6:15pm: Chafin’s contract with the Nationals guarantees him $1MM, according to Spencer Nusbaum of the Washington Post.
5:45pm: The Nationals announced that they have signed left-hander Andrew Chafin to a one-year major league deal. Fellow lefty Colin Poche has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. Chafin was with the Tigers on a minor league deal but had an opt-out in that pact. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that Chafin was signing with the Nats prior to the official announcement.
Chafin, 35 next month, is a veteran with over a decade of solid relief work. He has logged 508 1/3 innings for various clubs, allowing 3.42 earned runs per nine. He has struck out 25.9% of batters faced, given out walks at a 10% clip and kept the ball on the ground at a 48.1% pace. He had a strong performance in 2024, with a 3.51 ERA between the Tigers and Rangers. His 12.6% walk rate was quite high but he also bumped his strikeout rate up to 28.5%.
Despite those good numbers, he lingered unsigned through the winter and somewhat surprisingly had to settle for a minor league deal with Detroit in late February. It still seemed like the Tigers would add him to the roster at the end of camp but that didn’t come to pass.
Chafin was an Article XX(b) free agent this winter, which is any player with at least six years of major league service who finished the previous season on a major league roster or injured list. Such players get uniform opt-out dates on minor league deals, provided they sign more than ten days prior to Opening Day. The opt-outs are five days prior to Opening Day, May 1st and June 1st.
Though he didn’t break camp with the club, Chafin decided to report to Triple-A Toledo. He put up great numbers for that club, tossing 12 2/3 innings with a 2.13 ERA, 31.5% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate and 51.6% ground ball rate. That’s obviously a small sample of work but, as mentioned, Chafin also has a lengthy résumé of big league success.
Despite that strong performance, the Tigers never called him up. They are seemingly content with their lefty relievers Tyler Holton, Brant Hurter and Sean Guenther. Chafin apparently triggered his opt-out and landed with a club that has a greater need for his services. The Nationals have used Poche and Jose A. Ferrer as their southpaw relievers this year, with disastrous results so far. Poche has an 11.42 ERA through 8 2/3 innings, with Ferrer at 7.36 through 14 2/3.
The Nats aren’t really expected to contend this year, currently sporting a record of 13-18. Regardless, Chafin can give them a veteran lefty presence in the bullpen for now. If he performs well for the next few months, they will be able to trade him for a prospect or two at the deadline.
Poche should end up on waivers in the coming days. As mentioned, he has had a rough start to the season. He has walked 12 batters faced already, an awful rate of 26.1%. Given those struggles, he’s likely to clear. He had to settle for a minor league deal in the offseason and obviously hasn’t improved his stock since cracking Washington’s Opening Day roster.
He will likely be able to find a minor league deal somewhere based on his previous track record. With the Rays from 2022 to 2024, he tossed 156 2/3 innings with a 3.27 ERA, 24.5% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate.
Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig, Imagn Images
Nats will be after pretty much every reliever who is released.
Didn’t even hear of him opting out
Today was his first opt out date. I’m sure his agent had teams lined up on advance if Detroit didn’t promote him to the 26 man.
He could have opted out on opening day, 1 May, and 1 June. He opted to report to AAA Toledo at he start of the season.
Detroit released him.
No, he opted out, Tigers3232. Certain transaction wires may word it as “Tigers released Chafin from his contract” or something to that effect, but that’s all just technicality, as Chafin had a MLB offer and told the team he was opting out to sign it.
The Tigers are going to regret playing the games they did with him and should have just promoted him instead of Lee last week. Bummer!!!!
Tigers didn’t play games. They gave him a shot and he was lower on depth chart than other relievers. This is a result of Tigers brass finally building strong depth. This is a good thing
Don’t need 4 lefties in the bullpen. Guenther has been better
I don’t see it that way. I saw that the Tigers gave him a chance to build his value in his home state of Ohio, after nobody showed interest in him. They really did right by him.
Chafin can’t hold a lead for the Nats. Allowing baserunners to score almost every outing. His ERA is OK. The runs he is allowing aren’t his.
They are hoping Grissom and the guy with the hard name starting with a b come up soon. I suppose Lucas Sims figures he is next.
Brieba already has been u, he’s on IL. I’m assuming that’s who u r referring to and I likely botched spelling.
Brzykcy is the nationals reliever with the hard name. Should have been clearer about what team I was referring to.
They still have Jason Foley at AAA, Brieske coming off DL this weekend and Brebbia shortly after that for RH relievers. Theg currently have 3 LH relievers on the club as well, one more than Hinch has carried in the past. Bullpen depth isn’t an issue for the Tigers.
Too bad. I like Chafin and was looking firward to him being called up. Fun player.
Great hair!
Did a great job for Detroit but Tigers are more interested in younger players. Good luck in Washington.
Has Robertson signed yet? Come back to New York Houdini
Is it really Andrew Chafin? Or is he operating under his assumed identity, Grant Holmes?!
Sad.
Sad Illich didn’t hire the Superfife!
The left handed Kenny Powers keeps on chugging.
Poche left Tampa and completely forgot how to pitch. Still as a lefty someone will give him a chance
Cardinals or rays should get him. Great with the rays, but he’ll be better with the cards
Sad that the Tigers didn’t find room for him. He was fun to watch and hilarious in all of his interviews. He laid out in the outfield grass and philosophized during the solar eclipse a couple years ago. Classic Chafin.
I like Chafin but he wasn’t ready to pitch at the end of ST. Tigers would have brought him up eventually, but other guys were doing better.
Tigers handled it correctly.
Holten , Guenther and Hurter are doing great and they all have options left. We all like Chafin but his spot on the 40 man would have bumped someone.
This worked out for both sides. Hope he does well in DC
Chafin has not done too well in Washington. Tigers knew.