TODAY: The Nationals announced that they have requested unconditional release waivers on Lowe.
AUGUST 14: The Nationals announced Thursday that they’ve designated first baseman Nathaniel Lowe for assignment. He’ll be the corresponding move to open an active roster spot for Dylan Crews, whose previously reported reinstatement from the 60-day injured list is now official.
It’s an unexpected end to what’ll go down as a lackluster tenure with the Nats for Lowe, whom Washington acquired from the Rangers over the winter. The Nats sent lefty Robert Garcia to Texas in hopes that Lowe, who came to D.C. with two years of club control remaining, could be a multi-year option providing middle-of-the-order punch to a young lineup. It hasn’t gone as hoped, to say the least.
Lowe, 30, was a steady source of production with the Rangers from 2021-24, hitting .274/.359/.432 (124 wRC+) with 78 home runs — including a career-high 27 round-trippers back in 2022. He hasn’t come anywhere near that level of production with the Nationals. In 490 plate appearances, he’s batted just .216/.292/.373 with a 26.5% strikeout rate that stands as the highest of his career in a full season. Lowe’s 9.6% walk rate is better than average but still the second-lowest of his career and a ways shy of the 11.3% clip he recorded during that four-year peak with the Rangers.
Lowe hit a grand slam yesterday, his first homer since July 19, but that was just his third hit in the month of August despite regular playing time. He hasn’t had a multi-hit game since July 18 and is batting only .167/.271/.294 in his past 36 games (144 plate appearances). The home run yesterday was a big hit but not enough for Lowe to save his job with the Nats.
The Nationals likely explored potential deals for Lowe prior to the trade deadline, but his ongoing slump and fairly hefty $10.3MM salary would’ve served as significant impediments to finding a deal. With the deadline now behind them, the Nats will have no recourse other than to place Lowe on outright waivers or release waivers. At this point, that’s little more than a paper distinction. Lowe crossed five years of major league service time less than a month into the season, meaning he can reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency and still retain the remainder of that guarantee as he heads to the open market.
All 29 other teams will have the opportunity to claim Lowe, but in light of his immense struggles, it’s hard to see another team claiming the remaining $2.49MM on his contract. If Lowe passes through waivers unclaimed, he’ll become a free agent who can sign with any team. A new team would only owe him the prorated portion of the league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster. The Nationals will remain on the hook for the rest of his salary.
If Lowe can catch on elsewhere and return to form, he’d technically remain under club control with that new team through 2026. However, he’d be due a (small) raise on that $10.3MM salary, so he’d need to make quite the impression in the final few weeks of the season in order to convince a new club that he’s worthy of an $11MM+ expenditure. The Nationals were clearly going to non-tender him — they wouldn’t have made this move if not — and in all likelihood Lowe will be a free agent in search of rebound opportunities this winter.
The Nats have up to five days to place Lowe on waivers. If they wait the maximum amount of time, that guaranteed salary will drop slightly, to about $2.2MM, but it’s still unlikely that another club would claim that sum.
With Lowe out the door in D.C., the Nats can give increased first base reps to a resurgent Josh Bell, which would free up the DH spot to rotate several young players. Alternative options at first bae in the upper minors include Juan Yepez, Yohandy Morales and Trey Lipscomb, though of that trio only Lipscomb is on the 40-man roster — and both Yepez and Morales have struggled in Triple-A.
Was wondering if they would do a radical move and they did. Was the right one.
Right move for both parties, I actually think part of the reason they did this was so he could compete for a playoff team
what playoff team would want him?
A Triple-A playoff team might need a 1B/DH.
Might be a good platoon with Vaughn in MLW.
Guy has a career 116 OPS, is only 29 and a former GG winner. Heck, he hasn’t even been that bad this year with 16 HR’s and a 88OPS+…but ya what team would want him??
880OPS+ is very different from .880OPS, which is also untrue because it’s currently .665
Cleveland cut jones or santanta
hyrax, he said 88 OPS+ which is accurate
Yeah, he’s been bad. An 88 OPS+ isn’t good at first base. People on here were questioning why the Rangers only got a reliever back for him. Now they know.
But he apparently thinks that’s a good OPS+, when it’s actually 12 percent below league average.
I don’t think playoff teams would care much about what he did two years ago when trying to win a World Series.
I think he was saying it’s not a total disaster. 4 very good games would have made him average but it never happened.
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The Nats were just being Cruel To Be Kind to Nate Lowe, alllowing him a chance to redeem himself this season.
Now he’ll take his Noise To Go act (“whoosh”, that’s a swing and a miss) to another city and see if he can get another hit single ( or otherwise).
I read that w/ “Cruel to be kind” playing in my head
Thinking any team would be happy having Nathaniel Lowe manning lst against righties. Still great defense also.
He has had a terrible season on defense and he came in fat and out of shape.
Not any team in their right mind
why didn’t they trade him two weeks ago? cutting him before cutting Bell? did he punch the manager in the face?
I guess Bell has not been too bad the last couple months.
Lowe has 16 homers and 68 RBIs. That’s much better than Bell. If this were June, Bell would be gone. Also, Lowe is a stellar glove guy. I understand why this happened, but Lowe was good early, and his production has been second on the team to James Wood.
Lowe’s 66 RBIS are meaningless because he had a favorable slot in the lineup for most of the year. Bell has been much better for months now. $11MM is way too much for Lowe’s current performance next season. Ryan Mountcastle may find himself NT’d as well.
Your argument is RBI’s? Thats not even a real measurement of a good hitter. Lowe has a .660 OPS, .292 OBP neg WAR Vs Bell with a .720 OPS , .329 OBP and + WAR. I’ll take Bell, thanks though.
68 RBI while regularly batting behind CJ Abrams and James Wood, who have combined for a .345 OBP and 41 stolen bases this year.
GGG
“Lowe has 16 homers and 68 RBIs. That’s much better than Bell”
Lowe has 225 PA’s with runners on
Bell has 170 PA’s with runners on
You think Lowe has more RBI because he’s better?
I think it’s because he’s had more opportunities
Your assessment may be correct, but at what cost?
If RBI’s aren’t a thing then BA or OPS with runners in scoring position shouldn’t be a thing. There are people who are good at hitting homeruns with runners on base and there guys who seem to only show their prestigious power in garbage time with nobody on base. For instance in Juan Soto’s case, 22 of his 28 homeruns are solo shots. Now that’s not really torching the ball when it counts the most. It’s Anti-Clutch.
ISoab
“If RBI’s aren’t a thing then BA or OPS with runners in scoring position shouldn’t be a thing. ”
RBI are definitely a thing
So’s batting average
And so is OPS with RISP
All things. Just not very good things for measuring how talented a player is.
“There are people who are good at hitting homeruns with runners on base and there guys who seem to only show their prestigious power in garbage time with nobody on base.”
This definitely happens. But, like above, that doesn’t mean it’s any good for measuring how good a player is.
People, maybe those who don’t watch baseball, or, more likely those who do and maybe even think the “eye test” is the way to evaluate players, too often confuse hitting with runners on and being clutch.
As if a walk-off solo homerun is less clutch than a grand slam when you’re up by 4.
“For instance in Juan Soto’s case, 22 of his 28 homeruns are solo shots. Now that’s not really torching the ball when it counts the most. It’s Anti-Clutch.”
Soto wRC+ by leverage
Low 175
Med 114
High 110
He hasn’t performed his best in the biggest moments this year, no.
Soto wRC+ career
Low 167
Med 147
High 131
You can see, like with nearly every player ever, with more PA (a larger sample size) the disparity starts to even out.
Players might not be clutch over a certain sample. That’s not the same as them not being clutch.
Yes. The Mets would be in better shape if Soto had performed better in high leverage spots. He has in the past and from this moment forward he most likely will.
Ha ha. Well, I have watched both of them all year with tremendous frustration. I’ve been lobbying for putting James Wood at first becuz that’s probably where he is headed eventually. And I thought Bell was going to be DFA’d a month ago. On July 2, he was batting .195. He is one of the reasons the Nats suck. As for Lowe, he is not a cleanup hitter or a marquee power hitter, but he was unfortunately placed in that role. All things considered, he was doing what he could, and no one else was driving in runs. He was in a better situation with the Rangers. Unless he has completely just lost it all, I imagine he could help someone if used properly.
Goose Goslin Guy is evaluating player performance like they did back when Goose Goslin played. Before all these durned metrics reared their ugly head.
Well said, Juan Uribe.
A rbi total is not a good measurement because it depends on other players.
Okay just as a thought exercise, if RBI mean nothing, then using a randomized 9-man batting lineup every night should have no effect on a team or it’s scoring capability. It doesn’t matter who bats 4th. It doesn’t matter who bats 1st. It could be a different, random player every night. True or False?
Isoab
False. Of course
Batting order does matter – some.
Let’s try a different thought experiment.
First, Put your 3 best OBP hitters in front of your best hitter.
And put your 3 worst OBP hitters in front of your worst hitter.
Give them half a season worth of games and see how many RBI they have
Then
Put your 3 best OBP hitters in front of worst hitter.
Put your 3 worst OBP hitters in front of your best hitter.
What will happen to their RBI totals?
The bad hitter will get more RBI with the good hitters in front of them and the good hitter will get fewer RBI with the bad hitters in front of them.
This isn’t because the quality of the hitters is being changed. Just the opportunity to drive in runs has changed.
RBI isn’t 100% meaningless. Given the same situation, better hitters will drive in more runs. But the situation makes a huge difference. RBI isn’t measuring just the hitter.
As I posted above
““Lowe has 16 homers and 68 RBIs. That’s much better than Bell”
Lowe has 225 PA’s with runners on
Bell has 170 PA’s with runners on”
Lowe doesn’t have more RBI than Bell because he’s better. He has more RBI because he’s had more opportunities.
Which of these two hitters is better? It’s not a hard question
V: .260/.320/.448, 80 RBI 108 wRC+
O: .282/.390/.626, 80 RBI 173 wRC+
RBI tells you that they are equal (or that V is better since he has 43 fewer trips to the plate than O).
If, for a second, you think V is better than O, or close to being equal to O, you’re, quite frankly, a fool.
O has 200 PA with runners on. He has hit .297/.435/.633 in those PA’s
V has hit .261/.328/.453 with runners on.
In what world is his production anywhere close to O’s production?
***What do you think that RBI is telling us here that the triple slash isn’t?***
The only reason that their RBI totals are similar is because V has 67 more trips (fully 33% more) to the plate with runners on than O.
If you want to foolishly think that Vinny Pasquatino is having a better (or similar) hitting season than Ohtani, go for it.
JazzHands, thank you for taking the time. I appreciate it.
He had minimal if not negative trade value and any team that might think they can fix him after a change of scenery and can give him playing time didn’t really have any incentive to give up assets in trade when they could just wait for a dfa or sign him cheaply after a probable non tender in the offseason.
brocnessmonster: How do you know they didn’t try but find no interest? They’re not stupid.
The jury is really out on that one. They know enough to trade him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they asked too much.
He has negative trade value. Asking anything is too much. The real question is whether they were offering enough to get him out the door.
The team that traded for him last fired their manager and office head.
They almost assuredly tried. No trade market for a 1B’man hitting 12% below a league-average hitter and significantly below a league-average 1B’man and with a high contract.
The Mariners almost certainly called and asked about Lowe before they dealt for Naylor.
I doubt it.
Asking is not the same as making an actual trade proposal. I’m pretty sure teams asked about Goldy too as the Yankees have Belli and Rice who both can play first.
The Nats should have just stuck with Juan Yepez.
Yepez was advertised as Albert pujols but played more like justin smoak
“Yepez was advertised”..Ding..Ding..ding..+10 pts for an obscure Justin Smoak reference.
He reminds me more of Albert Brooks
Who didn’t love Justin Smoak, he’s a really solid baseball player
I would agree but Yepez has been awful at Rochester.
…….and the Nationals are 48-72. There wouldn’t have been much harm is staying with the younger, cheaper player.
Yepez is on the Minor League IL, so he’s not an option right now. I agree he’d have been just as bad as Lowe, but he’s hardly an answer. He’s 27, and his stats say “career minor leaguer.”
The Nats outrighted him off the 40-man in June. They clearly don’t think he’s got a future.
The fact that the Nats haven’t finished above .500 since before Covid says they’ve been wrong before.
It seemed like yepez could have really flourished, he could really hit for a while there
Twins need to jump on this. We quite literally don’t have a first baseman.
Probably not going to happen…Too much money for small production. But yes we definitely need a 1B.
He’ll most definitely go unclaimed and then they can sign him at minimum
Pirates should grab him. He’d be their best hitter. But he costs money so no dice
88 OPS+. Even with how bad the Pirates’ line-up is he wouldn’t even be top 5 among Pirates players on their roster with 250+ plate appearances this year. Plus Horwitz is hitting .273/.344/.399 since the start of June. He’s be a massive downgrade at 1B.
Huh? He has 68 RBIs and is a stellar glove man at 1B. The Pirates’ top RBI guys are Reynolds (61) and Cruz (51).
You guys way overvalue RBI’s. They are mostly a result of batting order and positive game situations. He has a .660 OPS which would put him the 8th best batter among qualified Pirate hitters. Hes awful this year.
Spencer Horwitz has also been fantastic with the glove at first base. He’s made some great plays, and the stats back up his on-field performance. You cannot say the same about Lowe this year. Most of Lowe’s plate appearances have come in the 3rd, 4th, or 5th slot in the batting order, with C.J. Abrams getting nearly all the starts as the leadoff man, and James Wood mostly serving as the Nat’s 2nd or 3rd hitter in the line-up. Do you truly believe that Lowe would have the same RBI opportunities batting 3rd or 4th in the Pirates’ line-up, or 3rd/4th behind CJ Abrams and James Wood?
I know how the metrics work. But before the bad slump that lost him his job, Lowe was driving in more runs than anyone on the team but Wood. He was on pace for 93 RBIs. His BA and OBP sucked, but 93 RBIs is a productive number and would’ve been a career high — and there are a lot of guys who get by with a lousy BA/OBP so long as they are producing runs. Lowe just stopped making contact. But also, the Nats are a very bad team. He was never going to be the slugger they needed. He’s a complementary player. Can’t imagine he won’t catch on somewhere.
Career 116 OPS+ and only 29…seems like a strong candidate for a progression to his mean.
Maybe, but why take away playing time from Spencer Horwitz after he’s been solid and has progressed nicely from wrist surgery from Feburary the last two months?
It does scream Pirates move, after he clears.
I feel like he’s going to join a team in the race with a murky bench situation. Cincinnati could make some sense. Their 1B options are hitting a collective .215/.273/.366 this season. His numbers aren’t much better than that, but it could be a good change of scenery option for him. Just not sure there’s room on that bench for him.
Hell no.
He’s a career AL guy that switched to the NL. Pitchers almost always have the advantage when that happens. Reds don’t need him.
I can see a reunion with the Rangers though. Their 1B situation suuuuucks.
Traditionally, the league switch favored the pitcher. However with so much video and data on players available to teams today plus interleague play, I do wonder if that’s true now.
It does, just not as bad as Cincinnati’s.
Also, the data suggests that switching leagues does not dramatically affect performance, but the small outcome one way is actually the opposite of what you’re stating: a switch from the AL to the NL statistically increases players’ offensive numbers, particularly with HR, where they’ve seen a historical 1.5 point increase in HR:FB rate. BABIP also increases about .005 points with a move from the AL to the NL. I think my reasoning of too crowded of a bench is a much, much bigger hindrance to joining Cincy than league.
@yeasties- I would be curious about that, too. In my reply to trf, I cited some data that shows hitters actually benefit from a move to the NL from the AL. Would need to look deeper into it to see the data range though.
Lowe is a good complementary player. He won his ring with the ’23 Rangers, who had other bats to carry them. But he fields better than almost every other 1B, and until this year his BA was very respectable. And he CAN hit homers and drive in runs. The Nats had him batting cleanup a lot, and that is not where he fits.
Today the teams play against every team in baseball every year. Changing leagues is meaningless now. You guys will come up with any ridiculous argument to defend a bad and declining player.
That is a Pirates move. Do it right for less, start at Lowe’s contract.
Pirates would just dfa him end of season. They aren’t interested. And he can sign with anyone so he won’t be interested.
Best hitter, LOL!
Why? Pirates don’t need him to get in the way the rest of the season. They still shield Horowitz vs lefties, which somewhat bothers me, but would rather see Peguero get the playing time.
And if Lowe does well, you can’t tender him a contract that’s a raise from 10m. That would be way too much for a platoon 1b.
Sad to see Lowe go as a Rangers fan, but I guess we’ve won the Robert Garcia trade for now.
Hard to say anyone who watches Robert Garcia pitch has won anything, except for his opponents
Rangers won Garcia trade the day it was made just like I said. Rangers fans were crying they traded a silver slugger away!!!!!! Now you have Garcia and can just claim Lowe or better yet sign him for minimum wage.
Did we? Lots of Blown Save homers lately…
Garcia is struggling in August, but he is still a left-handed reliever who has pitched good for the most part of the season with decent upside and an entire season away from arbitration.
He’s still more valuable than Lowe.
Clofreesz: Why would you feel that way? This just means another guy will get a shot.
You did.
I feel like he hated it in DC. Cant blame him with how the organization has been run.
You must have never seen his interviews with Kolko and other Nats broadcasters. He seemed very happy to be in DC, at least early on. They expected too much of him. He isn’t Vlad Guerrero, but ironically he currently has 1 more RBI than Vlad Guerrero! Okay, he’s not Vinnie Pasquantino. He’s a slick-gloved 1B who usually has a decent BA and can drive in runs from the #6 or #7 hole.
He should loved them. They traded 5 years of a real nice lefty reliever for his expensive declining as.
What’s up with the RBI obsession gramps?
Lowe is 160th out of 161 qualified players in WAR.. He seemingly didnt want to play in DC the moment he was dealt (cant blame him)
He will probably go and be Steve Pearce for someone this postseason.
Clubhouse issue?
“Seemingly”? This is not borne out by his on-camera appearances. He slid badly the last month. Until then, he was, and still is, the team’s 2d best RBI guy.
Perhaps Lowe is the Eddie Haskell of MLB.
“My what lovely shades you’re wearing today, Skip. Then he calls him Agnes and Gertrude behind his back
If he was Nathaniel High he would has stayed
If he has to stay, many prefer he was Nathaniel Highe.
Nathaniel Highe would end up going to Colorado for sure.
Could be a new Lowe for any team that picks him up.
Was productive too recently not to give him a shot.
He will get a shot elsewhere. GG and SS.
A lot teams need a 1B.
What teams?
Miami, Reds, Giants, maybe Rangers.
Miami Giants are out of playoff picture. Giants have someone called Devers at 1b. Rest of season is good time to find out if he can handle it for next year. Rangers maybe are as well. Rangers since they know him and refuse to give up on season maybe maybe. Rangers might be best fit only fit.
Red’s I don’t know what they have at 1b. He makes real $ and under 700 ops so it has to be pretty bad to want him.
Rockies
He’ll be out of the majors within a year or two.
Boston makes sense
A Sox fan should know that they have much better 1B depth than Lowe already. They have two young phenoms in Campbell and “The Password” Garcia who are both currently *DEMOLISHING* AAA pitching. Campbell has taken to 1B really well defensively (and now LF too), and Garcia has been taking daily reps there in practice. Both will almost certainly be on the roster Sept 1st, and Toro’s days are already numbered with a chance of being cut before then.
Bringing in Lowe amidst an awful season over internal talent that already has great chemistry with a lot of the major league roster could be very detrimental to their playoff push!
Campbell’s stats look good but he isn’t hitting the ball hard and he’s still K’ing on inside fasballs. Garcia hasn’t played a single game at 1B… even if he is called up… Lowe would be a PERFECT platoon. with either Garcia or Romy… He’s literally THE improvement over Toro the team needs NOW. Thanks Toro you were great when they really needed you but now the sub .200 BA last 2 months needs to be replaced
They’ll be just fine without Lowe.
seems like I was right
C’mon Breslow, you need this
Over red hot Campbell or Garcia in AAA? Lowe would be such a downgrade over their young phenom internal options. Toro is gone within 2 weeks don’t worry.
Campbell isn’t “red hot” as much as I like him hes just got inflated BABIP right now. needs to fix things still. Garcia intriguing but has swing and miss and has literally never played 1B… yet
Paging Mr Breslow
Hope that page says “ignore that bum Lowe and call up the young potential super stars”
Gotta disagree there. Lowe is a GG 1B w a decent track record. Won a WS w TEX. I’d take him over a fading Toro all day. Platoon him w Romy. Definite upgrade.
Decent track record doesn’t mean squat when you’re a declining and over the hill first baseman who never had much power to begin with.
That’s 100% not true right now… to be fair Toro was amazing for a couple months when they needed him but hes been a sub .200 hitter for months now. Lowe is legitimately a 1B (defensively) and is still hitting rhp well with a great track record before this year, only 29, and currently being dragged by unlucky BABIP. I do think if you get him you still platoon Romy with him at least for now assuming Mayer comes back and Romy isn’t needed more at 2B
I assume he will latch on with a contender, likely Boston, but the Yankees kinda need a 1B now with Goldschmidt going down with a knee injury.
Yankees have Rice and Bellinger that can handle First Base if Goldschmidt has to miss time
Oh and both are LH bats.
As is Lowe
He should be part of the lawfirm in Tampa. Lowe, Lowe, and Lowe
Would join his bro.
REM approved content.
just trade Lowe to whoever is playing the Dodgers next, he’s guaranteed to have an offensive explosion in that series, then release him, rinse and repeat.
Decent buy low option for somebody. I was a little surprised to see him DFA’d with the extra year of control but that salary probably makes it a wise decision. A change of scenery could do him well.
Concur. I could see him being despondent about being traded from a contender to a…. rebuilder? That could/would affect his output. Moving to a competitive team could flip the switch back on.
If he makes it through waivers to the Red Sox Breslow should grab him to replace Toro as Romy’s platoon partner at 1B
Are his numbers any better than Toro’s? I wouldn’t want to affect the mojo without a material improvement.
Lowe vs. RHP: .235/.312/.421 in 337 PAs
Toro vs. RHP: .242/.297/.393 in 195 PAs
Quite close, but Toro also went wild earlier in the season. Not really a needle mover I suppose; I’d rather see Campbell or Garcia get the opportunity ultimately than either of them.
Lowe has 68 RBIs. Everybody seem to overlook that stat. It ain’t nothin’.
A Ruthian 68 RBIs
68 RBIs is actually good enough for 36th best in the league, which is far north of what I would’ve guessed Lowe’s ranking on the RBI leaderboard would be.
You keep Toro and get rid of the 3rd Catcher that is wasting a roster spot right now
Wong still has options, so I’m not sure why he’s still on the MLB team honestly.
Because he knows the pitching staff and has been good defensively this year…. hitting is coming around a little as well.
Rsox was talking about Ali Sanchez, @MeowMeow
Interesting move by Nats. Sure to be picked up after he clears, maybe by his old team.
Yankees fans, meet your opening day 1st baseman for the 2026 season.
Well pederson/burger experiment isn’t working and they blew the luxury tax, rangers might as well try a reunion
Tellez is doing ok for them right now
Hes hitting .220 and 3 for last 15
They haven’t exceeded the lux tax threshold.
I read that somewhere yesterday. I dont see how they didnt. They were supposedly 4m under before the deadline, and they added salary without subtracting any but they’re still 4m under
Rays please get him so you can have Lowe Lowe Lowe…
Good riddance. We’ve watched a lot of bad baseball here in DC the past 5 years but he was absolutely pathetic to watch on a daily basis.
Yes his conditioning and effort was not professional level
Are we talking about his pot belly?
Nope just his RBIs.
68 RBIs ain’t nothin’ to sneeze at, ya know.
The batters eye in Nats park is very unusual, and also has some funky shadows that seem linger a bit differently than any other park in MLB. He’s slightly better hitting on the road this year, about double the RBIs, but it’s safe to say he hasn’t been able to adjust. I do think he is a major league talent, 2-3 WAR player for 5 straight seasons is very good, and he’s won a gold glove. I think he will be able to turn it around elsewhere.
He will come around. Players have bad years or even multiple ones and they come back.
Harper, Soto, Turner, Rendon and Schwarber, amongst others, didn’t have any problem with Nats Park’s batting eye. Lots of visiting hitters don’t either.
Melky Cabrera and Roman Laureano both took steroids, why didn’t they hit home runs like Mark McGwire and Raphael Palmerio?
You see how stupid that sounds?
No. Please explain. Minimum 2500 words.
Geez, now they’re bringing out the battery’s eye excuse. What WILL they come up with next?
As far as individual players go on this team Lowe has been the biggest disappointment. Still you could say the nats are cashing out “Lowe” by cutting him now.
Does anyone else think there are way more of these cases (guy randomly loses 35 pts on his wRC+ by switching teams in the prime of his career, or vice-versa) these days than there used to be? I sure do. It strongly suggests that some teams are (legally or not) giving players more assistance than others.
I do not.
I love a ridiculous conspiracy theory, but No. Just no!
I don’t think there are more than there were in the past.
But I do think some teams are much better at maximizing the performance of their players..
Oh FFS
Red sox on line 1
…and yet…he’s tied for 17th in the NL for RBIs. I thought MLB front offices liked their RBI guys to bat .216!
What’s the generation before boomers?
The Goose Goslin Generation
I’d prefer him to any more of Abraham Toro.
But…he might not be an improvement…
Can’t believe how far I had to scroll before seeing the first Red Sox post. And whoever said platoon with Vaughn in MKE, hard pass from a Brewers fan. I like the idea, but you just can’t mess with the mojo right now.
Right.
Former ranger?
Aj Preller. Both Arraez and O Hearn are free agents meaning 1B/DH needs filled next year. I assume Sheets will get the opportunity to fill 1 of them and I can see them taking a flier in Lowe to fill the other.
A.J. loves former Rangers, though it’s usually guys that were around when he was the assistant GM.
I have seen people wanting Boston to pick up a First Baseman.Maybe he would hit in Fenway.I guess they aren’t happy with Romy
Gonzales and Toro?
Dylan Crews any relation to the Mission impossible dude
Tim Crews?
Mission Impossible: Duck!!
Normally, you’d holler, too soon! But its been a minute. Like its okay to make Aaron Burr jokes
Not surprised. This was an awful trade when they did it, born out of the Lerner family’s refusal to spend money.
The Nats don’t have a legitimate MLB 1B in the entire system. Yohandy Morales is a hit over power college hitter who’s been awful at AAA, seemingly because he’s trying to “sell out” for power (12 of his 19 minor league HR have been hit in 283 PA at AAA Harrisburg this season.) Power often comes later for hitters, but Morales isn’t a HS kid they drafted. They took him in the 2nd round in 2023. He’ll be 24 in October.
Yepez is on the minor league IL and has only played in 62 games this year across two levels, so his injury may be significant.
He’s a 27 yr. old who’s been awful at Rochester this year, .202/.274/.301 in 47 games. He’s another hit over power guy, and he’s already 27. The Nats clearly don’t think he has a future because they outrighted him off the 40-man in June.
Lipscomb is a jack of all trades and master of none. However, the Nats 1B situation is so bad that he probably would have started at 1B without the stupid Lowe trade in spring training….and the Bell signing because nobody else wanted him (or Finnegan.)
Given that other than Gore pre-AS break, and Lord, (who doesn’t K anybody enough to be more than a 4-5 at best) all of the Nats pitchers have regressed, there’s another 100+ loss season in 2026 while selling a “rebuild” stuck in neutral because of horrible ownership, and Crews likely not living up to the hype.
This hurts to read but I don’t find much wrong here.
I suspect NH’s assessment is overly negative re Crews but accurate about the extent to which the Lerner’s have hampered the team. But I think the team is better than they’ve looked overall this year, too. They need better established veterans than Bell to build around tho.
Hey dclivejazz, is Alice’s in Brookland still open? I haven’t live in dc for a couple years
What I wrote about Crews was more negative than it should have been. Obviously, he’s nowhere near “bust” territory or anything like that. He hasn’t played enough MLB games for that criticism to be valid, or fair.
He’s clearly still learning, and the fact that he got better after his miserable April IMO shows that he’s willing to put in the work to improve. That’s important.
I think I saw him either in his first or 2nd game with the FredNats. IIRC, they won on a walkoff. The 1st guy out of the dugout to celebrate the winning run was Crews. I’ve actually been a fan of his since I saw that.
IMO, Crews probably doesn’t “live up to the hype” in the sense that he may have too much swing and miss to his game to be a .280-.290 hitter, and may not develop the power to be a 35-40 hr. hitter. His speed is an asset.
In no way is a .250-.260 25 HR 15 SB a year hitter bad, especially in today’s game. I just meant that he’s probably not going to develop into the “generational talent” kind of player Nats fans all dreamed we were getting with the #2 pick…in other words, he’s not Bryce Harper or Juan Soto, who should still be in DC.
The Lerners are going to actually have to spend some money to build a good team around Wood, Gore, Crews and Brady House. They’re not going to be able to win games depending on just a few top prospects achieving 100% of what everybody dreamed they’d be, and dumpster diving everywhere else.
Much of what you said is accurate. I would say it’s a horrible trade because it didn’t work out, but really…losing Garcia doesn’t really move the needle much. They could just as easily lose 100 games with or without. So much hope was pinned on Crews. If he flames out or is just mediocre, they will be mired in a rebuild for the next five years.
White Sox should consider him. Vaughn would never have broken out for them like he has for the Brewers, Elko didn’t work, and their other options aren’t primary 1B. Worth a shot on the league minimum.
Looks like the guy he was traded for was having a decent season, great compared to Lowes output lol
will be rooting for him wherever he lands
Mariners have the same problem with Mitch Garver, who had a solid career in Texas…. Until he came to play for Seattle. Looks like a trend.
Looks like it’s a disappointing year for first basemen all round.
and I guess it supports why teams have been so reluctant to give money to slugging 1B’s
I posted sort of this same sentiment earlier this season. I’m 49, and been a baseball fan since I became an O’s fan after my family moved to the DC area in 1983.
1B is definitely not what it was when I was a kid. When I posted my question/comment earlier this season, I was reminded about an article Tim Kurkjian wrote for ESPN back in March. IMO anyway, Kurkjian’s brilliant.
espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/44107916/mlb-2025-first-ba…
The article makes several good points. (Also, I think it’s awesome Pat Tabler plays fantasy baseball 😂)
FWIW, if this is cyclical, I think it’s going to be a long cycle. The A’s and Brewers using high picks on 1B like Nick Kurtz and and Blake Burke (taken at #34 overall last year) are major outliers. In the 2025 draft, the Brewers took 1B/3B Andrew Fischer out of Tennessee with the #20 pick, and immediately put him at 3B when he got to Wisconsin in the Midwest League. The first “1B-specific” prospect wasn’t taken until St. Louis picked Jack Gurevich out of Univ. of San Diego in the 3rd round. LSU 1B Jared Jones, projected to go in the 4th round, fell all the way to the Pirates with the #263 pick in the 9th round.
If MLB teams aren’t drafting 1B with high picks (and paying them accordingly) what’s the incentive for kid who dreams of making it to MLB to concentrate on being a 1B? MLB teams are basically telling kids to develop their body and skills so they can play other positions, and “maybe we’ll put you at 1B if you fail everywhere else.”..if you can play defense.
Wow, that was a lose-lose for both teams with those players. Garcia sucks.
Might Boston give him a look?
Starting to doubt it is he really better option than toro, romy , Campbell or the password?
Diamondbacks? They traded Naylor and Lowe does have a year of control
Buy High, Sell LOWE.
Dbacks pick him up, he hit .290 with 10 bombs the rest of this year at dh. He will hit .272 next year with 21 HR by AS break and the Dbacks trade him to the Yankees for 2 Pitching prospects.
AI?
What the Phillies should do with 1 for the 21st century Castellanos
I’m genuinely shocked Lowe had such a bad season.
Considering his age and track history he’ll be a bounce back candidate on somebody’s camp next March. Could make some GM look pretty smart if he does get back to normal.
Boy, this reminds me of the JD Davis love-fest in the comments in spring of 2024 when he was released by the Giants. He’s not even in the majors now, and Lowe will soon be following in his footsteps.
A Lowe point in his career
There has to be something going on behind the scenes. He’s known for being overweight. Is he late to the ballpark, team meetings or flights? If so, why? Fans, understandably, aren’t privy to this information. But a guess is with the Release, that there’s something more than what is purely happening on the field….
After the trade deadline, teams should be required to place DFA’d player on waivers immediately. DFA limbo serves no purpose when you can’t make a trade.
mfb
“teams should be required to place DFA’d player on waivers immediately”
What problem does this address?
Before the deadline, DFA “limbo” is a period when the player could be traded. They aren’t on their old team’s roster but that team has a chance to trade them before putting them on waiver. After the deadline, limbo is just down time. There is nothing the team can do with them until they are put on waivers. It’s not a problem per se. Perhaps the problem is that they lose up to a week of playing time rather than just the two days or being on the waiver wire. For players who can reject an outright assignment, I suspect but don’t know for certain that their agent isn’t supposed to talk to potential new teams until they have cleared waivers. Right now, teams as a courtesy may immediately place the player on waivers. Holding them in DFA limbo only serves to delay them moving on, whether to a new team or outright to the minors.. It’s a very minor issue that probably should be cleaned up in the next CBA. I can’t image the league or the union would object..