The Nationals announced Wednesday that they’ve signed infielder Amed Rosario to a one-year contract. Right-hander Joan Adon was designated for assignment to make space on the roster. Rosario will earn $2MM on the deal, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He’s represented by Octagon.
Rosario, 29, was a solid regular in Cleveland from 2021-22, serving as the Guardians’ everyday shortstop and posting a combined .282/.316/.406 batting line (106 wRC+) with terrific baserunning but subpar defense at his position.
In 2023, however, Rosario fell into a prolonged slump and was eventually designated for assignment and traded to the Dodgers, for whom he filled a utility role down the stretch. He signed on with the Rays on a $1.5MM deal to hold down a similar multi-position role in 2024 before again being traded to the Dodgers at the deadline. His second stint in L.A. lasted only days, however, as he was designated for assignment and landed with the Reds thereafter.
Over the past two seasons, Rosario has still managed to hit .270 thanks to his speed and bat-to-ball skills, but it’s been a hollow batting average accompanied by paltry marks in on-base percentage (.305) and slugging percentage (.379). He’s essentially been a singles hitter who does most of his damage against lefties while contributing shaky defense at multiple positions. Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average have both panned his work at shortstop for some time, and he’s since dabbled at second base, third base and in all three outfield positions. Second base is the only position at which he’s drawn passable grades by measure of those two public metrics.
Though it’s been a lackluster couple years for Rosario all around, he still possesses plus speed (91st percentile of MLB players, per Statcast) and showed improved life on his throws last year (72nd percentile arm strength). He draws poor grades for his range despite that footspeed. Rosario has fanned in 19.3% of his plate appearances since 2023 — right in line with his career 19.6% mark. He’s all but allergic to drawing a walk, evidenced by a career 4.3% rate and a career-low 2.6% mark in 2024. However, he makes enough contact and runs so well that he’s capable of sustaining quality batting averages at the very least.
With the Nats, Rosario again figures to slide into a utility role. Washington has Luis Garcia Jr. at second base and CJ Abrams at shortstop. Rosario could factor into the competition at third base, where Jose Tena and Trey Lipscomb are also in the mix for the Opening Day job. However, prospects Brady House and Cayden Wallace are both in the upper minors. House, a former first-round pick and consensus top-100 prospect, hit well in Double-A last year but struggled in his first exposure to Triple-A pitching. Wallace, acquired at the deadline in the trade sending Hunter Harvey to the Royals, topped out in Double-A and is a bit further behind House in his minor league progression. With a strong start to the season, either could plausibly find his way to the majors and earn a look at the hot corner.
It’s also plausible that Rosario could be deployed in a straightforward platoon with Garcia. He’s a career .298/.337/.460 hitter against southpaws compared to Garcia’s lifetime .250/.269/.356 slash against lefties. Garcia has been far better against righties, hitting .277/.313/.428 in his career — including a personal-best .288/.326/.469 during last year’s breakout season.
Washington’s signing of Rosario will come at the expense of the 26-year-old Adon, who’s pitched for the Nats in each of the past four seasons. A 2016 international signee out of the Dominican Republic, Adon has logged 132 1/3 innings in the majors but never found consistency; he carries a career 6.66 ERA with a 19% strikeout rate, 11.3% walk rate and 45.3% ground-ball rate. He ranked as highly as No. 7 among Nationals’ prospects back in 2022, per Baseball America.
Adon averages nearly 95 mph on his heater and has been a durable rotation member in the upper minors, but he’s never replicated the strong 2019 season that put him on the prospect map in the first place. He’s had some work as a reliever in the minors recently, and he has enough velocity as a starter to create some intrigue about how he’d work as a power-armed bullpen piece. Command has been a consistent issue for the big righty, however, and he’s out of minor league options — meaning the Nats would’ve had to carry him on the Opening Day roster or else designate him for assignment a few months from now anyway.
Washington will have five days to trade Adon. At that point, he’d need to be placed on waivers (a 48-hour process). If he clears, he could be retained as non-roster depth. Within a week’s time, he’ll know the outcome of today’s DFA.
Mets stole Lindor from the Indians. Heist of the century.
Lindor was in his walk year when he got traded and only put up a 3 WAR season. Giménez alone blew past that his first year in Cleveland.
2nd year **
WAR is an overrated stat.
You can pick almost any stat you want and Gimenez still beat Lindor in production, it was Francisco worst year in the majors.
Russian
A classic example of elitist analytical bs on here. It is NOT a very useful stat- particularly regarding defense- It says very little about defensive qualities! Many players will have a “good” defensive WAR and then post a “poor” WAR the following season. Doesn’t sound very useful to me!! And how are catcher intangibles covered by such a stat? They aren’t. It’s very arbitrary.
The people who vomit about WAR are the same people on here who say that Soto and others considered the best hitters in the business are “overrated”
Soto!
No- WAR was interesting 10-15 years ago, but those who are paying attention know that it doesn’t mean a whole heck of a lot.
Grossly overrated. Especially with CF and SS as they get an absurd “positional WAR adjustment”
But it is only ONE statistic.
Some people don’t give it as much importance.
What you are saying is You (and others) put a greater emphasis on it VS. other statistics and things like the eye test judgements etc.
Lindor is fourth in baseball in war since 2021
**GUARDIANS**
silly comment, they had one season of control left of Lindor and no possibility of resigning him.(they’re not offering 300M) They offloaded the price of Lindor for that one season ($22.3M), and got value in Gimenez for 4 seasons before getting another return. Rosario providing even a little value for the guardians was all gravy.
They’ll always be known as the Cleveland Indians, just as Washington will always be known as the Redskins and St John’s will always be known as the Redmen.
I see you avoiding the actual reason I replied, so you must agree that your comment was silly about “heist of the century”.
The McNasty1: No they won’t, except in your narrow mind.
RussianFemboy: How is that relevant to anything?
RussianFemboy: But it’s the same franchise, so quibbling over the name is pointless and adds nothing to the conversation.
Heist of the century. Please. Giminez gave the Indians 17.6 WAR and 3 gold gloves in 4 seasons for one season of a player they would have never resigned.
Not really. They were never resigning him and all 29 other teams knew it. They got a few decent seasons out of Gimenez when all they going to get was a draft pick if they let him play out his final season in Cleveland
Not really, it was 1 year of control. If lindor left like Soto then what kind of heist was it
This is his 7th team! What a bust!
Another cheap contract for a decent player. yankees should have signed him. i’m not sure why he doesn’t give much of a chance for the Yankees.
The Yankees didn’t sign him because he’s no better than what they already have. No point in getting a player unless he’s a clear upgrade over what’s in house. It wouldn’t be the worst thing to go into the season with what they have and upgrade at the trade deadline if they need to.
He’s better than DJLM.
Not by much Lindor and he’s not not good enough to automatically block Paraza.
@david
Counterpoint
Always an interest/demand for a player with his skill set?
Donovan Solano has a similar skill set and is still playing well into his 30s
Solano at this stage of his career is vastly better than Rosario, and actually has positive value.
Since he turned 31 he’s put up 2.6 bWAR per 650 PA, usually in a half time role.
Rosario at 31? He’ll be enjoying the view from his couch. Even at 27 he was barely better than replacement level.
Solano was outright bad when he was 27…
Irrelevant and immaterial, as Rosario is not Solano.
The number of players with Rosario’s profile, who was a reflex player getting by on the quickness of his early 20s, who turn it on after flatlining at 27 and 28 is vanishingly small. Rosario is Javy Baez, writ small. Rosario no longer does anything well. He doesn’t even do anything at even an average level, except baserunning. His Statcast page is all blue and grey-blue. Poor guy has a sprint speed of 29.0, and he can’t even use it to advantage on the bases where he managed to be average despite being one of the fastest players in the majors.
Solano, every year from his age 31 through his age 36 seasons has been significantly better than Rosario in Rosario’s age 27 and 28 seasons.
Do people really not understand that a single coincidental similarity has nothing to do with future projections?
Look up how much money he’s made in his career SO far.
That’s not my definition of a bust but suit yourself.
davidk1979: He’s not a bust. He’s become a journeyman.
A bust doesn’t get the chance to suit up for that many teams.
WTF!!!!!! Another terrible signing. Lerners just need to sell the team if they aren’t going to tererery and get better.
Coming out of a rebuild they aren’t where they need to be yet to go after the Bregman type players
Thank you. Yes. Also, giving up a top 50 pick in the draft, and a 5th.
Imagine you’re Rosario and you read this write-up of you. While truthful, still harsh
The only reason “He draws poor grades for his range despite that footspeed” is because he doesn’t care. Ahahahaha!
Speed on the bases doesn’t always translate into the extraordinary quickness needed by fielders.
I bet they do.
Mr. A Rosario needs a better agent. He should been able to get more $.
Statistics are just one measurement tool, a player with versatility has great value IF you know how to use him.
Some kind of platooning can minimize injuries. No player can contribute (whatever their talent) if they’re not available.
7 Front offices tossed him to the side.
The issue with that is teams with plans to contend don’t want to use him because he offers very little value, if any. If he had a higher ceiling, he could sign for a lower guarantee with incentives.
Rosario’s suffers from Short-Side Platoon Disease, his fielding is now a little below average, and his utility doesn’t really exist: He’s an emergency OFer, and not a very good one, leaving him as the Nats backup middle infielder and a weak bat off the bench against LHP’ing, only.
He’s been replacement level for two years. That he got a guaranteed MLB deal is what’s interesting and for which his agent deserves partial credit. He could easily have gotten no offers for a major league deal given how even a 22 yo backup MIer with a 70 OPS+ could provide more value just with the glove.
YaGottaBelieveAgain: I’m sure you know the market better than a professional agent, enough to criticize said agent. Right.
Consider that players at Rosario’s level are more readily available than there are roster spots for them. That’s what determines his market value.
All I know is a savvy manager who employs more of a platoon rotation can maximize a players strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Team managements that think more independently like TB and a few others get good production out of players like A. Rosario. He should have been able to get like 5-7M per year. Urshela, J. Iglesias also
Are IFs that don’t hit major HRs valued like a RB in the NFL?
YaGottaBelieveAgain: Well he obviously couldn’t get that much or he would have, don’t you think?
Seriously, nobody’s that stupid.
“he carries a career 6.66 ERA..”
(Insert creepy music here)
Iron Maiden’s Number Of The Beast
Came to the comments for the devil pitcher
He did win a WS ring even after the Dodgers threw him out like yesterday’s garbage when another shiny toy purchase came along
Good depth piece. Cant play him everyday but valuable as a backup. I like what dc is doing with their lineup. Pitching remains a work in progress and arguably at least a year behind in their development.
Low cost infield backup who hits lefties well. Could sub him in for Garcia or Tena (assuming he is the starting 3B come April) vs a tough LHP.
Is he a Padres with a name similar to the Spanish word for rice?
Arraez has a career .372 OBP. I don’t know why people hate on him.
Stat boys love the long ball.
Arraez isn’t that good? Come on dude. Who cares if he doesn’t hit home runs or gets more than 70 RBIs? He’s a 1 or 2-hole hitter who gets the offense going. Who cares if he doesn’t walk if his career OBP is .372? Next you’re gonna tell me Mark Reynolds and Rob Deer are exemplars of what a hitter should be.
Well you were telling me that Arraez isn’t good because he isn’t a power guy so I thought maybe you held players like Reynolds or Deer up on a pedestal. I’m being facetious of course. A hitter can be valuable in ways other than hitting home runs. I shouldn’t have to clarify that. And once again, as many others have to reiterate on here, WAR isn’t the end all be all. Dave Parker just got in with a 40 WAR I think it was. WAR is a pretty decent statistic but it’s flawed. It’s another reason you can’t completely rely on a stat sheet to value a player. You need to watch Arraez. Is his defense that atrocious the he loses all value as a hitter? Are his .300 avg and .340 obp just fools gold? That’s something your eyes will tell you, not WAR.
You’re going around in circles. I told you what I thought wrong with your argument. Just because his OBP was .340 and not .380, does that make him a bad hitter? No obviously. Again, watch Arraez for yourself and then come back to me. And his stats speak for themselves so I don’t get why you’re sour against him. I’m guessing it stems back to his 1 WAR. Anyway, we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one. I wish you a fun baseball season.
As a Nats fan, I was afraid they would make this move. Blech, on many levels.
I’m good with it. Every team needs a utility guy they’re ok with sitting on the bench for long stretches but who can slot in anywhere as needed.
Doesn’t really make sense to sign Alex Bregman with several legitimate prospects in the upper minors. But what they really need is to pony up for some top line pitching.
You’ve been pondering and worrying that the Nats would sign Amed Rosario? Nats fan mindset, I suppose. He has his limitations, but he has been a good ballplayer. And he’s costing them nearly nothing. It’s going to be all right.
Rosario news is an unpleasant reminder of the randomized idiocy of Cohen playing at GM before Stearns arrived.
Under Cohen’s direction the Mets dealt Andres Giminez, Rosario, and two minor leaguers to Cleveland for the pleasure of one year of Lindor’s company, 2021, To make the ‘splash’ Cohen was desperate to get as the new owner of the New York Mets he then bid against himself to get Lindor on a 10-year extension,. 10/341m, and 11/363 overall.
Lindor’s been great. Giminez and Rosario were vastly better, now just better on the field, but at 15% of the price.
2021-2024:
Giminez + Rosario in CLE = 23.5 bWAR for $17m.
Lindor w/ the NYM = 21.5 bWAR for $124m.
Cleveland also signed Giminez to a 5-year extension at $20m / year for his age 25-30 seasons plus a team option for age 31, making the deal worth as much as $6/120m for 2025-2030.
As a full-time player from 2022-2024 Giminez was worth 16.7 bWAR. 90% of Lindor’s value for less than 10% of :Lindor’s salary.
And the Mets will be eating 7 years of Lindor’s decline phase, 2025-2031, 7/$239m.
Remember that while you’re watching the decline phase of Juan Soto, another Cohen “splash.”
If you’re a Mets fan you love Stevie Cohen’s beautiful money after years of the Coupons.
If you’re actually a Mets fan you’re disgusted by Cohen’s incompetence and how two of his first three years owning the team would have fit right in among the Wilpons’ most repugnant seasons.
A GM fired for sexting and for harassing a female reporter, another GM fired for passing out apparently driving drunk while heading home from a team party, yet another GM banned from baseball for a year for cheating using the IL. Is there a record like it in MLB?
The ‘thumbs-down’ fiasco of 2021. Cohen unable to get a competent GM to work for him until his fourth year and having to settle for Billy Eppler in year three while the most expensive team in MLB history won all of 75 games.. Cohen chaotically playing GM and running the Mets into the ground by 2023.
What a ridiculous figure.
As a NYM fan the whole Wilpon area wasn’t that bad. They did make some poor FA signings.
The 2006 era with Beltran, Wright, Reyes, Delgado was their best chance. Just not good enough pitching, tough losing to WS Champions StL in 7 games. Madoff disaster effected them for more than 5 plus years. They probably should have known better. Like a pre crypto too good to be true Golden Goose
The Lindor trade was a win for both teams, but only because the Mets were able to extend Lindor….which is a story for another time.
But as it stood, it was a massive win for Cleveland.
One year of Lindor plus three years of Carlos Carrasco for 2.5 years of Rosario and 6 years of Gimenez. The two prospects Cleveland also recieved do not look like they will ever amount to anything
Cleveland shed $38 mil of Carrasco plus $22 mil of Lindor…$60 mil. Over their tenures in Cleveland, Rosario cost about $14 mil and Gimenez about $9 mil. Gimenez was then traded for what ended up being five years of a legit starting pitcher in Luis Ortiz, two SP prospects and an OF prospect.
The Mets recieved about 300 IP of well below average production (77 ERA+ and a 5.21 ERA) from Carrasco plus one sub par year from Lindor. The Guards got two somewhat above average years out of Rosario, and four years of elite defense from Gimenez, in one of which he was also outstanding with the bat.
A ‘win’ for both teams because the Mets paid 10 times the value they would have received vis-a-vis salary had they simply stood pat, played Giminez, and spent that $30m AAV on an ace.
Giminez + Ace >>>>> Lindor