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Michael A. Taylor

Michael A. Taylor Clears Waivers, Elects Free Agency

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Nationals outfielder Michael A. Taylor has cleared waivers and elected free agency rather than accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A Fresno, per a team announcement. The 29-year-old was arbitration-eligible this winter but stood as a clear non-tender candidate on the heels of a rough 2020 season. The decision to pass him through waivers effectively amounts to an early non-tender.

Taylor made $3.25MM with the Nationals in 2020 — about $1.17MM prorated — but scuffled to a .196/.253/.424 batting line in 99 plate appearances. It was the third straight below-average season at the plate for Taylor, who peaked with a .271/.320/.486 slash and 19 dingers back in 2017 but hasn’t produced since. The Nats sent Taylor to the minors for much of the 2019 season, but with a projected raise into the mid-$3MM range and a three-year slash line of .225/.284/.370, the club will instead move on.

While Taylor has struggled at the plate in recent years, he still has some pop in his bat and the ability to play any of three outfield spots well. Strikeouts have long been an issue and likely will continue to be, but Taylor has a .175 ISO (slugging minus batting average) since 2017 and boasts career marks of +23 Defensive Runs Saved and +10.6 Ultimate Zone Rating (4.8 UZR/150) in nearly 3300 center field innings.

Taylor’s exit could be part of broader-reaching changes in the Washington outfield. The Nats hold a $10.5MM club option over right fielder Adam Eaton, but that seems likely to be bought out after a career-worst year at the plate and a generally injury-interrupted Nationals tenure. The Nats took a look at Juan Soto in right field in the season’s final week — perhaps foreshadowing a changing of the guard in that aspect.

Injury Notes: Canning, Snell, Robles

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Griffin Canning’s ongoing health concerns will remain nebulous until tomorrow at the earliest. The message from Angels manager Joe Maddon certainly paints the situation as unusual, per The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya (via Twitter). Whether there’s mixed messaging coming from the medical staff themselves, or if this particular injury is causing undue confusion isn’t totally clear from Joe’s comments. What is clear is that the next step is assessing how Canning reacts to his throwing session today. Canning is one of the wild cards in the Angels’ rotation, and it’d certainly be disappointing to begin the season with a significant setback. An update is likely to come tomorrow from Angels camp. In the meantime, let’s check in on some less serious injury news around the game…

  • Rays ace Blake Snell received a cortisone shot in his “outer elbow,” tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He is expected to resume throwing as early as Tuesday. As important as Snell is to the Rays’ rotation, they also have admirable depth there with young players like Brendan McKay, Brent Honeywell Jr. and Anthony Banda likely on the outside looking in at this stage. Still, Topkin notes that the Rays are not worried about the southpaw’s health. Snell is coming off an injury-shortened season in which he made just 23 starts, pitching to a 4.29 ERA/3.32 FIP. The ERA ended up higher than expected, but the peripherals point to Snell being close to the same guy who won the Cy Young award in 2018, albeit with less BABIP luck.
  • Washington Nationals centerfield Victor Robles underwent an MRI on his left oblique recently. Nats fans can breath easy as the results came back negative, per MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato. Robles is already back in the cage, but the plan is to remain cautious for the time being. Given Robles’ importance to the Nats, it certainly makes sense to take their time with him this early in spring. The Nationals don’t have a ton of depth behind Robles, with Michael A. Taylor serving as his primary backup. While Taylor is an above-average defensive outfielder, his struggles at the plate led him to spend most of the 2019 season in Double-A.

Nationals Avoid Arbitration With Michael A. Taylor

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The Nationals have avoided arbitration with outfielder Michael A. Taylor, as per reporter Robert Murray (Twitter link).  Taylor will make $3.325MM in guaranteed money next season, slightly above the $3.25MM projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.  Taylor can also make another $25K in bonuses should he reach 300 PA for the Nats next season.

Seen as a top-60 prospect headed into the 2015 season, Taylor has shown some flashes of potential (particularly during an impressive 2017 season) but has struggled to lock down anything beyond a fourth outfield role.  Taylor has hit only .240/.294/.393 over 1705 career plate appearances, and the end of his tenure in Washington seemed to be looming in the summer when he was optioned to the minors for over two months.

However, 2019 ended on a great note for both Taylor and the Nationals, as the outfielder re-emerged to make a big contribution to the club’s World Series run.  Taylor had a 1.010 OPS over 23 postseason plate appearances, including the solo homer that the Nats on the board in their 3-1 win over the Cardinals in Game Two of the NLCS.

Taylor still offers value to Washington as a fourth outfielder capable of solid glovework at all three positions, as well as elite speed.  Taylor turns 29 in March but is still controllable through the 2021 season in his fourth and final year of arbitration.  This fourth year arose as a result of his lengthy demotion, as Taylor finished the 2019 season with only four years and 129 days of service time.

Trea Turner, Roenis Elias, and Joe Ross are the three remaining arb-eligible Nationals who have yet to reach agreements with the team prior to tomorrow’s 11am CT deadline for exchanging arbitration figures.  You can follow along with all of the arb dealings on the MLBTR Arbitration Tracker.

Winter Meetings Preview: Nationals’ Trade Chips

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The World Champion Washington Nationals are waiting with the rest of us for the major free agent dominoes to fall, but in the meantime, there’s work to do. One such task might be finding trade partners for any number of current Nationals who are out of minor league options. Michael A. Taylor, Wilmer Difo, Adrian Sanchez, Raudy Read, Erick Fedde, Joe Ross, and Austin Voth are all potential trade candidates, per MASN’s Mark Zuckerman.

The players listed above can no longer be shuttled back and forth between the minor leagues without being exposed to waivers – they either make the Opening Day roster, get traded elsewhere, or the Nats will risk losing them for nothing through the waiver claim process. Granted, this isn’t exactly Anthony Rendon or Stephen Strasburg. Washington can take their chances and not be overexposed. But if there’s value to return, GM Mike Rizzo might do well to look for it this week in San Diego.

On the position player side, there’s not much to offer. Taylor has become somewhat of a folklore “postseason specialist,” and there’s room for him on the roster as a fourth outfielder. But he’ll turn 29 in March, and his bygone ceiling as a second division starter has been replaced with legitimate questions about whether he carries enough bat to make the 26-man roster. He’s somewhat inexplicably beloved by a large contingent of fans in the DMV, but the Nationals may very well explore finding another option as insurance should Juan Soto, Victor Robles, and Adam Eaton not prove as healthy as they were in 2019. Taylor is a capable defender and baserunner, but he’s also due over $3MM, carries a career .240/.294/.393 batting line across over 1700 big league plate appearances, and he’s coming off a season spent almost entirely in Double-A (though for Washington, Double-A served as a holding grounds for potential call-ups, since their Triple-A team was located across the country in Fresno).

Difo is of a similar mold, but in the infield and without the postseason heroics. Neither Difo nor Sanchez are likely to bring back anything via trade, nor should they really be relied upon by the Nats. Difo will turn 28 this year, Sanchez 30, and there’s just not much upside to mine. Read is a 26-year-old catcher with pop who is out of options despite only 22 big league plate appearances. His power numbers in Triple-A last year (.546 SLG) are enough to crane a neck or two, and the Nats are probably fine with Tres Barrera serving as their emergency third catcher.

Where this gets interesting is with the trio of pitchers who rotated in and out of the Nats’ fifth starter spot. Fedde, Ross, and Voth all experienced some degree of success in 2019, though not one is a sure thing to make the roster.

Ross’ overall numbers (5.48 ERA/4.59 FIP) are ugly, but they’re largely attributable to a horrid run in the bullpen. As a starter in the second half, Ross went 4-2 with a 3.02 ERA, showing signs of finally returning to the mid-rotation form he flashed as a younger player. Though high heat is in vogue, Ross hit his stride when his sinker became a primary offering as it had been before injuries derailed his career. Call me crazy – and this brand of breakout is hardly normative enough to form an archetype – but there’s hints of Jake Arrieta here. Ross is just two years from free agency, and even his second half performance is probably more than should be expected moving forward – but after a 1.05 ERA across five starts in August, Ross certainly became a guy a front office can dream on.

There was a time when those within the Nats’ organization were aligned on Voth as nothing more than organizational filler, and he was the last guy on the Nats’ 40-man roster to get a look in the show last year, but he added a couple ticks to his fastball and pitched to a 3.30 ERA/3.70 FIP across 43 2/3 inning worth 1.2 bWAR. Should Strasburg return to Washington, Voth and Ross are probably dueling for the fifth starter spot. It’s also hard to imagine the Nats defending their title with both in the rotation even if Strasburg departs. Still, given the strides shown by Ross and Voth last season, it’s not inconceivable.

Fedde could be the odd man out, but there’s enough of a pedigree to at least explore his value on the trade market. The 26-year-old right-hander was a top-4 Nationals prospect by Baseball America from 2014 to 2017, topping out as the #82 prospect in baseball following the 2015 season. He’s a former first round pick with a Tommy John surgery already in the rearview. The results the last few seasons have been mixed (4.50 ERA in 2019), but there’s no major trauma, and speculatively speaking, he’d be a good fit every fifth day for a younger team like the Blue Jays or Orioles.

Nationals Notes: Rendon, Robles, Taylor

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Here’s the latest from the Nationals, who take a 2-0 series lead into tomorrow’s Game Three of the NLCS….

  • Could Anthony Rendon be open to the idea of a relatively short-term contract for a high average annual average?  “Some friends of Rendon believe that he’s more interested in a shorter-term deal…because he might not be devoted to the idea of playing for as long as he possibly can,” ESPN’s Buster Olney writes, which Olney feels could make Rendon even more of an attractive target for a team like the Dodgers.  Los Angeles reportedly had interest in such a short-term deal with Bryce Harper last winter, though such efforts fell short since Harper was specifically looking for a very long-term contract.  A premium free agent like Rendon showing interest in only a very pricey deal of four or five years would be a fascinating wrinkle, as clubs would no longer have to worry about a late-30’s decline if Rendon is only under contract through his age-33 or age-34 season.  (The third baseman turns 30 next June.)  It could also create a ripple effect for future superstar free agents around the game, and the players’ union may also not be pleased at one of its top names taking what teams would certainly adopt as a precedent-setting model.  Then again, Rendon’s agent Scott Boras has long aimed to garner maximum money at maximum years for his clients, and Rendon reportedly already turned down a seven-year extension offer from the Nats worth $210-$215MM.
  • Victor Robles is expected to take part in batting practice and some running drills on Monday, manager Davey Martinez told reporters (including MASNsports.com’s Byron Kerr).  Robles also did some running today and underwent treatment on his bothersome right hamstring, which was tweaked in Game Two of the NLDS.  The injury has kept Robles out of action, though there is some optimism he will be able to return for Monday’s game.  “I’m not going to anticipate anything until he comes in tomorrow. But he’s progressing and hopefully he will be ready tomorrow,” Martinez said.
  • Robles will regain the regular center field job when he is ready to play, Martinez noted.  This will send Michael A. Taylor back to the Nats’ bench, though Taylor has performed well (.300/.333/.450) in 21 plate appearances since filling in for Robles.  It marked a nice turn-around for Taylor, the Washington Post’s Sam Fortier writes, as Taylor’s early-season struggles led to a demotion to Double-A, before he finally got his swing back on track in the final days of his minor league assignment.  “I was finally able to get that feeling.  I just tried to repeat over and over,” Taylor said about a hot streak that saw him post a 1.191 OPS over his last 52 PA in the minors.  Though he was at one point a top prospect and seemed to be breaking out at the MLB level as recently as the 2017 season, Taylor has been inconsistent over his six big league seasons, but now stands as a very valuable bench asset as the Nationals continue their postseason run.

Nationals Option Michael A. Taylor, Activate Ryan Zimmerman

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1:55pm: The Nationals have announced the moves.

12:06pm: The Nationals will activate Ryan Zimmerman from the injured list today and open a spot on the active roster by optioning outfielder Michael A. Taylor to Double-A Harrisburg, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reports.

Taylor, 28, has been a fixture on the Nationals’ roster since 2017, when he hit .271/.320/.486 with 19 homers, 23 doubles, three triples and 17 steals in 432 plate appearances. He’d entered that season projected to be a fourth outfielder but wound up logging significant outfield innings when Adam Eaton went down with an ACL tear in April. His followup campaign in 2018, however, saw Taylor bat just .227/.287/.357 in 385 trips to the plate. He did manage a career-best 24 steals in 30 attempts last year.

Despite Bryce Harper’s departure in free agency, a regular spot in the outfield for Taylor hasn’t opened up. Washington has seen vaunted prospects Juan Soto and Victor Robles emerge as productive big leaguers over the past two seasons, and the veteran Eaton is still under contract and controlled through the 2021 season via a pair of club options. Taylor was already in line for a reserve role due to the presence of that trio, but he’s seen his playing time reduced even further by the team’s signing of Gerardo Parra.

The option is of note on many levels for Taylor, who agreed to a $3.25MM salary this offseason in arbitration. He entered 2019 with four years and 10 days of Major League service time, meaning he needed another 162 days at the MLB level to cross the five-year threshold in service time and remain on track for free agency following the 2020 season. Presently, he’s only accrued 91 days of service, so he still needs another 71 days in the Majors to reach that level. There are only 95 days between now and the end of the season, and Taylor will need to stay down for a minimum of 10 days unless he returns in place of an injured player. That creates a real possibility that this optional assignment could push back his free agency by a year. The move will also burn his final minor league option.

Even with his struggles at the plate over the past two seasons, Taylor seems likely to be tendered a contract in the offseason. He’s a well-regarded defensive outfielder who can handle all three spots and offers some of the best speed in the game. His forthcoming arbitration raise won’t be especially large, either, and his excellent 2017 season is not yet that far in the rear-view mirror. As such, the potential delay of his free agency is all the more noteworthy. Taylor has also been a speculative trade asset in the past, and this demotion could prompt some outfield-needy clubs to inquire about his availability (if they haven’t already).

As for Zimmerman, he’ll step back into a lineup that has seen Matt Adams enjoy a recent homer binge while Howie Kendrick has hit well all season long in part-time duty at first base. Brian Dozier has heated up recently as well, further crowding the mix on the right side of the infield. Zimmerman wasn’t hitting well when he was placed on the injured list due to plantar fasciitis in late April, but he was quite productive in 2017-18, so he should give manager Dave Martinez another solid bat to add to the mix.

NL Injury Notes: Cain, Matz, Vargas, Taylor

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X-rays were negative on Lorenzo Cain’s left hand after the Brewers outfielder was hit by a Tim Peterson pitch during the sixth inning of today’s 3-2 win over the Mets.  Cain was removed from the game after his HBP, though told reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy) that he is hopeful of playing on Tuesday, when Milwaukee hosts the Nationals.  Cain has hit .259/.316/.406 through 158 plate appearances this season, though he has made up for that slow start at the plate with his usual excellent center field defense.  It doesn’t seem like this injury will require a DL stint or perhaps even an absence whatsoever, though it’s still worth monitoring, as the Brewers can ill-afford to lose any of their stars amidst a tightly-contested NL Central race.

More from around the National League…

  • The Mets have sent Steven Matz back to New York for tests on his left forearm, manager Mickey Callaway told the New York Post’s Mike Puma and other reporters.  As per Callaway, Matz has a “nerve issue” and has been dealing with a sore forearm “for about two weeks now.”  Matz hasn’t been ruled out of his next scheduled start on Wednesday, though one would think the Mets would sit him out simply as a precautionary measure, given the inherent seriousness of forearm problems.  (Callaway noted that Matz’s current injury isn’t related to the elbow procedure he underwent in 2017.)  Losing Matz to the IL would be a blow to a New York rotation that has struggled this season, and also just generally been lacking in quality results.  Matz has posted a 3.86 ERA, 3.56 K/BB rate, and 8.2 K/9 over 35 innings, and his numbers would look better apart from a singularly disastrous outing on April 16 against the Phillies that saw him allow six earned runs without recording an out.
  • In more unfortunate injury news for the Mets, Jason Vargas left today’s game due to tightness in his left hamstring.  As Puma notes, Vargas’ spot in the rotation wouldn’t necessarily need to be filled immediately, as the Mets have enough upcoming off-days that a fifth starter isn’t required until May 18.  Vargas allowed three runs in four innings today to give him a 5.92 ERA over 24 1/3 frames in what has been a rough beginning for the veteran southpaw.
  • The Nationals have yet to receive MRI results on Michael A. Taylor after the outfielder suffered a jammed wrist on Saturday.  (MLB.com’s Jamal Collier was among those to report the news.)  Taylor already missed some time at the start of the season due to a left knee and hip sprain, and he has yet to get on track — the outfielder has a meager .111/.226/.148 slash line over 32 plate appearances.  Despite Taylor’s struggles, Washington can hardly afford to lose any more players to the IL at this point, given that Anthony Rendon, Juan Soto, Trea Turner, Ryan Zimmerman, and Matt Adams are all currently sidelined.  Rendon, at least, is expected to return on Tuesday.

Rehab Notes: Polanco, Kershaw, Taylor

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A grueling seven-month rehab process is finally nearing its end for Gregory Polanco, reports MLB.com’s Adam Berry, as the Pirates outfielder is set to begin a rehab assignment tomorrow for High-A Bradenton. The initial rehab outlook for the torn labrum on Polanco’s left shoulder was seven to nine months, so even a full 20-day rehab stay will have him set to return on the short end of the timeframe. The 27-year-old’s imminent return will be manna from the proverbial heaven for the run-starved Pirates, who’ve already lost outfielders Corey Dickerson and Lonnie Chisenhall to injuries at the season’s outset. Polanco’s status as a perennial breakout candidate finally came to fruition last year, as the big lefty slashed a career-best .254/.340/.499 (123 wRC+) in 130 games before suffering the injury in early September. His hard-hit rate, which had dipped to a shockingly pedestrian 25.9% in 2017, jumped nearly nine percentage points, and the newfound plate discipline he exhibited reaped huge benefits.

In further rehab news from around the game…

  • Clayton Kershaw’s dominant rehab performance on minor-league Opening Night doesn’t mean he’s ready for the show, writes Bill Plunkett of the OC Register. The three-time Cy Young award winner will need at least another rehab outing – this one in the 75-80 pitch range – before rejoining the big club in the coming weeks. Dampening the much-needed flames throughout the outing were the stadium’s radar gun readouts, which reportedly had the seven-time all-star sitting at a frightening 88-91 MPH with the fastball. A career-low 90.9 MPH average fastball velocity in ’18 led to the lefty’s lowest strikeout rate since his rookie season of 2008, and the once-untouchable ace was again vulnerable to the longball. The club may not need a halcyon Kershaw to contend for the pennant, and may not need him at all to run through a sloppy NL West. Still, even a compromised version of the lefty should be quite effective, and the Dodgers, who doubled down on their substantial investment this offseason, will continue to hold out out hope for the ace of seasons past.
  • Per Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic, Nationals outfielder Michael A. Taylor will play seven innings in a rehab game today. It’s good news for the Nationals, who expected the extra OF to miss “significant time” after he sprained his knee and hip mid-March. There seems to be precious little playing time in the Nats outfield for Taylor, who followed up a solid 2017 season with a .227/.287/.357 stinker last year. Strikeouts have long been an issue for the speedy centerfielder, who’s posted a K rate of 30% or higher in each of his four major-league seasons.

Michael A. Taylor Diagnosed With Sprained Knee, Hip

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Nationals outfielder Michael A. Taylor has been diagnosed with a sprained left knee and hip, manager Dave Martinez tells reporters including Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter link). Taylor is expected to “miss a significant amount of time,” per Martinez.

That’s rather unwelcome news for the Nats, who were slated to utilize Taylor quite often to spell the oft-injured Adam Eaton and youngster Victor Robles. With Howie Kendrick also still on the mend, the team now has a yawning gap in its bench mix.

Looking to the 40-man roster, the left-handed-hitting Andrew Stevenson is the only option. He has struggled at the plate in limited MLB opportunities and has not impressed in Grapefruit League action this spring. Hunter Jones is the only non-roster outfielder in camp. The 27-year-old had a nice season last year in the upper minors but has also not produced much offense in spring action. It’s also possible the team could trust Wilmer Difo with some innings on the grass, though he has little experience there and carries a light bat.

It stands to reason that the Nationals will consider outside options, though Taylor’s precise timeline will help dictate the approach. Veteran center fielder Austin Jackson remains unsigned and could potentially step into Taylor’s role. He’s nowhere near the fielder that Taylor is at this stage of his career — in fact, metrics graded him quite poorly last year — but is an amply experienced option who was a productive hitter as recently as 2017. Old friend Denard Span is also on the market, as is Carlos Gonzalez, though both players hit from the left side and neither would really present an option up the middle. The trade market may also present some possibilities, particularly as late-spring roster decisions are made.

Nationals Win Arbitration Case Against Michael A. Taylor

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The Nationals won their arbitration case against outfielder Michael A. Taylor reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). He’ll earn the $3.25MM figure that the team submitted rather than the $3.5MM figure at which he filed. Taylor was arbitration-eligible for the second time this winter and will be eligible once more next offseason before reaching free agent in the 2020-21 offseason.

Taylor, 28 in March, will receive a $725K raise over last year’s $2.525MM salary on the heels of a down season in which he hit just .227/.287/.357 with six homers, 22 doubles and three triples in 385 plate appearances. That marked a noted drop-off from his solid 2017 output: a .271/.20/.486 slash with 19 home runs, 23 doubles and three triples.

At present, Taylor will have an expanded role with the Nationals early in the 2019 campaign. The potential departure of Bryce Harper could put Taylor in line for increased at-bats alongside fellow outfielders Juan Soto and Adam Eaton, though the looming presence of top prospect Victor Robles casts a shadow over Taylor’s playing time. Whether it’s Opening Day or later in the upcoming season, Robles will get a shot at cementing himself as Washington’s everyday center fielder, at which point Taylor will again revert to a more limited role. And, of course, if the Nationals do bring Harper back to the organization, playing time will be all the more difficult to come by for Taylor.

As always, you can keep up to date with this year’s ongoing arbitration hearings and settlements in MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker. With Taylor, Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner, Joe Ross and Sammy Solis out of the way, Washington’s lone remaining unsettled case is that of reliever Kyle Barraclough.

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