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A.J. Minter To Undergo Season-Ending Lat Surgery

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A.J. Minter has been lost for the season, as manager Carlos Mendoza tells reporters (including Mike Puma of The New York Post) that the southpaw will undergo surgery to repair a torn lat next Monday. The Mets revealed last week that surgery was under consideration. Minter understandably attempted to exhaust other options over the past few days, but he unfortunately won’t be able to avoid going under the knife.

Mendoza also provided an update on designated hitter Jesse Winker, who landed on the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique strain this evening. Winker was diagnosed with a Grade 2 strain — one of moderate severity — and will be down for six-to-eight weeks (via Abbey Mastracco of The New York Daily News).

It’s the second consecutive injury-shortened season for Minter. The veteran reliever underwent surgery to address a left hip issue last August, ending his final year as a member of the Braves. He reached free agency for the first time over the winter. New York signed him to a surprisingly strong two-year, $22MM contract that included an opt-out after the first season. They gambled that Minter would return to form as an above-average setup man after a healthy offseason.

The early returns were encouraging. Minter couldn’t have performed much better over his first 13 outings. He allowed only two runs on six hits and five walks through 11 innings. Minter fanned 15 and recorded seven holds without surrendering a lead. He was Mendoza’s most trusted option from the left side.

Minter has been an excellent reliever throughout his career. He combined for a 3.28 ERA while striking out more than 29% of opposing hitters over parts of eight seasons with Atlanta. Minter had topped 50 innings each season between 2021-23 before dealing with significant injuries over the past two years.

New York had relied on Minter and Danny Young as their only left-handers through the first month. Both pitchers are now done for the year, as Young required Tommy John surgery over the weekend. The Mets selected the hard-throwing but erratic Génesis Cabrera to give Mendoza at least one southpaw in the bullpen. Cabrera is miscast as the top lefty on a contender, making that an area the Mets are sure to monitor over the coming weeks.

Minter is making $11MM this season. He’ll surely exercise the matching player option and hope for a healthier second year in Queens. He’s already on the 60-day injured list, as New York transferred him over when they selected Cabrera’s contract last week.

Winker may eventually end up there as well, as he’s expected to miss close to two months after tweaking his oblique in yesterday’s loss to St. Louis. He suffered the injury on a throw in a rare outfield appearance. Winker has been the Mets designated hitter against right-handed pitching. That may now fall to Brett Baty, who was recalled in the corresponding move for his IL placement. Baty was optioned a few weeks ago when Jeff McNeil returned from the IL, limiting his path to playing time at second base. Baty had just a .204/.246/.352 line over 58 plate appearances before his demotion. He’d been ice cold to begin the season but had begun to swing the bat well just before McNeil’s activation.

Mets Place Jesse Winker On 10-Day IL With Oblique Strain

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May 5: The Mets placed Winker on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain. Brett Baty was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to take his spot on the active roster.

May 4: Jesse Winker was removed during the fourth inning of today’s 6-5 Mets loss to the Cardinals when Winker hurt his right side after a making a throw from left field.  Attempting to throw out Brendan Donovan at home during a third-inning sacrifice fly, Winker told reporters (including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo) postgame that he “felt it pretty much right when I threw the ball.”  Winker finished the rest of the inning, but was replaced before the Mets’ next turn in the field.

An MRI revealed oblique damage, and Winker will head back to New York for more testing on Monday.  An official placement for Winker on the 10-day injured list is sure to follow before the Mets take the field tomorrow in Phoenix to start a series against the Diamondbacks.  Oblique injuries have an uncertain timeline even if a player is dealing with a minor strain, and a more severe strain could put Winker out for months or even put his season in jeopardy.

Sunday marked Winker’s first start of the season in the outfield, and only his second non-DH appearance in 24 total appearances in 2025.  Because the Mets were playing a doubleheader against the Cardinals, the team had to stretch the roster a bit more than usual, leading to Winker’s start in left field in the first game, and Starling Marte’s first appearance in the outfield all season when he was the starting right fielder for the second game.

Getting hurt during that rare outfield outing just adds to the misfortune of Winker’s situation, and his absence will remove a key left-handed bat from New York’s roster.  Winker and Marte have covered the designated hitter at-bats in a lefty/right platoon, so as DiComo notes, the Mets might be able to fill Winker’s spot by cycling multiple players through the DH spot.  Such left-handed hitting options as Jared Young, Jon Singleton, Donovan Walton, or Billy McKinney are at Triple-A as potential call-ups — Young is the only member of that group who is on the 40-man roster, but the Mets could open up another 40-man spot by moving Jose Siri to the 60-day IL.

Winker is off to an okay but unspectacular start in 2025, producing a 104 wRC+ from a .239/.321/.418 slash line over 78 plate appearances.  Initially acquired as a trade deadline rental from the Nationals last July, Winker hit decently well during the rest of the regular season and then had a monstrous 1.168 OPS over 32 PA during the Mets’ playoff run.  The Mets liked what they saw from the veteran and brought him back to Queens on a one-year, $7.5MM free agent deal.

Mets Re-Sign Jesse Winker

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The Mets officially announced that they’ve re-signed Jesse Winker on a one-year deal. The Excel Sports Management client is reportedly guaranteed $7.5MM (including a $1MM signing bonus) and can earn an additional $1.5MM via incentives.

Winker, 31, began the 2024 season with the Nationals. He’d signed a minor league deal after a pair of injury-ruined seasons that saw him undergo both knee and spinal surgeries in the 2022-23 offseason. The injuries that necessitated those surgeries in 2022 contributed to a bleak .219/.344/.344 showing with the Mariners that season, and the lingering effects likely played a role in his tepid .199/.320/.247 showing with the 2023 Brewers.

The 2024 campaign seemingly saw Winker back to full health. He hit .257/.374/.419 in 379 plate appearances with Washington before going to Queens in a deadline trade that sent minor league righty Tyler Stuart back to the Nats. Winker batted a diminished but respectable .243/.318/.365 in 129 turns at the plate down the stretch before catching fire with a .318/.531/.636 slash in 32 October plate appearances.

Winker figures to see the bulk of time at designated hitter for the Mets, who have Brandon Nimmo and Juan Soto locked into the outfield corners. Jose Siri, Tyrone Taylor and Starling Marte are also in the outfield mix, with Marte also likely to see time at DH if he’s not traded. The Mets have been exploring potential deals for Marte, who’s owed $19.5MM in the final season of a four-year contract, to no avail.

Winker could see some occasional time in the outfield as well, of course, and he’s likely to be platooned regardless of the role he occupies. He’s a career .276/.379/.463 hitter against righties but just a .210/.324/.338 hitter against fellow southpaws. Winker can work a walk against left-handers, but nearly all of his power comes in advantageous platoon matchups.

The broader and more impactful takeaway from Winker’s reunion with the Mets is that it could spell the end of Pete Alonso’s time with the club. The Winker agreement is reportedly the beginning of a pivot away from Alonso, whom the Mets feel is likelier to sign elsewhere than in Queens. Their plan moving forward appears to be to spread that would-be Alonso money around to different targets, the first of which is Winker.

With that in mind, it’s possible the Mets could look to external options at first base, but a good portion of that market has been picked over. Sticking in-house, Mark Vientos would likely move from third base to first base, opening the hot corner for a competition between Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña. There are more options at third base on the market than at first base — Alex Bregman, a Nolan Arenado trade — but it’s hard to square the idea that the Mets would balk at a long-term deal for Alonso and then make a sizable commitment to older infielders like Bregman (still seeking a long-term deal) or Arenado (34 and owed $64MM over the next three seasons).

The addition of Winker pushes the Mets’ payroll to about $287MM, per RosterResource. Their cash payroll is actually a slight bit higher than their luxury tax ledger, as the Mets’ long-term deals with Edwin Diaz and Kodai Senga are a bit front-loaded and carry 2025 salaries that are higher than the contracts’ respective annual values. New York currently sits about $17MM shy of the top $301MM luxury tier. They’ll pay a 95% tax on any dollars spent up to $301MM and then a 110% tax on any dollars thereafter. Because they’re now exceeding the $241MM threshold by more than $40MM, their top pick in the 2026 draft will drop by ten places (barring additional moves to duck down into and remain in the second penalty tier).

SNY’s Andy Martino first reported that the Mets and Winker had an agreement. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported it was a one-year deal with a guarantee around $8MM and a $1MM signing bonus. The Post’s Joel Sherman had the $7.5MM guarantee and the $1.5MM in bonuses.

Mets Reportedly Expect Pete Alonso To Sign Elsewhere

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The Mets and Pete Alonso have been in a staredown for a while but it seems the club is blinking. Andy Martino of SNY reports that they now expect him to sign elsewhere, with today’s agreement with Jesse Winker part of a plan to spread money around to various alternatives. Earlier today, Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that Alonso’s market was heating up, with the Blue Jays and Mets involved, as well as a third unidentified team.

Alonso and the Mets have clearly had mutual interest in reaching a new deal for a long time, but without the ability to agree on a price point. The club reportedly offered him a seven-year, $158MM extension in the summer of 2023, but a deal didn’t get done. Since then, there have been changes on both sides of the negotiations. The Mets hired David Stearns to replace Billy Eppler atop their baseball operations department in September of 2023, with Alonso then hiring Scott Boras the following month.

During the 2024 season, the sides generally expressed admiration for each other but never seemed to make much effort to get an extension done. Alonso turned down a qualifying offer and became a free agent. Though he was connected to various teams in recent months, he never seemed to get a deal to his liking. Alonso’s camp reportedly pivoted to a short-term deal, pitching the Mets a three-year pact with opt-outs. The Mets seemed to be somewhat amenable to this framework but a gap on the money still prevented a deal from coming together.

In recent weeks, the Mets have also been connected to players like Winker, Anthony Santander, Alex Verdugo, Tanner Scott, Luis Arráez and Tim Hill. They also reportedly offered Teoscar Hernández a two-year deal before he returned to the Dodgers on a three-year pact.

Martino’s report compares the Mets’ current plans to those of the Yankees after missing out on Juan Soto, spreading money around to various players as opposed to one big splash. After Soto went to the Mets, the Yankees gave out deals to Max Fried and Paul Goldschmidt, as well as trading for Devin Williams and Cody Bellinger. They could have done some of those moves in conjunction with Soto but perhaps were more aggressive in those areas since they hadn’t tied up their resources with the one mega deal.

The Winker signing alone doesn’t stop the Mets from bringing back Alonso, as the two coexisted on the roster in 2024, with Alonso the regular at first as Winker spent time in the outfield corners and designated hitter slot. But there has been some reporting that the club wants to use some internal options at the corners. Mark Vientos was the regular third baseman last year and had a breakout year at the plate, but with subpar defensive metrics. He could perhaps move over to first, while the Mets use Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña to cover third base.

Perhaps things will change in the coming days but it now seems possible that the Mets are indeed prepared to walk away from Alonso. The earlier reporting from The Athletic indicated the Mets were in talks with various players and didn’t want the stalled Alonso negotiations to get in their way. While Winker doesn’t strictly block the path for Alonso to come back to Queens, it does seem to signal that the Mets are prepared to move on.

If it does indeed come to pass, it will be a surprisingly lackluster end to the Mets-Alonso relationship. He was a homegrown star with some New York roots and come up through the club’s system after being selected in the second round of the 2016 draft. He debuted with a big splash in 2019, hitting 53 home runs and also winning the home run derby. That campaign is now widely viewed as the juiced ball season, but Alonso continued to be a big homer threat in subsequent years.

Alonso now has 226 home runs over the past six seasons, second only to Aaron Judge in that time. He won another derby title in 2021 and was a staple of the club over their recent history, not having played less than 152 games in any full season.

During that time, the Mets went from a punchline to a powerhouse. While they were previously known for having middling budgets and results, Steve Cohen purchased the club ahead of the 2021 season and made them one of the top spenders in the league. They have made the playoffs in two of the past three years, with Alonso playing the hero last year. He hit four home runs in 13 playoff games just a few months ago, including the series-flipping homer off Williams to get the Mets past the Brewers and out of the Wild Card round.

But his star power in the media and general public seemed to outpace his popularity in today’s analytically-inclined front offices. While the home run power has been real, Alonso’s other contributions have been muted. His walk rates have been decent but not outstanding, he’s not a burner on the basepaths and his defense hasn’t been well regarded. His overall offense has also declined. While he hit .261/.349/.535 for a 137 wRC+ through 2022, he slashed just .229/.324/.480 for a 121 wRC+. FanGraphs considered him to be worth 2.1 wins above replacement last year, a solid but not elite number. There were 119 position players who were at 2.2 fWAR or higher last year.

It therefore seemed possible from the start of the offseason that Alonso would find his offers lacking in free agency. As part of MLBTR’s annual Top 50 list, we considered predicting Alonso for a deal along the lines of the three years and $80MM that Bellinger got from the Cubs last year after he lingered in free agency into February. We backed down from that prediction, putting 5/$125MM on Alonso, but it now appears he may well end up getting something like that deal. It just might be somewhere other than Queens.

It’s a bit of a surprising pivot, as the Mets have not been shy about spending since Cohen bought the team. While Stearns was in Milwaukee, he never spent a lot of money on first basemen, but he never had the resources he now has. Despite the deeper bank account, it still seems as though Stearns would prefer to invest in ways he considers wise. The club also didn’t play at the top of the starting pitching market, not signing guys like Fried or Corbin Burnes, instead taking risks on guys like Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes. Montas is coming off a down year while Holmes will be trying to pivot from the bullpen to the rotation.

All this will seemingly leave Alonso looking elsewhere for his next gig, with Toronto one possibility. The Jays already have a first baseman in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. but it doesn’t appear as though the plan would be to trade him. Per the reporting from The Athletic, the plan would be for Guerrero and Alonso to share first base and DH, with Guerrero occasionally crossing the diamond to play third base. Though the article from The Athletic says the Jays would “prefer” to hang onto Guerrero, Rosenthal made an appearance on Foul Territory and more emphatically shot down the possibility of Guerrero being traded.

Though the fit would be a bit awkward, the Jays could use the power. Toronto’s offense was close to league average last year, but a lot of that was thanks to having a walk rate that was bested by only six other teams. In the home run department, they were actually one the worst clubs, ahead of just the Marlins, Rays, Nationals and White Sox.

They don’t really have a strict designated hitter, which perhaps provides a path for Alonso and Guerrero to share a lineup. Justin Turner was their primary DH for the first half of last year but he was traded to the Mariners at the deadline. It would make it a bit harder for the club to rest someone like George Springer, but it seems the Jays have some openness to it regardless. Guerrero taking the hot corner could allow greater flexibility, though he only has 104 innings there over the past five seasons. Most of that came late last year as the Jays were playing out the string on a lost season. It’s unclear how much willingness they have to put Guerrero there in meaningful games.

Financially, it seems the club still has powder dry. They reportedly had a strong offer on the table for Burnes as of a few weeks ago, before he signed with the Diamondbacks. Since then, they signed Jeff Hoffman to a three-year, $33MM deal, but that is surely well shy of what they were willing to pay Burnes.

It’s theoretically possible that signing Alonso could give the Jays some cover for the event they can’t sign Guerrero, an impending free agent, to an extension. But it seems highly likely that Alonso will be securing a deal with the ability to opt out after 2025, meaning he would only stick around for 2026 if he has a down year. They would likely prefer to have Guerrero locked up long term, since he’s significantly younger than Alonso, while seeing Pete walk away earlier.

There are surely other clubs in the mix as well. Alonso has been connected to the Giants, Red Sox and Angels in recent weeks. Teams like the Tigers, Athletics and Mariners make sense as speculative fits. Since Alonso rejected a QO, the Mets will receive a draft pick after the fourth round if he signs elsewhere. The penalty for the signing club will depend on their revenue-sharing status and whether they paid the competitive balance tax last year. Perhaps we will have clarity soon as the staring contest with the Mets appears to be ending.

Mets Offered Two-Year Contract To Teoscar Hernandez

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1:51PM: The Mets’ offer to Hernandez “would’ve carried a similar annual average value to the contract he agreed to with the Dodgers but without deferrals,” The Athletic’s Will Sammon writes.  Such shorter-term deals for outfield or DH help remain a possibility for the Mets, if for less than what it would’ve taken to sign Hernandez.  For instance, Sammon notes that the Mets have interest in re-signing Jesse Winker in such a role.

1:25PM: The Mets’ interest in the free agent outfield market was seemingly limited to just Juan Soto, as unlike other Soto suitors, New York wasn’t known to have any public interest in the likes of Teoscar Hernandez or Anthony Santander as backup plans if Soto signed elsewhere.  However, now with Soto already in the fold, the Mets made a late bid on Hernandez, as Newsday’s Tim Healey reports that the Amazins offered the slugger a two-year deal earlier this week.  The dollar figure isn’t known, but Hernandez rejected the deal anyway and rejoined the Dodgers on a three-year, $66MM pact.

Since the Mets have the financial resources to be in on any available player, their interest in Hernandez could’ve been a case of due diligence.  There’s no harm, after all, in checking in on a talented hitter to gauge his interest in joining the Mets, and president of baseball operations David Stearns might have seen an opening in a shorter-term deal since Hernandez was lingering on the market.

This isn’t to say that signing Hernandez would’ve been a bargain, exactly, as he would’ve cost the Mets even more draft and international bonus capital.  Because New York exceeded the luxury tax in 2024, signing Soto cost the Mets $1MM in int’l bonus pool money, plus their second- and fifth-highest picks in the 2025 draft.  Like Soto, Hernandez also rejected a qualifying offer, and thus signing him would’ve required that the Mets give up another $1MM from their international bonus pool, as well as their third- and sixth-highest draft selections.

Adding Hernandez would’ve further crowded the outfield picture.  The projected starting outfield consists of Soto in right field, Brandon Nimmo in left, Jose Siri and Tyrone Taylor platooning in center, Starling Marte likely relegated to DH duty, and Jeff McNeil, Jared Young, and Luisangel Acuna able to step onto the grass in a pinch.  Had New York signed Hernandez, the likeliest scenario probably would’ve seen Nimmo return to center field, unless the Mets were successful in opening up the DH spot by trading Marte.  Reports from a few weeks ago suggested the Mets were willing to eat some of the $19.5MM owed to Marte in the event of a trade, and while no deal was thought to be in the offing, the Mets’ openness to cover salary might hint that Marte is the odd man out.

If signing Hernandez was seen as something of a unique circumstance, the Mets’ outfield depth probably means they’re less likely to seek out Santander or another outfield bat unless Marte is dealt.  In terms of lineup additions overall, New York remains linked to Pete Alonso and Alex Bregman as the club looks to boost at least one corner infield slot.

Mets Acquire Jesse Winker

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7:47AM: The trade has been officially announced.

TODAY, 7:25AM: The Nationals will be acquiring right-handed pitching prospect Tyler Stuart in the trade, The Athletic’s Will Sammon reports (via X).  Stuart was a sixth-round pick in the 2022 draft, and he has a 3.96 ERA, 25.4% strikeout rate, and 5.6% walk rate in 84 innings for Double-A Binghampton this season.  The 6’9″ righty was a reliever at Southern Miss but has worked almost exclusively as a starter in his pro career, and MLB Pipeline (which ranks Stuart 17th in the Mets’ farm system) feels he’ll need to develop a third pitch beyond his solid slider and 94mph fastball in order to stick as a starting pitcher.

YESTERDAY: The Mets are poised to acquire outfielder Jesse Winker from the Nationals, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. As noted by Andrew Golden of The Washington Post, the deal is currently in place pending a physical. The return headed to D.C. in exchange for Winker’s services is not yet known.

Winker, 31 next month, was a first-round pick by the Reds back in 2012 and posted excellent numbers across five seasons with the club. From 2017 through 2021, Winker slashed .288/.385/.504 with a 132 wRC+ as the club’s regular left fielder, though he was generally protected from left-handed pitching during his years in Cincinnati. Even as he typically sat against southpaws, however, Winker’s ability to mash right-handed pitching earned him an All-Star nod back in 2021 when he posted a 148 wRC+ in 485 trips to the plate. Following the 2021 season, Winker found himself dealt to Seattle alongside Eugenio Suarez in a blockbuster that sent Justin Dunn, Jake Fraley, and Brandon Williamson to Cincinnati.

Upon departing the Reds, however, Winker began to struggle. A down season in Seattle where he posted a wRC+ of just 108 alongside a career-low isolated slugging percentage led the Mariners to deal Winker back to the NL Central following the 2022 campaign, this time alongside Abraham Toro in order to land second baseman Kolten Wong from the Brewers. Winker’s time in Milwaukee represented a low point for him, as he battled neck injuries and struggled badly when healthy enough to take the field. While Winker walked at his typically strong 13.2% clip with the Brewers, he hit .198 while mustering just one home run in 197 trips to the plate, leaving him with a 65 wRC+ that was 35% worse than league average last year.

That disastrous 2023 campaign led Winker to sign with the rebuilding Nationals on a minor league deal in his first trip through free agency last winter, and Winker found himself selected to the club’s Opening Day roster. While splitting time between left field and DH for the Nationals, Winker has rebounded back to the level of offense that was standard for him in his days with the Reds. In 100 games with Washington this year, he’s hit an impressive .253/.372/.417 with 11 home runs, 14 stolen bases, and a fantastic 14.1% walk rate in 376 trips to the plate this year.

Winker’s production still comes predominantly against right-handed pitching, against whom he sports a 138 wRC+ on the year, but he’s improved substantially against southpaws this year to post a roughly average 93 wRC+ against them. That’s a major step up from his career year in 2021 when he posted a wRC+ of just 57 against lefties.

For the Mets, Winker appears unlikely to be an everyday player given the presence of J.D. Martinez as the club’s regular DH and Brandon Nimmo patrolling left field on an everyday basis. With usual center fielder Harrison Bader currently dealing with an ankle injury, it’s possible that Winker could see some starts in left field with Nimmo sliding over to center while Bader is injured. Both Nimmo and Winker also have sporadic experience in right field through their careers as well, meaning the Mets could look to install each into an outfield corner on either side of Bader while Starling Marte is on the injured list in a move that would likely push Jeff McNeil either out of the lineup or back onto the infield dirt.

Regardless of how often Winker figures to be in the Mets lineup, he’s sure to provide a boost to the club’s offense. DJ Stewart is currently being utilized as a defensively-limited bat off the bench in Queens but has delivered a wRC+ of just 95 with a .674 OPS against right-handed pitching. Winker’s 128 wRC+ and .834 OPS against right-handers both clear those marks easily, and it’s easy to imagine Winker being used in a similar role to the one Stewart has accumulated 184 trips to the plate in this year while bouncing between DH, the outfield corners, and even first base as needed.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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.

Nats Notes: Deadline, Winker, Hassell, Wood, Crews

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The Nationals have received trade interest in veterans Kyle Finnegan, Hunter Harvey and Lane Thomas but haven’t considered dealing any veteran pieces just yet, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network. Washington, even with a sub-.500 record (35-36), is tied with the Padres for the final Wild Card spot in the National League at the moment and has not yet made a determination on how to approach this year’s trade deadline, Morosi adds.

It’s sensible for teams to inquire with the Nats, who entered the season as a playoff long-shot after spending the past two years in a rebuilding pattern. The Nats have outplayed expectations thanks to myriad factors (e.g. breakouts from MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin and Trevor Williams; a stronger-than-expected debut for lefty Mitchell Parker; a big step forward by CJ Abrams; a rebound by Jesse Winker). Those positive developments, plus widespread mediocrity in the National League, have thrust the Nationals into postseason conversations in mid-June. Williams’ recent flexor strain is a big damper on the team’s solid showing this year, but it’s only natural that GM Mike Rizzo and his staff aren’t yet ready to concede that they’ll be deadline sellers.

The next six weeks will be pivotal for the Nats. Holding the status quo or even playing winning ball between now and July 30 could push the Nationals to function as buyers. They may not be keen on dealing prospects for short-term rentals in a season like this, but targeting some names with multiple years of club control remaining feels plausible. On the other side of the coin, if the Nats fall a few games back in the standings and/or incur further injury problems of note, then listening on short-term veterans would be far likelier.

All three of the names listed by Morosi are controlled only through the 2025 season. Finnegan and Harvey would both draw widespread interest among contenders, given the perennial demand for bullpen help among playoff hopefuls. Harvey, in particular, has been dominant with a 28.3% strikeout rate and 5.5% walk rate en route to a 2.75 ERA. Finnegan leads the team with 20 saves and a terrific 1.78 ERA, though he’s benefited hugely from a microscopic .157 BABIP and a sky-high 94.7% strand rate — neither of which feels sustainable long-term.

Thomas drew interest at last summer’s trade deadline, but he’s likely someone the Nats value more than many of the teams seeking to acquire him. Washington reportedly priced him like an everyday player on last summer’s trade market — which is also how they use him — but Thomas carries enormous platoon splits and could be seen by other clubs as a player best deployed in a timeshare. He’s batting .327/.390/.588 against lefties this season (166 wRC+) but has an awful .196/.256/.330 output against righties (65 wRC+). His career splits aren’t quite that dramatic but are quite stark: .305/.364/.524 versus left-handers (141 wRC+) compared to .223/.290/.392 versus right-handers (86 wRC+).

The next few weeks will be pivotal for Rizzo and his lieutenants as they chart a course for this year’s deadline planning. If the Nats fall several games out of the race, all three of the names listed by Morosi could feasibly hit the market, and they likely wouldn’t be alone. Third baseman Nick Senzel and reliever Derek Law are also only controlled through 2025 as well. Veterans Dylan Floro and Eddie Rosario are free agents at the end of the current season, as are the aforementioned Williams and Winker.

Speaking of Winker, he had an injury scare over the weekend when he felt knee pain after taking a big turn at first base, slamming on the brakes and (unsuccessfully) diving back to the bag. He exited the game two innings later. Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reports that Winker underwent an MRI that thankfully came back clean. He’s listed as day-to-day for now.

Winker, 30, isn’t hitting for much power this season but is drawing walks at his typically lofty rate (13.4%) and has made significantly better contact than he did over the past two seasons in a pair of down years with the Mariners and Brewers. He’s batting .265/.378/.390 with six homers and ten doubles through 268 plate appearances. Like Thomas, he’s better utilized in a platoon setting but has been an everyday player in Washington. Winker, to his credit, has a roughly league-average .239/.345/.338 slash in 84 plate appearances against fellow lefties, but he’s a career .210/.325/.338 hitter (89 wRC+) in left-on-left situations, compared to .279/.383/.467 (130 wRC+) against righties.

Eventual trades of Winker, Rosario and/or Thomas could open the door for any number of Nationals farmhands at the big league level. One near-MLB-ready option, Robert Hassell III, doesn’t seem as though he’ll be an option anytime soon, however. The Nats placed Hassell on the minor league injured list last week, and TalkNats.com reports that he’s dealing with another wrist injury and that the team plans to proceed cautiously. Hassell has had multiple wrist injuries in the past, including a broken hamate bone that necessitated surgery.

One of the most notable prospects acquired in the Nationals’ blockbuster trade of Juan Soto to the Padres, Hassell opened the season with a .278/.369/.369 slash in 215 plate appearances at the Double-A level. Those numbers don’t jump out, but they’re about 14% better than average in his currently pitcher-friendly environment, by measure of wRC+. They’re also a sizable step forward from the .225/.316/.324 batting line recorded by Hassell at the same minor league level last year (476 plate appearances).

Both Hassell and uber-prospect James Wood are on the minor league injured list at the moment — the latter due to a hamstring strain. Wood, in particular, could be an option to make his big league debut later this summer, with Andrew Golden of The Washington Post relaying on X today that Wood could return to game action this week. But Hassell could force his way into that conversation as well if he’s cleared to return sooner than later and continues to show improvement over last season. His prospect stock has taken a notable hit since the time of that swap, but he’s maintained strong plate discipline (11.6% walk rate) and cut his strikeout rate from last year’s alarming 31.9% to a far more palatable 21.4% in 2024.

Dylan Crews will also be in the mix, as he’s being promoted to Triple-A, per @PROducerIOTB on X. That’s come on the heels of Crews hitting .274/.343/.446 in Double-A this year while stealing 15 bases.

East Notes: Riley, Rodriguez, Poche, Winker

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Austin Riley left tonight’s game in the fourth inning with what the Braves described as left side tightness.  The removal was specifically cited to be “a precaution,” so there isn’t yet any indication that Riley may have suffered an oblique-related injury.  Speaking with reporters (including Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) afterwards, Riley said he felt the side soreness during batting practice but didn’t inform the team because he didn’t think the issue was too much of a concern.

Though Atlanta has an impressive 24-13 record, Riley is one of a few Braves stars who have yet to really get rolling at the plate.  A top-seven finisher in NL MVP voting in each of the last three seasons, Riley has hit only .245/.319/.388 over his first 163 plate appearances, with just three home runs.  The power dropoff is unusual since Riley’s advanced metrics are largely similar to previous seasons, though since Riley has also shown some streakiness in past years, a breakout might be just around the corner if he is healthy.  Losing Riley for any stretch of time would hurt Atlanta’s lineup, though the newly-acquired Short might have a sudden path to regular lineup if Riley does need to hit the injured list.

More from the NL and AL East divisions….

  • Orioles right-hander Grayson Rodriguez came out of a 30-pitch bullpen session today feeling “great,” he told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other reporters.  Rodriguez’s 15-day IL stint due to shoulder inflammation retroactively started on April 30, so Wednesday would be his first day eligible for activation, though it seems as though he’ll be out for at least a little beyond that date.  Rodriguez figures he’ll throw another bullpen session and then it isn’t yet certain if he’ll need a rehab start or not before returning to Baltimore’s rotation.  With a 3.71 ERA in his first 34 innings, Rodriguez is one of several Orioles pitchers performing well this season, giving the O’s a nice problem to sort out once everyone is healthy.
  • Mid-back tightness sent Colin Poche to the Rays’ 15-day IL on April 24, and he had to halt his throwing program to receive “a second cortisone-type shot, a more impactful kind for which he had to undergo anesthesia,” Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes.  The plan is for Poche to start throwing again on Wednesday, and this setback might push his IL activation into June.  Poche was a quality workhorse out of the Rays’ bullpen in 2022-23, but he has struggled to a 6.75 ERA in 9 1/3 innings so far this season.
  • Jesse Winker had to make an early exit today, as Winker’s back spasms forced the Nationals to pinch-hit for the outfielder in the sixth inning of today’s 3-2 loss to the Red Sox.  Winker told the Washington Post’s Andrew Golden (X link) and other reporters that his back was sore even prior to the game, but the issue got worse after he dove for a Rob Refsnyder line drive single in the bottom of the fifth.  Though he has greatly cooled off since a very strong start to the season, Winker’s .235/.350/.386 slash line and four homers over 157 PA still translates to a 114 wRC+, representing a nice bounce-back from a very disappointing 2023 campaign.  It seems like Winker will miss a game or two at least, and a 10-day IL stint might be necessary if the spasms persist.

Nationals Select Eddie Rosario, Jesse Winker, Matt Barnes

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The Nationals announced this morning that they’ve selected the contracts of right-hander Matt Barnes, outfielder Eddie Rosario, and outfielder Jesse Winker. In corresponding moves, right-hander Mason Thompson and left-hander Jose A. Ferrer have been placed on the 60-day injured list. The club’s 40-man roster is now at capacity.

That Barnes made the roster is hardly a surprise. A veteran of ten major league seasons, the 33-year-old is coming off a down season with the Marlins that saw him struggle to a 5.48 despite a decent 4.15 FIP. Prior to his down 2023 campaign, however, Barnes had long been one of the more reliable late-inning relief arms in the game with the Red Sox. Barnes posted a 3.91 ERA with a 3.42 FIP from 2016 to 2022, striking out an excellent 31.3% of batters faced during that time while walking 11.3%. Those seven seasons saw the right-hander pick up 47 saves and 96 holds as a mainstay toward the back of the club’s bullpen. Barnes figures to receive another chance at a late-inning role in D.C. now that he’s made the team, where he’ll compete for high-leverage work with fellow veteran arms Hunter Harvey and Tanner Rainey ahead of closer Kyle Finnegan.

That both Rosario and Winker made the roster is somewhat more surprising. After all, both are defensively limited left-handed hitters who profile best as part of a platoon. That overlap didn’t deter the Nationals from rostering them both, however, and both outfielders certainly have a case to make the roster in isolation. Rosario has typically been a roughly average hitter throughout his career, as exemplified by him .255/.305/.450 with a wRC+ of exactly 100 in 142 games with the Braves last year. Those numbers are more or less in line with his career output of .268/.305/.460 (102 wRC+), though its worth noting that his career numbers are dragged down somewhat by a brutal 2022 season that saw him hit a paltry .212/.259/.328 while he battled vision problems. That issue appears to have been rectified by a laser eye procedure, however, and Rosario seems to be a good bet to produce average numbers as a regular in left field, even as his 23.6% strikeout rate last year is a far cry from the 16.5% figure he posted during his peak seasons with the Twins from 2017 to 2020.

As for Winker, the 30-year-old was among the more productive hitters in the league during his five-year tenure with the Reds, slashing an excellent .288/.385/.504 in 413 games from 2017-21, which included an All Star nod during the 2021 season. Winker was shipped to the Mariners ahead of the 2022 season, however, and took a step back at the plate during his time with the club as he hit a roughly league average .219/.344/.344 during his time with the club. Winker fell even further upon being traded to the Brewers prior to last year, as he struggled to a .199/.320/.247 slash line while battling neck injuries. While Winker doesn’t offer the same reliable production as Rosario, he could be the far more impactful bat if he can regain the form he enjoyed during his time with the Reds.

With young outfielders Alex Call and Jacob Young having been optioned to Triple-A last night and manager Davey Martinez telling reporters (including Spencer Nusbaum of the Washington Post) that Stone Garrett will begin the season on the injured list, however, the club clearly feels comfortable entering the season with an outfield mix that will prominently feature both Rosario and Winker. With Lane Thomas and Victor Robles entrenched as regular options in right and center field, respectively, Winker and Rosario will join first baseman Joey Gallo as left-handed hitters in the club’s lineup with Joey Meneses serving as a right-handed complement to all three. Assuming Gallo will be afforded regular at bats at first base, that would leave at least one of Rosario or Winker to remain in the lineup against left-handed hitters. Given Winker’s abysmal .205/.321/.338 slash line against southpaws, it seems likely that the bulk of starts against lefties will go to Rosario, at least until Garrett returns from the injured list.

That Ferrer and Thompson will start the season on the 60-day IL is hardly a surprise. Thompson is rehabbing Tommy John surgery while Ferrer is dealing with a back strain that Martinez (as relayed by Nusbaum) has indicated will keep him from throwing for another 4-6 weeks.

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