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Jhonatan Solano

Nationals Outright Jhonatan Solano

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The Nationals announced today that they have outrighted catcher Jhonatan Solano after he cleared waivers. He rejected a minor-league assignment and elected free agency.

Solano, 33, has seen minimal major-league action over the years. That he was even on the Nats’ 40-man roster was something of an oddity: he was called up briefly early in the season but never played, then ended up on the 60-day DL owing to bone spurs in his elbow.

When the dust settled, Solano ended up sitting out the entire 2018 campaign. In his eight seasons at the Triple-A level, Solano carries a .239/.286/.331 batting line.

Nationals Select Contract Of Jeremy Hellickson

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The Nationals announced that they’ve selected the contract of veteran right-hander Jeremy Hellickson and transferred catcher Jhonatan Solano to the 60-day disabled list (bone chips in right elbow) to create a spot on the 40-man roster. The Nats opened an active roster spot for Hellickson, who’ll start tonight’s game, by optioning righty Trevor Gott to Triple-A Syracuse.

Hellickson, 31, will step into the fifth spot of the Nats’ rotation in place of struggling right-hander A.J. Cole, who has been tagged for a dozen runs on 13 hits (four homers) and five walks through his first nine innings of the season. Cole couldn’t be sent to the minors to clear space for Hellickson due to the fact that he’s out of minor league options and would’ve first needed to be exposed to waivers. As such, he’ll head to the bullpen for now.

Hellickson will be eyeing a rebound from a disastrous 2017 season that saw him struggle with the Phillies before completely coming unglued following a trade to the Orioles. In 51 2/3 innings with the O’s down the stretch, the 2011 AL Rookie of the Year allowed an average of 2.26 home runs per nine innings pitched while notching just 5.40 strikeouts against 2.96 walks per nine frames. The resulting 6.97 ERA and overall body of Hellickson’s struggles were concerning enough that he had to settle for a minor league contract with an invite to MLB camp with the Nats in free agency this winter.

Of course, Hellickson isn’t far removed from a full season of work as a quality big league starter. Pitching for the division-rival Phillies in 2016, Hellickson parlayed 189 innings of 3.71 ERA ball with 7.33 K/9, 2.14 BB/9, 1.14 HR/9 and a 40.7 percent grounder rate into a $17.2MM qualifying offer. He accepted that QO rather than testing the open market but wasn’t able to further build his stock and cash in on a multi-year pact as he likely hoped.

Nationals Designate Enny Romero, Select Jhonatan Solano’s Contract

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The Nationals have designated left-hander Enny Romero for assignment, as per a team announcement.  In corresponding moves, the club has selected the contract of catcher Jhonatan Solano from Triple-A and also called up utilityman Matt Reynolds, while catcher Miguel Montero has been placed on the paternity list.

Romero posted a 3.56 ERA, 10.5 K/9, and 2.83 K/BB rate over 55 2/3 innings out of Washington’s bullpen last season, with those solid results powered by a fastball that averaged 98 mph.  He did allow runs in both of his outings so far in 2018, however, which seems to have made him the odd man out of the eight-man Nats pen, especially since the team needed some extra bench depth with Adam Eaton hampered by a minor ankle issue.  (Manager Dave Martinez told the Washington Post’s Jorge Castillo and other reporters that Eaton is available today and is expected to start tomorrow, quelling fears about Eaton’s status.)

Reynolds was a second-round pick for the Mets  in the 2012 draft, though after 226 PA (and a .228/.300/.351 slash line) for the team in 2016-17, New York dealt Reynolds to Washington last February after designating him for assignment.  Reynolds has spent the bulk of his pro career as a shortstop, though he has also seen plenty of action as a second baseman, third baseman, and left fielder.  The 27-year-old has hit .279/.346/.396 over 2152 career plate appearances in the minors.

Solano’s stint in the big leagues may be a short one while Montero is temporarily absent, though appearing in a game would mark Solano’s first MLB action since 2015.  Solano played in 43 games for the Nationals and Marlins over the 2012, 2013, and 2015 seasons, and the 32-year-old has since played for the Nats’ Triple-A affiliate.

Minor MLB Transactions: 10/24/16

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Here are the latest minor moves, via Matt Eddy of Baseball America:

  • The Marlins outrighted first baseman/outfielder Xavier Scruggs off of the team’s 40-man roster. He has seen brief time in each of the last three seasons at the major league level, hitting just .227/.292/.303 in his 130 total plate appearances. This year was his first with an organization other than the Cardinals. While Scruggs didn’t perform in his 24-game run with Miami, he did post an excellent .290/.408/.565 slash with 21 long balls over 382 plate appearances at Triple-A while walking in 15.2% of his trips to the dish (against a 23.6% strikeout rate).
  • The Mariners re-signed lefty Brad Mills to a minor league pact. The 31-year-old has seen action in parts of six major league seasons, though he has compiled just 79 total MLB innings with a 7.97 ERA. Mills made nine starts at Triple-A in 2016, pitching to a 5.28 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9 over 44 1/3 frames.
  • Catcher Jhonatan Solano will return to the Nationals on a minor league deal. The 31-year-old had cracked the bigs in each of the four preceding campaigns, but spent all of 2016 at Triple-A. He continued to struggle at the plate, as his .225/.286/.260 slash attests. With sturdy glovework behind the dish, though, he’ll function as organizational depth once again for the Nats — the only organization he has played for apart from a 2015 run with the Marlins.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/23/15

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We’ll track the day’s minor moves here:

  • Today’s Dodgers minor league additions include outfielders Alex Hassan and Rico Noel, the previously reported Lisalverto Bonilla, and righty Daniel Corcino, Eddy tweets. Hassan is an OBP specialist who bounced around quite a bit last year and has spent most of his time at the Triple-A level over the past several seasons. Noel, soon to turn 27, has big-time speed on the bases and cracked the Yankees’ roster late last year as a pinch runner. And the 25-year-old Corcino has at times looked like a reasonably promising young pitcher, but missed most of last year after Los Angeles claimed him off waivers from the Reds.
  • The Yankees have agreed to sign veteran righty Vinnie Pestano and catcher Sebastian Valle, Eddy adds on Twitter. Pestano, 30, has had some strong MLB campaigns in the past. But he only notched 11 2/3 big league frames last year with the Angels, though he’s posted impressive strikeout tallies at every level. Valle, a 25-year-old backstop from Mexico, spent most of his career in the Phillies organization before moving to the Pirates last year. He’s yet to reach the majors.
  • Joining the Mets on a minors deal is first baseman/outfielder Marc Krauss, per another Eddy tweet, along with pitchers Buddy Carlyle and Duane Below. Krauss has racked up 435 major league turns at the plate over the last three years, slashing .188/.255/.324. Carlyle, who just turned 38, has posted strong numbers in the upper minors and majors over the last several years.
  • The Padres have added pitchers Jose Dominguez and Carlos Pimentel on minor league deals, Eddy tweets. As Eddy notes, Dominguez has a live right arm while Pimentel was named the PCL’s pitcher of the year last season with the Cubs.

Earlier Updates

  • The Braves have added first baseman Nate Freiman on a minor league deal, Matt Eddy of Baseball America tweets. Recently released by the A’s, Freiman put up a meager .220/.279/.321 batting line last year at Triple-A but has shown more in recent years.
  • Heading to the Orioles on a minor league deal is outfielder Xavier Avery, Eddy also tweets. Avery, who’ll soon turn 26, spent time with three organizations last year at the Triple-A level and has yet to return to the majors since a 2012 debut in Baltimore.
  • Catcher Jhonatan Solano has signed a minor league deal with the Nationals that includes a major league camp invite, the club announced. Solano, 30, spent last year with the Marlins — his first season outside of the Washington organization. He’s never done much damage with the bat, but is a well-regarded receiver.
  • The Tigers also added several other players on MiLB pacts. In addition to making the Valdespin addition official, Detroit announced the signings of righties Logan Kensing, Melvin Mercedes, and Dustin Molleken as well as infielder Alberto Gonzalez and outfielder Nate Schierholtz. Mercedes and Molleken have spent the vast majority of their time in the minors, but the others all have ample big league experience. The 33-year-old Kensing allowed ten earned runs in 15 1/3 frames with the Mariners last year. Gonzalez, a seven-year MLB veteran, spent last year in the upper minors with the Detroit organization. And the 31-year-old Schierholtz failed to reach the majors last year after a string of eight seasons, playing instead for Japan’s Hiroshima Carp.
  • The Tigers have reached a minor league deal with infielder/outfielder Jordany Valdespin, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. Valdespin, who turns 28 today, does not receive an invitation to major league camp, per MLB.com’s Jason Beck (also via Twitter). The Dominican utilityman has seen MLB action in each of the last four seasons, but made it into only two games with the Marlins last year. He slashed .291/.378/.371 over 457 plate appearances at the Triple-A level in 2015.
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