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Nationals Place Nick Senzel On Release Waivers

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The Nationals announced this morning that they’ve placed Nick Senzel on unconditional release waivers. Any team that claims him would assume the remainder of his $2MM salary. It’s likelier he’ll go unclaimed and become a free agent.

Washington had five days to find a trade partner after designating the third baseman for assignment last Saturday. That didn’t come to fruition, making a release the likely outcome. Senzel entered the season with four years and 150 days of service time. He surpassed the five-year mark in April, thereby earning the right to decline any assignments to the minor leagues without forfeiting salary. Since Senzel would likely have elected free agency in lieu of an outright assignment to Triple-A, the Nats simply released him.

The Nationals took a flier on the former #2 overall pick last offseason. Senzel never developed into the offensive force that the Reds envisioned when they drafted him so highly. That’s in part because of injury, as the University of Tennessee product missed time because of knee and toe issues. Even when healthy, Senzel turned in middling offensive numbers. He combined for a .239/.302/.368 line in nearly 1400 plate appearances with Cincinnati.

The Reds opted not to tender him an arbitration contract. The Nationals, still at the tail end of their rebuild, guaranteed him $2MM in hopes that a change of scenery could unlock some of the upside he showed in college and in the minors. The Nats also committed to moving Senzel back to his natural third base position after the Reds had bounced him around the diamond in recent years.

Senzel continued to struggle in his new home. He opened the season on the injured list after breaking his thumb in Spring Training. Senzel returned in mid-April and blasted five home runs over his first couple weeks of the season. His production tailed off almost immediately thereafter. Since the start of May, he’s hitting .207/.309/.299 in 188 plate appearances. That wasn’t going to translate to any kind of trade interest.

Washington is giving rookie Trey Lipscomb an audition at third base after moving on from Senzel. The 24-year-old has struggled to a .228/.293/.257 slash line over his first 43 MLB contests. The Nats have dropped 10 games under .500 and are quickly falling from the Wild Card race, though, so they’ve taken the past couple weeks to get looks at younger players. Washington also released Eddie Rosario in conjunction with the promotion of top outfield prospect James Wood.

Once he clears release waivers, Senzel might need to take a minor league contract. If he secures a spot on the MLB roster with another team, that club would only owe him the prorated portion of the $740K minimum for time spent in the majors. The Nationals remain on the hook for the rest of his salary.

MLBTR Podcast: Brewers’ Pitching Needs, Marlins Rumors And The Nats Prepare To Sell

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Who gets traded from the Blue Jays at the deadline? (27:55)
  • What will the Mariners do to take advantage on their stellar rotation and make a run for their first World Series appearance? Also, should the Mariners trade J.P. Crawford for a proven hitter? (33:30)
  • Do you think there’s a chance the Braves make Max Fried a legitimate offer to keep him this winter? (39:00)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Nationals Preparing To Be Deadline Sellers

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The Nationals have been on the periphery of the postseason picture for much of the season but are preparing to approach the trade deadline as a seller, per Ken Rosenthal, Katie Woo and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Washington will be open to offers both on potential free agents and players signed/controlled for only one additional season, per the report. The Nats’ group of impending free agents include outfielder Jesse Winker, lefty Patrick Corbin, righty reliever Dylan Floro, struggling slugger Joey Gallo and the currently injured Trevor Williams. Of even more interest will be outfielder Lane Thomas, setup man Hunter Harvey and closer Kyle Finnegan, each of whom is controlled through the 2025 season via arbitration.

The vibe in D.C. is high at the moment following the debut of top-ranked prospect James Wood and the All-Star selection of shortstop CJ Abrams. But Washington has dropped 11 of its past 15 games to fall seven under .500. At 16.5 games back in the NL East, there’s no hope of surging back to the front of the division, and in the Wild Card chase, the Nats are 5.5 games back of the third spot with six teams to pass in order to get into the fray.

The Nationals are already three years into a rebuilding process that kicked off in 2021 with trades of Max Scherzer, Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber (among many others) and continued into the summer of 2022 with the deadline blockbuster that shipped Juan Soto to San Diego in exchange for a package of five young players headlined by Abrams, Wood and current staff leader MacKenzie Gore. Selling off some short-term pieces at this year’s deadline isn’t a sign that said plan has faltered or a setback necessarily; for much of the season, the Nats appeared ahead of schedule but are now settling into the type of position most expected them to occupy heading into the 2024 campaign.

Among Washington’s slate of rental players, Winker stands as the most productive healthy option. He’s back in vintage form after a pair of seasons ruined by knee and neck injuries that both required surgery in the 2022-23 offseason. In 337 trips to the plate, the former Reds, Brewers and Mariners outfielder is hitting .268/.382/.436 with ten home runs and a career-high 12 steals. Winker’s 13.6% walk rate is more than five percentage points ahead of the league average, and he’s striking out at a manageable 22.3% clip.

Winker has long had platoon issues, but the Nats have given him 80 plate appearances against southpaws this season and he’s held his own, hitting .250/.344/.363. It should be noted that his small-sample production against lefties is aided by a bulky .358 average on balls in play and comes in spite of a huge 29% strikeout rate (10 points higher than his mark against righties). Winker probably can’t be expected to continue his output against lefties, but he’s punishing righties just as he always has when healthy: .275/.397/.465 with nine of his 10 home runs and six of his 17 doubles. Winker signed a minor league deal with a $2MM base salary, making him an ultra-affordable option for any team seeking a quality left-handed bat to add to its DH/outfield mix.

Floro, 33, is in the midst of a nice rebound season. He’s on a one-year, $2.25MM deal and has produced 43 2/3 innings of 2.06 ERA ball. His 20.5% strikeout rate is a couple percentage points shy of average, but his 6.4% walk rate is a couple points better than par. Floro sports a strong 50.4% grounder rate as well. However, he’s yet to allow even one home run this season, and it’s not sustainable for any pitcher to see every single one of his fly-balls stay in the park. Metrics like SIERA (3.50) and xFIP (3.45), which normalize homer-to-flyball rate, view Floro as a solid arm but not the dominant force his raw ERA might suggest. He should still draw plenty of interest as an affordable veteran with some track record.

Corbin’s $35MM salary is going to nullify any trade interest unless the Nats are willing to pay down almost the entire sum. The first season of his six-year, $140MM contract with the Nats went beautifully, as Corbin helped lead a deep rotation and stepped up as a key postseason arm en route to Washington’s Cinderella World Series run. He’s posted a 5.60 ERA since, including a 5.49 mark in 100 frames this year.

That said, the veteran has been pitching well of late. Corbin sports a 4.53 ERA dating back to Memorial Day weekend and has delivered a 3.81 ERA in 28 1/3 frames over his past five starts. A team just looking for some veteran innings in the five spot could look at Corbin as a cheap solution if the Nats eat most or all of the remaining salary.

If healthy, Williams might stand as the clearest and most coveted rental piece the Nats have to offer. He made 11 starts, and though he was averaging just five frames per appearances, Williams logged a pristine 2.22 ERA with a solid 21% strikeout rate and 7.1% walk rate. As with Floro, he’s been extremely fortunate with home runs (just two in 56 2/3 frames), and a solid but unspectacular K-BB profile points to some ERA regression if that home run trend doesn’t continue. But Williams is in the second season of a two-year, $13MM contract and would be an affordable rotation option. He’s been out since early June with a strained muscle in his forearm.

Also on the injured list is Gallo, who was struggling at career-worst levels prior to a hamstring strain. He’s hitting .164/.285/.321 with a glaring 43% strikeout rate and five homers in 165 plate appearances. Between that line and Gallo’s injury, it’s hard to envision any trade value even if he’s healthy enough to return before July 30. He’s more a DFA candidate than a trade candidate.

Looking to the Nationals’ more controllable pieces, Thomas and the bullpen duo of Finnegan and Harvey will draw wide-reaching interest. A deal for Thomas could be difficult to line up, depending on how the Nats price him. At last year’s deadline, Washington was valuing Thomas as an everyday outfielder, whereas many other clubs were viewing him more as a potential platoon piece.

That perception from other clubs won’t be different in 2024. Thomas has never hit righties much but is slashing a dismal .208/.262/.343 against them in 2024. Conversely, he’s always hit well against southpaws and is even better than his career line in 2024, hitting .338/.407/.563. Thomas is an absolute menace to southpaw pitchers, and he’s perhaps deceptively fast. Statcast ranks him in the 94th percentile of MLB players in average sprint speed, and Thomas has already swiped 21 bags — though he’s also been caught seven times. He’s making $5.45MM this season and will be owed one more raise in arbitration this winter before hitting free agency post-2025.

Both Finnegan and Harvey are on track for free agency in the 2025-26 offseason as well. Finnegan has saved 23 games and posted a tidy 2.17 ERA in 37 1/3 frames. He’s averaged a hefty 97.4 mph on his heater while recording a 26.5% strikeout rate, 8.2% walk rate and 42.7% ground-ball rate. After a rough start in terms of his command, Finnegan has reined in the walks, yielding only a 5.8% rate over his past 32 innings.

Harvey was arguably even more appealing for much of the season, though a recent rough patch could have altered that. His $2.325MM salary is less than half Finnegan’s $5.1MM mark, he throws even harder, and his strikeout/walk/ground-ball rates were the better of the two for the bulk of the current campaign.

Some recent struggles have ballooned Harvey’s ERA to 4.40 — more than two runs higher than the 2.08 mark he carried into the month of June. He’s been tagged for 14 runs in his past 12 2/3 innings. In that time, he’s walked 9.1% of his opponents (more than double his rate over the first two months) and been tagged for a grisly 2.13 homers per nine frames. For a pitcher with a lengthy injury history — Harvey still has just 166 2/3 career innings despite debuting in 2019 — that could be a particular concern among bullpen-needy clubs. But the affordable salary, extra year of control, 98.1 mph average heater and K-BB profile should all generate interest.

One other name to consider is journeyman righty Derek Law, who’s posted a 3.35 ERA in 53 2/3 innings of relief already and is controllable through 2025. Law has fanned 21.2% of opponents against a 6.2% walk rate but has been wildly inconsistent dating back to his 2016 debut campaign. He’s earning $1.5MM this season and could be a sensible middle-innings arm for a team looking at low-cost means of deepening the ’pen.

Nationals Designate Nick Senzel For Assignment

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The Nationals announced that third baseman Nick Senzel has been designated for assignment.  Infielder Trey Lipscomb was called back up from Triple-A Rochester in the corresponding move.

It is the second time this week that the Nats have DFA’ed one of their veteran pickups from the offseason, as Eddie Rosario was designated and subsequently released (and then quickly signed by the Braves, his former team).  Rosario’s minor league deal carried a $2MM base salary once he was selected to the Nationals’ active roster, and likewise, Senzel signed a guaranteed one-year, $2MM contract with Washington over the winter.  If Senzel isn’t claimed or traded during his DFA period and then released, the Nationals will be responsible for the roughly $950K still owed to Senzel, apart from the prorated minimum MLB salary that would be covered by a new team if Senzel signs elsewhere.

The financial element of today’s move is probably secondary to the bigger-aspect of the Nationals pulling the cord early on a veteran player rather than looking to move Senzel in a trade closer to the deadline.  As with Rosario, it seems like Washington just opted to move on entirely since Senzel wasn’t producing enough to generate much trade interest.  Senzel has hit .209/.303/.359 with seven home runs over 235 plate appearances, translating to a below-average 90 wRC+.  Apart from an excellent 11.5% walk rate, Senzel wasn’t bringing much to the table either offensively or defensively as the Nats’ regular third baseman, and he had only 0.1 fWAR over 64 games.

As has often been the case for Senzel, health was a factor.  He suffered a fractured thumb right at the end of Spring Training that required a season-opening stint on the 10-day injured list, and though the fracture was slight enough that he missed less than three weeks of action, it is easy to imagine how any kind of lingering thumb discomfort might’ve impacted Senzel’s performance at the plate.

This is essentially the story of Senzel’s career, as a wide range of injuries has kept him off the field for long stretches of time, to say nothing of how his ceiling as a talent has been lowered.  Selected second overall by the Reds in the 2016 draft, Senzel battled injuries and a number of position changes over his first five MLB seasons, and he hit only .239/.302/.369 in 1366 PA for Cincinnati from 2019-23.  The Reds then non-tendered him last fall, sending Senzel to free agency and for what he hoped was a welcome change of scenery in Washington.

While the Nationals’ 41-47 record still puts them on the outskirts of the NL wild card race, 2024 was always seen as another step in the team’s rebuilding process, as the Nats were looking for more development from their youngsters already on the active roster and those just on their way into the Show for the first time.  Star outfield prospect James Wood made his MLB debut this past week in the wake of Rosario’s departure, Victor Robles’ release last month created more time for Jacob Young as the regular center fielder, Joey Meneses was optioned to Triple-A to make more room for Juan Yepez at first base.  Lipscomb should be the favorite for the third base job with Senzel out, though top prospect Brady House is the team’s longer-term third baseman of the future.

Impending free agents Jesse Winker and Dylan Floro remain as two of the Nationals’ likeliest veteran trade chips heading into the July 30th deadline.  Such players as outfielder Lane Thomas and relievers Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan have also reportedly drawn interest, and while that trio is all arbitration-controlled through the 2025 campaign, one would image the Nats would be open to listening to offers as they look towards reinforcing their core.

Nationals Select Juan Yepez

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July 5: The Nats have made it official, announcing that they have selected Yepez and transferred Gray to the 60-day IL.

July 4: The Nationals are planning to promote Juan Yepez, according to Andrew Golden of The Washington Post. The first baseman signed a minor league contract with the team this past December.

Yepez signed with the Braves as an international free agent in 2014, and three years later, the Braves traded him to the Cardinals in exchange for Matt Adams. Another five years after that, Yepez made his MLB debut with St. Louis in 2022, appearing in 76 games, hitting 12 home runs, and producing a 107 wRC+. He went 2-for-5 with another long ball in the playoffs, driving in two of the three runs the Cardinals managed to score against the Phillies in the Wild Card Series.

Despite his strong first impression, Yepez failed to make the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster in 2023. He hit poorly in spring training (60 wRC+), poorly at Triple-A (82 wRC+), and poorly during a few brief stints with the big league squad throughout the season (51 wRC+). St. Louis non-tendered him after the year.

The Nationals took a chance on Yepez this past winter, signing him to a minor league deal and issuing the 26-year-old an invitation to spring training. He did not make the major league roster out of camp, but the righty batter had a much better spring this time around, slashing .382/.405/.559 and striking out only once in 37 trips to the plate. His Triple-A stats aren’t quite as impressive, but he has continued to limit his strikeouts, and his numbers are much better across the board than they were last season. He has been hot over his last 14 games, going 21-for-54 (.389) with a 1.070 OPS and 178 wRC+.

Washington optioned first baseman/designated hitter Joey Meneses to Triple-A Rochester earlier today. Meneses has struggled all season, slashing .235/.294./.310 (72 wRC+), and evidently, the goodwill he earned with the Nationals during his breakout 2022 season has finally run out. He hit poorly last season as well (96 wRC+), but his numbers this season are significantly worse. Meneses ranks among the bottom five qualified hitters in OPS and wRC+.

Presumably, Yepez will see most of his playing time at first base. The Nationals will hope he can provide some of the right-handed thump they were looking to get from Meneses. With Joey Gallo on the injured list and Harold Ramírez hitting pretty much just as poorly as Meneses, Washington doesn’t have a ton of other options at first. Yepez also played the corner outfield with the Cardinals, but he has not played the outfield this year at Triple-A. More to the point, the Nationals don’t need any help in the outfield, with Lane Thomas, James Wood, Jacob Young, and Jesse Winker on the roster.

The Nationals did not immediately replace Meneses on the active roster, so there is an open spot for Yepez on the 26-man roster. However, the team will need to make a corresponding transaction to add Yepez to the 40-man. The most straightforward move would be to transfer Josiah Gray from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL. Gray has already missed significantly more than 60 days nursing an elbow injury.

Nationals Option Joey Meneses

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The Nationals announced that first baseman Joey Meneses has been optioned to Triple-A Rochester after today’s game. Additionally, outfielder Eddie Rosario has cleared unconditional release waivers and is now a free agent. The corresponding move for Meneses has not been announced yet.

Meneses, 32, will head to the minors for the first time in almost two years. The rebuilding Nats cleared out some lineup space at the 2022 deadline, trading away Juan Soto, Josh Bell and Ehire Adrianza.

They selected Meneses to the roster at that time. He had always hit well in the minors but was a 30-year-old with no major league experience and the transaction was largely buried, with Meneses expected to simply play out the string on a lost season.

But Meneses went on to demolish major league pitching in his debut. He got into 56 games as 2022 was winding down, crushing 13 home runs in that time. He slashed .324/.367/.563 for a wRC+ of 157.

Though it was a magical couple of months, he hasn’t been able to carry it forward. He added another 13 homers last year, but in a fair larger sample of 154 games. His .275/.321/.401 batting line in 2023 wasn’t disastrous, translating to a 96 wRC+, but he doesn’t offer much else. He’s not a burner on the basepaths and isn’t considered a strong defender at first base or in an outfield corner. Here in 2024, the results have been even worse. He has just three long balls so far and is slashing .235/.294/.310 for a wRC+ of 72.

The Nats have clearly decided that it’s time to move on, but they will need to figure out how to cover first base now. Harold Ramírez could be an option but he’s also considered a poor defender and isn’t hitting much this year either. Joey Gallo got a bunch of at-bats there earlier in the season but he’s on the injured list with a hamstring strain and it doesn’t appear his return is imminent. Jesse Winker has never played first in the majors but has a small amount of experience there in the minors. Trey Lipscomb is on the 40-man but he’s more of a glove-first utility guy. Juan Yepez is in Triple-A on a minor league deal and not on the 40-man at present. The open market features players like José Abreu and Mike Ford, though they were let go due to their own struggles.

From a service time point of view, Meneses came into this season with one year and 65 days, putting him 107 shy of the two-year mark. Today is the 99th day of the 2024 season, meaning he’s still just under that two-year line. He’ll still have a chance to cross it if he comes back up at any point, but he’ll likely need to produce more offense in the next few weeks in order for that to come to fruition.

As for Rosario, it was reported yesterday that the club had requested release waivers on him. No other club was going to claim him, given that he’s making $2MM this year while having slashed .183/.226/.329. Now that he’s a free agent, he’ll be free to sign with any other club. That signing club would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, which would be subtracted from what the Nats owe him.

Nationals Request Release Waivers On Eddie Rosario

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The Nationals announced Wednesday that they’ve requested unconditional release waivers on outfielder Eddie Rosario, who was designated for assignment earlier in the week when top prospect James Wood was called up to the majors. Once Rosario and the remainder of his $2MM base salary officially clear, he’ll become a free agent who can sign with any team. A new club would only owe Rosario the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster or injured list.

Rosario, 32, is a former 30-homer slugger whose bat has declined substantially over the past four seasons. He had a brief and memorable surge with the 2021 Braves after being acquired from Cleveland in a salary-dump trade — .271/.330/.573 down the stretch, plus NLCS MVP honors after going 14-for-25 with three homers — his overall offensive output dating back to 2021 has been sub-par. In 1433 trips to the plate between Cleveland, Atlanta and Washington, he’s batted just .235/.283/.403 (85 wRC+) with increasing strikeout troubles.

The 2024 season has been particularly tough. Rosario posted a strong .253/.319/.530 performance in the month of May, but that’s been bookended by two of the worst months of his career from an offensive standpoint. Overall, he’s hitting just .183/.226/.329 with the Nats, making it a foregone conclusion that he’ll pass through release waivers and become a free agent.

Rosario was a productive everyday outfielder with the Twins from 2017-20, hitting .281/.317/.493 and belting 96 home runs in 2002 plate appearances, but it’s been quite some time since he’s produced near that level over a sample of any meaningful note. Another club will likely take a flier on the veteran’s left-handed bat with another minor league contract, but he’ll probably have to play his way back to the big leagues with a strong showing in Triple-A.

MLBTR Podcast: The Rays Could Deal Starters, Garrett Crochet, James Wood And Free Agent Power Rankings

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

* This podcast was recorded on the evening of July 2, before the Rays traded Aaron Civale to the Brewers.

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • What are the Astros going to do at the deadline? (42:15)
  • The Rangers are terrible but are World Series champions for the first time. Can they sell even if it’s the best thing for the team? (46:50)
  • Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris says the club could buy or sell. What do the final months of the season look like in Detroit? (54:30)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Josiah Gray Headed For Further Testing With Elbow Discomfort

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The Nationals are dealing with a worrisome situation regarding one of their top pitchers. Josiah Gray told reporters that he came out of his most recent rehab start with elbow discomfort and fatigue (X link via Andrew Golden of the Washington Post). He’ll head for additional testing. Manager Dave Martinez indicated they’ll hold off on that imaging until around the All-Star Break (relayed on X by The Post’s Spencer Nusbaum).

Gray has been on the injured list since the second week of the season. He went on the shelf on April 9 with what the team called a forearm strain. The right-hander has missed nearly three months but appeared to be nearing a return. He’d begun a rehab assignment on June 9 and has made five starts in the minors in recent weeks. Gray was likely ticketed for one final rehab outing next weekend before rejoining the MLB rotation.

Those plans are on hold as the Nats hope for encouraging test results. Even if testing doesn’t reveal any kind of structural damage, the club will assuredly be very cautious in building Gray’s throwing program back up. Gray likened the discomfort to the soreness he initially felt in April, raising the possibility of another extended absence.

This clearly hasn’t been the desired follow-up to the righty’s first All-Star season. Gray turned in a 3.91 earned run average while logging 159 innings (second on the team behind Patrick Corbin’s 180 frames) a year ago. While Gray’s production tailed off down the stretch, it was a generally encouraging season for the former top prospect.

The Nats have patched together a reasonably productive rotation despite absences to both Gray and Trevor Williams, who hasn’t pitched in over a month because of a muscle strain in his forearm. Washington ranks 12th with a 3.90 ERA from its starters. They’re in the bottom third of the league with a 21.3% strikeout rate but have generally shown decent control and done a solid job keeping the ball on the ground.

MacKenzie Gore has turned in a 3.47 ERA with a strong 27.2% strikeout rate in the best season of his young career. Jake Irvin and rookie Mitchell Parker have each managed an earned run average in the low-3.00s despite middling strikeout numbers. Parker, in particular, has shown surprisingly strong control after struggling with walks throughout his minor league days. DJ Herz, who stepped into the rotation since Williams went down, has been inconsistent but has flashed bat-missing ability through his first five MLB starts.

Corbin is on his way to his fourth consecutive season allowing more than five earned runs per nine. The veteran southpaw was better in June than he’d been through the first couple months, though he still posted a 4.71 ERA in 28 2/3 innings. His rotation spot might have been in jeopardy if Gray were healthy, but he figures to get a longer leash after the latter’s setback.

The Nationals have dropped seven of their last 10 and fallen towards the back of the group of mid-level teams in the National League. They’re 39-45, tied with the Reds and narrowly ahead of the Cubs but behind five teams for the NL’s last Wild Card spot.

While it doesn’t seem they’ll put themselves in position to acquire impactful rotation help at the deadline, they’ll at least have the opportunity to play their way into buying. They’re amidst a three-game series with the Mets. After that, they’ll take on the Cardinals, Mets, Brewers, Reds, Padres and St. Louis again before kicking off a set with the D-Backs heading into the deadline. Apart from Milwaukee, all those teams are jumbled in the Wild Card mix.

Nationals Promote James Wood, Designate Eddie Rosario For Assignment

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The Nationals have made top prospect James Wood’s previously reported promotion to the major leagues official, formally announcing the selection of his contract from Triple-A Rochester. In a corresponding move, veteran outfielder Eddie Rosario has been designated for assignment.

Wood’s promotion to the majors was reported last Friday, and MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald broke down the vaunted outfielder’s impending ascension to the majors at the time. The 21-year-old had laid waste to upper-minors pitching this season, delivering an outrageous .353/.463/.595 slash with 10 homers, 16 doubles and nearly as many walks (40) as strikeouts (42). Wood has drawn a free pass in a massive 17.3% of his trips to the plate and chipped in a 10-for-11 showing in stolen base attempts as well.

A second-round pick of the Padres back in 2021, Wood has elevated his status to the point that he’s widely regarded as the top yet-to-debut prospect in the sport. Baseball America and MLB.com both rank him as the game’s No. 3 prospect, but the players ahead of him between those two lists (Paul Skenes, Jackson Holliday, Junior Caminero) have all reached the majors at least briefly. Based on the timing of his promotion, Wood will now be under team control through at least the 2030 season and won’t be eligible for arbitration until the 2027-28 offseason.

Wood now joins top Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore and shortstop CJ Abrams as potential core pieces acquired by the Nationals in the blockbuster trade that sent Juan Soto to San Diego two summers ago. The Nats still have minor league outfielder Robert Hassell III and minor league lefty Jarlin Susana working their way through the system as well. Neither is viewed as having the type of ceiling Wood, Abrams and Gore have already shown, but Hassell is still just 22 and reached Double-A this year, while the 20-year-old Susana is in his second season at Low-A. Both players could yet reach the big leagues in the next few years.

Turning to the 32-year-old Rosario, he’s long been seen as a potential casualty of Wood’s big league promotion. The former Twins, Braves and Guardians outfielder signed a minor league deal with a $2MM base salary during spring training and made the team’s Opening Day roster despite a poor showing in nine spring contests. Rosario had an awful first month of the season (.088/.137/.162 through the end of April), followed by a blistering May (.253/.319/.530) before falling into another major swoon (.191/.200/.250 in June).

Overall, Rosario’s time with the Nats will draw to a close with a .183/.226/.329 batting line. That’s 46% worse than league-average production, by measure of wRC+ (54). Rosario’s 5.5% walk rate was his lowest since 2019, while his 23% strikeout rate is roughly in line with the 2022-23 rates he showed in Atlanta (but a far cry from the 16.1% mark he turned in from 2017-21).

The Braves acquired Rosario in a 2021 salary-dump deal with Cleveland and immediately saw him go on a magical run down the stretch, slashing .271/.330/.573 with seven homers in 106 plate appearances. He went on to deliver a legendary 14-for-25 performance with three home runs during the National League Championship Series, taking home NLCS MVP honors in the process, before slumping in the World Series.

Rosario’s late surge with Atlanta prompted the team to re-sign him on a two-year, $18MM contract that proved regrettable. He hit .212/.259/.328 in his first season of that contract, and while Rosario bounced back with 21 homers in 2023, his overall batting line was effectively league average (100 wRC+) while his defense continued to receive lackluster grades. Rosario was a productive everyday outfielder with the Twins from 2017-20 but in four seasons since that time he’s turned in a .236/.283/.403 batting line with poor defense and mounting strikeout rates.

The Nats will have five days to trade Rosario, release him or place him on outright waivers, though a veteran with Rosario’s service time would surely just reject an outright assignment to Triple-A anyhow. It’s unlikely that any team would claim even the modest remainder on Rosario’s contract. The likeliest outcome is a release, at which point Rosario will be free to sign with any team. A new club could owe him only the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster. That sum would be subtracted from what the Nats still owe him, but Washington will be on the hook for the majority of his contract at this point.

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