t seeing the same thing with Jordan Walker. They’re straight up mismanaging his career
are you embarrassed to be this F-ing idiotic, cause you should be
What are you on about? Soto has already been a star for years and is 2 years younger
if a guy reaches the top 10 of BA or mlb.com or any of the other notable lists- the hit rate is still 20% contender for major hardware, 40% allstar level, 20% mlb “guy” and 20% total wash out (most still make the bigs, but these are the guys who went from top 10 propsect to 4th OF- think Travis Snider as a recent example)
It is hard- and that is why it can be so random. I would struggle to tell you the gap in chances between Montgomery and Lawler- but the chances of both being all stars is pretty low (example of 2 highly touted prospects)
Not so much the randomness of “scouting”. Prospects are scouted eying their tools and potential, not their present performance. Scouts surely saw that he wasn’t remotely yet an MLB star level performer. I think what you really mean is that this highlights the inconsistency and unreliability of player development.
He’s gotta be better than Grisham.
Robles, when healthy is a pretty good defender, so I can see Cashman kicking the tires on him. But he’s got White Sox written all over him!
grisham is way better than Robles.
#4 ranked prospect in 2019
Sometimes things just dont pan out unfortunately
I’d take his career 667 ops and replace haniger with him
But his only value is playing CF defense which the M’s don’t need
Announce Robert Garcia & Joey Gallo next.
And James Wood added?
I think it will be to make way for Lane Thomas. I think Wood has been out with an injury the last few games.
Yet somehow every year, someone signs Joey Gallo thinking it will be different.
I know there are few, if any, Jon Daniels fans out there, but in my mind the best move he ever made was NOT extending Gallo. I’m not even sure that a year or two in Asia will make any difference for Gallo at this point. He’s beer league material at best.
Who in the minors are taking their places?
I can see Josiah and Cavalli joining the team, probably bumping Corbin and Ro. Garcia?
But Joey Meneses lives on. What is going on in Washington? Did the federal government buy the Nationals?
Stupid comment
How is meneses still there, 2022 was obviously a fluke he better be the next to get released
Have to agree, they aren’t wasting nearly enough money to be owned by the feds.
Also a stupid comment. What the F does the govt have to do with the Nats? Nothing. Zero. Stay on topic.
If Joey Meneses were to be sent down, who is the back up first baseman?
Just about anyone on the waiver wire would be an upgrade, and I even include Rowdy Tellez who has one foot out the door and the other on a banana peel already in Pittsburgh.
Plus, it’s about that time of year when Dan Vogelbach gets cut loose,
There isn’t one. If we had one, one of the Joeys wouldn’t be here. With the logjam coming in the OF, makes me wonder if that 6’7” kid could play 1B. Would make a big target.
Here he goes to the Braves
I think everyone in the NL East would be ticked off because you’d know that he’d finally live up to the orginal hype he had.
One day he’ll look like an all-star. The next he’ll be throwing to the wrong base or forgetting how many outs there are. Plus all the strikeouts. Just a really frustrating player.
That about sums it up.
His nats tenure was defined by the clown nose he wore because while he thought madbum was a clown victor was the clown all along
Zing
Plus getting picked off, missing the stop sign and generally committing tootblans on an almost daily basis.
Team with a need for a backup OF for defensive replacement or LH hitters who are worse than Robles’ career numbers vs left handed pitching could use Robles on their team.
Jays have needed an OF, especially a righty, since ’22. Atkins will drop the ball though. See what I did there?
Does Atlanta care?
Next in line for the DFA bus is Senzel
Before Gallo?
Some team might actually claim Robles or Senzel. No team would take Gallo and the remainder of his $5M salary.
Not that I’d be opposed to Senzel heading elsewhere, but I think it’s doubtful.
They signed Senzel because they didn’t want Lipscomb to play 3B. Lipscomb’s five errors in 29 games at 3B in the big leagues this year isn’t going to convince them he can play that position on a regular basis. If Garcia Jr. continues to look like he’s figured it out, IMO Lipscomb probably gets traded eventually.
The Nats 3B prospect is 2021 first round pick Brady House, and he’s not ready. He’s only hitting .250 at AA Harrisburg, striking out too much and not walkihg enough (51:18 K/BB..) House won’t be ready until at least next year.
Doubt it, he has enough pop to at least be serviceable. I think he’s a better option than Lipscomb right now at 3B. Hope we find alternatives to the Joey’s off the scrap bin though.
Could be worse..could have been like the CWS and shelled out big contracts before the player proved anything ie. Jimenez, Moncada and Robert.
Look at his numbers, he was such a scout tease. Owned the minor leagues. Struggled when he first came up, then became a juiced ball year darling which gave the team validation for their “completed” development
I have. His 2019 OPS+ of 91 was still sub-par so the juiced ball didn’t help him relative to the league’s overall performance. Robles has always been a below-average player.
Classic AAAA “athlete”
He was a top defensive CF’er in 2019. It’s too bad his bat regressed so much from even that point.
Hello White Sox to join a team of overvalued prospects
Finally. Been waiting for this for… three years.
Proof that all can’t miss top prospect evaluations can fall apart quick.
Stopgap in Atlanta til the deadline
I wouldn’t mind it since the cost would be low, and a change of scenery might benefit him. If it doesn’t, nothing lost.
Robles was on “borrowed time” ever since his boneheaded mental errors against Boston earlier this year. Those mental errors weren’t exactly a rare thing for him. He’d lost the confidence of Davey Martinez, and likely the rest of the roster too. They’d given him more than enough chances.
With Wood ready and likely up by August at the latest, and Hassell III potentially restoring his prospect status with a bounce back season at AA, Robles just isn’t worth the headache.
Naval – realizing Robles prospect status, I can’t help but wonder which failing mlb player you washing out 4-5 years ago because Robles was #5 overall prospect just waiting to be the next All Star CF to save the team.
Not that Wood doesn’t look good (I’m a Padres fan so I’ve watched these 2 longer than Nat fans) but just look at how quick and how far Hassell fell and thst was before he even reached MLB. Don’t bet the farm on a #5 prospect until he has proven himself – Wood has a very high SO rate and with that body build, might start breaking down early.
No, I’m not hoping or calling for them to fail – just pointing out the fact that Robles proves you can’t let yourself over expect on these guys
Wood’s K rate is down to 18% in AAA this year.
Wood has corrected his K rate this year. He looks like the real deal.
That is a positive sign for improvement and maybe he will be.
Now, I introduce you to Jackson Holliday. Again, until they make it at mlb, prospects are suspects.
Jackson Holliday should’ve never been in the majors at 20 years old. He needed to get far more experience against upper level arms.
Not very worried about him @ 20 either.
there have been a couple of players who were good at the age of 20 or younger at the majors, I understand why they would…for example: Juan Soto, Bryce Harper, Mike trout, Jackson chourio…probably more but those are notable.
Fem – Tatis, Ken Griffey, Jr., the CFer for Braves recently retired that I can’t recall, Juan Rodriguez, and yeah, I’m sure still a few more, even.
Holliday had ST stats to justify OD roster and oh boy were the O’s fans crying “service time manipulation” when he didn’t!
I’m NOT saying he isn’t going to succeed but as of today, he is an example of a #1 prospect that failed. Profar, a #1 prospect that while he has carved out a role at mlb level, never became the level as projected. Add Mackenzie Gore to that list – solid 3/4 for sure but not the next coming of Kershaw as projected in 2020/2021. I think he was one guy that was really hurt by 2020 Covid year.
All a wait and see for sure. My caution is just not jumping on the next prospect as the team savior until he earns it.
Juan Soto, Bryce Harper, Mike trout, Jackson chourio…
=============================
There will always be guys out there.
But it took Harper a few years to become the Harper we know now. And Chourio belongs in the minors.
And it’s not that these guys can’t contribute. It is also about getting top value from them. Harper’s OPS+ was 121 in his first three seasons, and 150 in his final four in Washington.
cant help but agree, thank you for correcting me :3
You obviously haven’t been paying attention to wood THIS season. I don’t care about 2 years ago with a 20 year old kid
Yogi, and yet none of what he is doing this year discounts my post which was until they are doing it at mlb level, prospects are suspects. I keep up with most if not all Padres prospects thst have been traded because I go to ST every year and watched those guys on back fields in their first year. I have an interest / curiosity in their development.
See my quote “I’m not saying that he isn’t going to succeed….”
At this point, he should not be elevated to MLB elite because he is doing better in AAA is all I’m saying.
Naval Historian—There’s also this guy named Dylan Crews heating up in AA…
Crews isn’t up until sometime in mid to late 2025. He’s only slightly cut down on the strikeouts in May, and hasn’t shown the expected power. Part of that lack of power can be attributed to the weather, but only part of it. The strikeouts are still concerning (16 in May, 20 in April) and he’s only hitting .264 overall.
I think it’s unlikely the Nats sign somebody to a big $ Jayson Werth type contract this offseason and signal that the rebuild is “over,” so I doubt Crews or Hassell make the MLB roster out of spring training even if they deserve it. Rizzo won’t bring them up until they make the same kind of adjustments Wood has made and gives him no choice.
Another reminder that not all young players improve after the breakout season.
A lot of position players don’t improve after their first season
17 homers and a .419 slugging percentage were nothing special in 2019.
The Nats need a catcher who can catch. Any chance they trade Keibert Ruiz?
Giants
Someone will kick the tires on em, won’t cost anything but minimum. Might be fast tracked to Atlantic league soon enough though. Ps figuring em out plus being overhyped n not performing well is bad combination.
At last!! Thanks for 2019 Victor. The years since have been painful to watch Robles and his never-ending mental mistakes.
I wonder if ever occurs to Rizzo that he is promoting kids too quickly. Robles was only 20. Even if he worked out, all it does is get him to free agency with his prime years in front of him. Teams should be aiming to have those prime years for their team, not someone else’s.
Garcia was 20. Kieboom 21.
Harper and Soto worked out. There IS a case to be made that Robles, Garcia and Kieboom were pressed into service a little early because they were needed. But they each were given numerous chances and Garcia seems to have turned the corner this year.
Luis Garcia isn’t THAT bad though, yes he’s not the best, but he’s good enough to be on the team for 5-6 years. Carter kieboom in my opinion was never going to be amazing anyways.
It’d be funny if Atlanta picked him up in time for their 8 games against the Nats in the next couple weeks.
Atlanta needs a good glove in the outfield
And they may instill some discipline in Victor. He has a ton of athletic ability but a very casual mental approach to the game.
Not sure you can teach IQ.
Good riddance now do Corbin next when Cavalli is ready this summer
Usually getting cut “fired”has an effect on a young player. I think with a lot of discipline he could be OK for Atlanta. I think it’s preferable that Atlanta grabs Robles rather than Laureano. With the abundance of quad A players available the Braves might have been right not having a so called taxi squad on the 40 man.
Hard to believe he was a higher rated prospect than Soto. About time they dumped him.
Maybe the Braves try to work out a deal.
Oakland will be checking in am sure
Thanks to Robles for his contributions to the team in 2019 and good luck to him at whatever comes next.
Muh top prospects!!1!
Remember when he was untouchable in trade talks a few years ago.
I think he could be useful to the Braves if they believe they can get him back on track a bit. With Acuna out he could get into games as a platoon partner for Kelenic and when they want to rest Duvall. Duvall and Robles could also theoretically share some playing time as Duvall may arguably be best in a 3-4 games a week kinda role. Idk that for sure tho.
Astros should sign him to a minor league deal.
In other news…Angel Hernandez retired! Yay!
Next is CB Bucknor and Laz Diaz I hope.
dodgers bout to resurrect him like they did Jason Heyward
Why was he in the majors for so long? His career wRC+ is 80. Should have dumped him years ago.
Robles seems to be what he is – a 4th or 5th outfielder. He doesn’t hit enough and makes too many mental mistakes to be a starting outfielder. Just goes to show some guys simply aren’t able to make constant adjustments in the majors after dominating minor league pitching. He isn’t going to get offers better than a minor league contract.
Jacob Young >>>Victor Robles
Hello Braves
One of the worst base runners (not necessarily stolen bases) in baseball.
Had high hopes for him, but with a stacked OF in just about every level from A-to-AAA ball, the Nats can certainly afford to DFA him and benefit more-so by promoting a couple of studs. James Wood should be the next logical promotion.
Robles still has a higher ceiling than Juan So-so. Remember that.
I remember that the Marlins were turned away from Robles for Realmuto, but the Nats were willing to give us Soto, who the Marlins passed on, even after a nice rookie season. Many dumb decisions from many so-called baseball experts.
Marlins passed on Soto for JTR????
I dunno about this, it sounds like specuilation on the Miami side. I recall at the time that the Nats were higher on Soto than Robles: Robles was doing really well when first brought up and the media kept saying that as good as Robles was doing, there was this kid in the minors named Soto that the Nats were even more enamored over
Yeah, they did. Mike Hill couldn’t get much right,
Release? Wouldn’t it make more sense to outright him? Even if he can refuse an outright assignment doesn’t releasing him mean you are barred from bringing him back in any context for 6 months while outrighting him and him electing FA doesn’t bar you from bringing him back for any amount of time?
Atlanta
“Things seemed to be in a good place in 2019, the year the Nats won the World Series.”
True in a LOT of ways for the Nats.
Robles hit .255/.326/.419 with a career high (by a lot) 17 homers in 2019, but it was only good for a 91 OPS+.
2019 was friggin’ WILD, man.
In the humble words of the Hamburger, “Roble Roble.”