Nationals Claim Ken Waldichuk, Designate George Soriano For Assignment

The Nationals have claimed left-hander Ken Waldichuk off waivers from the Rays, according to announcements from both clubs. Tampa had designated him for assignment a few days ago to make room for infielder Ben Williamson, acquired as part of the three-team trade headlined by Brendan Donovan. To open a spot for Waldichuk today, the Nats have designated right-hander George Soriano for assignment.

Waldichuk, 28, was once a notable prospect but his stock is down. When his stock was high, the Yankees traded him to the Athletics as part of the Frankie Montas deal. Over 2021 and 2022, between those two clubs, he tossed 205 minor league innings with a 2.94 earned run average, 35.3% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate. Baseball America ranked him as Oakland’s #5 prospect going into 2023.

He got a lengthy run in the majors in 2023 but posted a 5.36 ERA. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2024 and part of his 2025. When he returned last summer, the A’s sent him to the minors, where he put up an 8.65 ERA in 51 Triple-A innings.

That performance has pushed him into the DFA carousel but teams clearly still have some faith in a bounceback. The A’s designated him for assignment in December when they acquired Jeff McNeil. He was claimed by Atlanta, who later designated him for assignment and traded him to the Rays for cash.

The Nats may try to pass him through waivers later but they would be a good landing spot for him if he can hang onto a roster spot. Their rotation has very little certainty, especially now that MacKenzie Gore has been traded to the Rangers. They project to have a largely unproven group consisting of Josiah Gray, Cade Cavalli, Foster Griffin, Brad Lord, Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker and others. Waldichuk still has options and could be sent to Triple-A as depth while the Nats experiment with the guys in that group.

Soriano, 27 in March, spent his entire career with the Marlins until recently. He tossed 118 innings for Miami over the past three seasons with a 5.95 ERA. He exhausted his three option seasons in that time, which nudged him onto the DFA carousel.

Teams are clearly still intrigued, despite the lack of major league success thus far. That’s probably because he is coming off a strong season in the minors. He threw 42 2/3 Triple-A innings last year with a 2.32 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate, 8.8% walk rate and 55.7% ground ball rate. Since the end of last season, he has gone from Miami to Baltimore, Atlanta and Washington via the waiver wire.

Since he’s out of options, those teams have tried to get him through waivers to become non-roster depth. He has less than three years of service time and doesn’t have a previous career outright, so he wouldn’t have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of electing free agency. The Nats can take as long as five days to explore trade interest before putting him on the wire but could be motivated to do so sooner. The 60-day injured list opens up next week, which will provide teams greater flexibility for fringe roster moves.

Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images