The Nationals announced on Monday that they’ve selected outfielder/designated hitter Harold Ramírez. Washington optioned corner infielder Trey Lipscomb to Triple-A Rochester to clear a spot on the active roster. The Nats have had a vacancy on the 40-man for weeks, so they didn’t need to make a move in that regard.
Ramírez inked a minor league deal with Washington a couple weeks ago. The Rays had somewhat surprisingly released him after a slow start to the season. The 29-year-old had hit .268/.284/.305 over 48 games. While the batting average was solid, he only hit one homer and drew walks in fewer than 2% of his plate appearances. Between the diminished offense and Ramírez’s limited defensive profile, he was squeezed off the Tampa Bay roster.
All 29 other teams passed on a chance to add Ramírez for the $2MM+ which remained on his $3.8MM arbitration salary. Once he cleared waivers, the Rays were left on the hook for that money (minus the prorated portion of the $740K league minimum for any time he spent on another team’s MLB roster). While he didn’t immediately secure a big league spot, Ramírez only needed seven games in Rochester to play his way back to the big leagues. He tattooed Triple-A pitching, picking up nine hits and drawing six walks over 31 trips to the dish.
The Nationals have left-handed hitting Jesse Winker and Eddie Rosario as their respective starters at designated hitter and in left field. Ramírez could ostensibly take some reps against left-handed pitching at either spot. The righty-swinging Ramírez has mashed southpaws at a .361/.393/.483 clip in 303 plate appearances since the start of the 2022 season. He owns a more pedestrian .274/.314/.380 line against right-handed arms over that stretch.
Ramírez has more than five years of MLB service time, so the Nats can’t send him back to the minors without his consent. Washington can keep him around through the 2025 season via arbitration, though he will need to hit better than he did early in the year with Tampa Bay to avoid being non-tendered.
Andrew Golden of the Washington Post first reported (on X) that Ramírez was joining the Nats.
Washington is in the same odd position as Boston as a team straddling the line of a wild card team while also not entirely being a playoff caliber team. It will be interesting to see what both teams do if they are still in these positions at the deadline
Will James Wood ever get called up?
RB
Probably
He just returned from injury
Good luck Big Harold!
Martinez explaining the rationale: facebook.com/watch/?v=431178916457786
Smart move by Rizzo….if he hits: they win games, he can be traded (with his permission?), he can replace whoever is traded at the deadline, they control him for next year so maybe could be traded in the off-season, he is potentially the first baseman that they need.
If he doesn’t hit: he gets DFA’ed and the Nats will be out a few hundred thousand dollars for the portion of the year they used him.
There is a chance they stole a star (probably not but well worth the chance)
Happy for Ramirez. Great guy and personality, just had an expected regression. Hope he bounces back and embarrasses the Rays
Agree. He can hit, and the Nats need any bat help they can find.
The real fly in the ointment for the Nats going forward is Joey Gallo. Rizzo paid him $5M for this year, but he’s hit horribly and then pulled his hamstring. Even the subpar Rosario has been a more valuable hitter than Gallo, so when Gallo returns, what do you do, especially now that Ramirez has joined the team? The team is not helped by Gallo’s return. He is washed up and should not have been made an offer for 2024. But will Rizzo eat the money?