Nationals Sign Rico Garcia To Two-Year Minor League Deal
The Nationals have signed right-hander Rico Garcia to a minor league contract that runs through the 2024 season, The Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty reports (via X). Garcia was became a free agent yesterday after being released by Washington, but he’ll now quickly rejoin the Nats.
Biceps tendinitis has kept Garcia from pitching at either the major or minor league level since July 28, and that same injury probably resulted in Garcia’s brief foray in the free agent market. Injured players can only be placed on release waivers rather than outright waivers, but it seems quite possible that there might have been a handshake deal in place for Garcia to re-sign with D.C. once the transactional red tape was cleared.
The two-year nature of the contract also seems to hint that Garcia might need more time to recover from his injury, though details are scarce on his health status. Reports from early August indicated that Garcia was starting some rehab work at the Nationals’ spring camp, but Garcia had yet to appear in any rehab games.
The 29-year-old Garcia has appeared in four of the last five MLB seasons, suiting up for five different teams. The A’s designated Garcia for assignment in July but he rejected the outright assignment to Triple-A in favor of free agency, and he then landed with the Nationals on a minors deal. Garcia has a 9.26 ERA over 11 2/3 combined innings with Oakland and Washington this season, and a 7.32 ERA over his 35 2/3 career frames of big league work.
Tommy John surgery wiped out all of Garcia’s 2021 season, but he returned as essentially a full-time relief pitcher, and he has posted some good numbers at the Triple-A level over the last two years. His 2.93 ERA over 27 2/3 Triple-A innings this season was marred by some uncharacteristic control problems, but Garcia posted a 29.51% strikeout rate.
Nationals Release Rico Garcia
TODAY: Garcia is now a free agent after clearing release waivers, the Nationals announced.
SEPTEMBER 1: The Nationals announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder Travis Blankenhorn, a move that was reported on yesterday. They also recalled right-hander Amos Willingham, with he and Blankenhorn taking the two extra spots on the expanded roster. To make room on the 40-man for Blankenhorn, the club has requested unconditional release waivers on righty Rico Garcia.
Garcia, 29, began the year with the A’s on a minor league deal, getting selected to the major league club in May. He was designated for assignment in July, cleared waivers and elected free agency. He then signed a minor league deal with the Nats and was added to their roster in mid-July. Between the two clubs, he has an earned run average of 9.26 in 11 2/3 major league innings this year. But in 27 2/3 Triple-A innings, he has an ERA of 2.93, striking out 29.5% of hitters though also walking 17.2%. He was placed on the injured list July 30 due to biceps tendinitis.
Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reported in early August that Garcia was headed to Florida to rehab. He hasn’t appeared in a rehab game yet but was perhaps nearing a return in the coming weeks. The Nats could have transferred him to the 60-day IL, but doing so would have effectively ended his season. Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, so the Nats have placed him on release waivers instead.
Nationals Assistant GM Johnny DiPuglia Resigns
Nationals assistant GM and international scouting director Johnny DiPuglia has resigned from his position, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports. DiPuglia had run the club’s international scouting operations since 2009, and was promoted to assistant GM and a VP role in the wake of the Nats’ World Series title in 2019.
Neither DiPuglia or the team publicly commented on the news, though Dougherty notes that “DiPuglia was one of [GM Mike] Rizzo’s closest confidants in the organization.” It isn’t known if DiPuglia’s status might be related to Rizzo’s own ongoing negotiations about a contract extension, though reports from a couple of weeks ago suggested that Rizzo and the Nationals were pretty close to a new agreement.
DiPuglia’s departure could also be part of Rizzo’s ongoing efforts to overhaul the player development staff which began in earnest during the 2021-22 offseason. While the 2019 championship was the peak of a successful decade for the franchise, the fall has been precipitous, as Washington is on pace for its fourth consecutive losing season. The rebuild has been apparent with the on-field product, and Rizzo has also been taking measures to improve how the Nationals operate behind the scenes, particularly in the scouting and development of its young prospects. To this end, the international scouting division has also faced difficulties in recent years, as Dougherty notes that the Nats haven’t gotten a lot of great returns from recent int’l signings.
It may be that DiPuglia’s resignation prior to the end of the season gives him more time to seek out his next job, and he’ll hit the open market with a strong resume. As Dougherty put it, DiPuglia “had to basically start from scratch” in reviving the Nats’ international department in 2009, and he “has often been credited with rebuilding the Nationals’ Latin American presence from the ashes.” The signing of Juan Soto was the crown jewel of DiPuglia’s era, as Soto’s immediate rise to superstar status was a huge reason for Washington’s breakthrough title in 2019. Before coming to the Nationals, DiPuglia’s work as the Red Sox scouting director for Latin America produced such notable players as Xander Bogaerts, Hanley Ramirez, and Anibal Sanchez.
Nationals To Select Travis Blankenhorn
The Nationals are selecting first baseman/corner outfielder Travis Blankenhorn, reports Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter link). He’ll take one of the extra spots on the September active roster. The club’s 40-man roster is at capacity, so they’ll need to make a corresponding move tomorrow.
Blankenhorn, 27, has spent the season with Triple-A Rochester after signing an offseason minor league deal. He’s had a productive year, hitting .264/.363/.521 with 23 longballs. The left-handed hitter has walked at a strong 11.3% clip and hit for enough power to offset a slightly elevated 24.3% strikeout rate.
A former third-round pick of the Twins, Blankenhorn has gotten cups of coffee with Minnesota and the Mets at the big league level. He has 26 games of MLB experience between 2020-22. The Pennsylvania native has shown well against upper minors pitching, carrying a .262/.354/.487 line in a little more than 1000 career Triple-A plate appearances.
Blankenhorn is limited defensively but offers a bat-first option for manager Dave Martinez down the stretch. He’ll look to impress the front office enough over the next five weeks to stake a claim to a 40-man spot over the winter.
Nationals Release Luis Cessa
The Nationals have released veteran right-hander Luis Cessa, who’d been pitching with their Triple-A affiliate, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. He’s now a free agent.
Cessa, 31, opened the year in the Reds’ rotation but was bounced from the starting staff after just six appearances, during which time he was tagged for 26 runs in 25 innings. He made one appearance out of the bullpen before being designated for assignment and subsequently released.
While he’s since latched on with both the Rockies and Nationals on a pair of minor league deals, he hasn’t fared well in either organization. Cessa pitched 21 1/3 innings with the Rockies’ top affiliate and 20 2/3 innings with the Nats’ Triple-A club, yielding an ERA north of 8.00 during both stints. He’s battled uncharacteristic command issues in both the big leagues and minors this year, and he’s been extremely homer-prone in Triple-A, serving up an average of 1.93 round-trippers per nine innings pitched.
Prior to the 2023 season, Cessa had found success in the bullpen, primarily serving as a long reliever with the Yankees, who traded him to the Reds at the 2021 deadline. From 2019-22, the righty logged 248 innings of 3.77 ERA ball, striking out 19.8% of his opponents against a solid 8.2% walk rate and inducing grounders at an above-average 48.2% clip. The Reds moved him to the rotation late last year and gave him 10 starts, during which he posted a respectable 4.30 ERA with more concerning secondary marks that pointed to some regression (albeit not to anywhere near this extent).
Cessa could still catch on with another team on a minor league deal between now and season’s end. However, given the extent of his struggles, he’d have a difficult time pitching his way back to the big leagues on a postseason contender — and non-contenders may prefer to give those innings to younger options. If that’s it for his 2023 season, Cessa will head back to the market this winter in search of a minor league deal, hoping for an opportunity to put a forgettable ’23 season behind him and get back to his 2019-22 form.
MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Ohtani’s Torn UCL, Free Agent Power Rankings and Stephen Strasburg to Retire
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:
- Shohei Ohtani‘s UCL tear (0:45)
- 2023-24 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings: August Edition (10:15)
- Stephen Strasburg planning to retire (16:25)
Plus, we answer your questions, including:
- Would the Brewers be a good fit for Pete Alonso? (21:10)
- What will the Cubs do at first base next year and could Alonso be a fit? (24:50)
- Could Alonso fit on the Twins? (26:35)
Check out our past episodes!
- The White Sox Fire Their Front Office, Injured Rays and Prospect Promotion Time – listen here
- Pete Alonso’s Future, Yankees’ Rotation Troubles and Should the Trade Deadline Be Pushed Back? – listen here
- The Streaking Mariners, the Struggling Angels and Injured Aces – listen here
Nationals Sign Junior Fernandez To Minor League Contract
The Nationals have signed reliever Junior Fernández to a minor league deal, as announced by their Triple-A affiliate. He’ll join their top farm team in Rochester.
Fernández had spent the 2023 campaign in the Blue Jays’ system. Toronto claimed the hard-throwing righty off waivers over the winter before successfully passing him through waivers in January. The 26-year-old played the year with their top affiliate in Buffalo, posting a 5.69 ERA in 42 games before being released last week.
As has been the case throughout his career, inconsistent strike-throwing was an issue for Fernández with the Bisons. He walked 11.3% of opposing hitters while striking batters out at a below-average 19.9% clip. He kept the ball on the ground at a quality 51.6% rate but saw nearly a quarter of the fly balls he did allow clear the fence.
Fernández’s arsenal is headlined by an upper-90s sinker. The pitch averaged 98.7 MPH during an MLB stint between the Cardinals and Pirates a season ago. It’s not conducive to missing as many bats as the raw velocity might suggest, but it has enabled him to run a quality 49.4% grounder percentage over 54 career MLB innings. He’s pitched in parts of four big league seasons overall, mostly with St. Louis, working to a 5.17 ERA. He owns a 4.70 mark through four years at the Triple-A level.
The Nationals will give him a change of scenery look for the stretch run. Fernández would return to the open market at the start of the offseason if Washington doesn’t call him up before year’s end. They could keep him around beyond this season if they add him to the 40-man roster, though doing so would require them to keep him in the MLB bullpen since he’s out of minor league options.
Pat Corrales Passes Away
Former big league player, manager and coach Pat Corrales has passed away, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Corrales was 82 years old.
Born in Los Angeles in 1941, Patrick Corrales attended Fresno High School before signing with the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1959. He worked his way up the minor league ladder and made his major league debut in 1964, though only got into two games that year. He would carve out a semi-regular role as a backup catcher in the seasons to come, bouncing to the Cardinals, Reds and Padres.
From 1964 to 1973, he got into 300 games and made 858 plate appearances. He had a batting average of .216 in that time, getting 166 hits, including 28 doubles, three triples and four home runs. He scored 63 runs, drove in 54 and stole one base. The 1970 Reds won the National League West and then defeated the Pirates in the NLCS to advance to the World Series, though they were then defeated by the Orioles. With the O’s up 3-1 in the series and 9-3 in the fifth game, Corrales was sent up to pinch hit for Hal McRae with two outs in the ninth. Corrales grounded out to finish the series and the season, the only postseason plate appearance of his career. (YouTube link via the Orioles.)
After his playing career ended, Corrales shifted into a managerial role, starring with the Rangers in the late ’70s before serving as skipper for Philadelphia and Cleveland. As a manager, he had a record of 572-634 over parts of nine different seasons. His last season as a manager was 1987, but he went on to spend many years as a bench coach, starting with the Yankees. He served in that role for Atlanta for nine years, including the club that won the 1995 World Series. He also served as a bench coach for the Nationals before being hired by the Dodgers as a special assistant to the general manager in 2012.
We at MLB Trade Rumors extend our condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.
Nationals Select Drew Millas
The Nationals announced that they have selected the contract of catcher Drew Millas, a move that seemed to be coming since it was reported yesterday that Millas was travelling with the club to Toronto. In corresponding moves, outfielder Blake Rutherford was optioned after yesterday’s game while righty Carl Edwards Jr. was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Millas, now 25, was originally drafted by the Athletics in 2019 but came to the Nats in the 2021 deadline deal that sent Yan Gomes and Josh Harrison the other way. He has since climbed his way up the minor league ladder, finishing last year at Double-A. Coming into this year, he was considered the club’s #25 prospect by Baseball America, who highlighted his defense but expressed concerns about his aggressiveness at the plate, with Millas having been punched out in 31.4% of his Double-A plate appearances last year.
He started this year back at Double-A and showed a great deal of improvement. In 99 plate appearances, he struck out at just a 16.2% clip and slashed .341/.455/.537, getting promoted to Triple-A in late May. FanGraphs then published its list of top prospects in the system in early June, bumping Millas up to the #6 spot. Since getting up to Triple-A, he’s taken 229 trips to the plate over 58 games. He drew walks at a 11.4% rate and struck out at a 14.4% strikeout clip while hitting .270/.362/.403 and will now get a bump to the majors.
The Nats will now have a three-catcher setup a tad earlier than usual, as such roster alignments are popular around the league when rosters expand in September. Millas will join Keibert Ruiz and Riley Adams as the club’s catching trio for the time being, perhaps for the remainder of the season. The club has been playing well of late but are still well below .500 and eight games out of a playoff spot, meaning they are still clearly focused on the future.
Ruiz is hitting around a league average rate this year but his defensive marks aren’t great, including -11 Defensive Runs Saved and negative grades for his framing from both FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus. Nonetheless, he is fairly settled in as the club’s primary backstop, having signed an eight-year extension back in March. Adams is also graded poorly for his glovework but has a strong .278/.338/.489 batting line for the year. Most of that damage has come against lefties, as the right-handed hitter is slashing .349/.414/.603 with the platoon advantage. The Nats will have the final month-plus of the schedule to sprinkle playing time around to these three and determine how to proceed in future seasons.
As for Edwards, his transfer is little more than a formality. He’s already been on the injured list longer than 60 days, having landed there on June 21. He’s eligible to be reinstated whenever he’s healthy, but that isn’t likely to be in the near future as he was recently diagnosed with a stress fracture in his throwing shoulder and shut down.
NL East Notes: Robertson, Albies, Nationals
When the Marlins shipped a pair of intriguing young prospects to New York in order to acquire veteran right-hander David Robertson from the Mets, it was a statement of intent to contend by Miami, as they acquired perhaps the top rental reliever available at this year’s trade deadline. It was Robertson’s second time being dealt at the deadline in as many years, as the 38-year-old veteran was swapped from the Cubs to the Phillies in exchange for pitching prospect Ben Brown 13 months ago. Sporting a 2.23 ERA in 40 1/3 innings of work at the time of that deal, Robertson went on to post similarly excellent numbers in Philadelphia with a 2.70 ERA in 22 regular season appearances down the stretch and just one run allowed in his eight postseason appearances as the Phillies headed to the World Series for the first time since 2009.
At the time of this year’s deal, Robertson was having an even better season, with a 2.05 ERA in 44 innings of work with a 27.9% strikeout rate. Unfortunately for the Marlins, he hasn’t been the shutdown closer they were expecting in ten appearances with the club. He’s posted a brutal 7.20 ERA and 6.17 FIP in ten innings since joining Miami, with just four saves in seven chances. Those brutal results have led the Marlins to remove their veteran deadline addition from the closer role entirely, according to Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. Mish suggests Tanner Scott, who sports a 2.59 ERA and 2.12 FIP in 59 innings of work this season, could replace Robertson as the club’s closer moving forward.
The move reflects the dire situation Miami finds itself in after a difficult August; at the time of the Robertson deal, the club was 54-49 and firmly in the mix for one of the NL Wild Card spots. Since then, the Marlins have gone just 12-16, falling to 65-64 and three games back of the third Wild Card spot. While that’s hardly an insurmountable deficit with more than a month to go in the season, the club is facing playoff odds of just 19.4% at this point per Fangraphs, far worse than their 49.3% odds on the day of the Robertson deal.
More from the NL East…
- Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies has been on the 10-day injured list since earlier this month with a hamstring strain, but could already be nearing a return. Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution relayed an update regarding Albies this evening, indicating that Atlanta will “see just how well he feels” tomorrow after a successful workout this afternoon. When Albies is ready to go, it seems he’ll be activated from the injured list directly, as Toscano notes that manager Brian Snitker has previously indicated the infielder won’t require a rehab assignment before returning to action. Albies, who sports a 121 wRC+ in 510 trips to the plate this season, has been covered for by Nicky Lopez and Vaughn Grissom at the keystone while he’s been on the shelf.
- The Nationals announced this afternoon that the club had optioned outfielder Blake Rutherford to Triple-A. Rutherford, a 26-year-old journeyman and former first-round pick by the Yankees who made his MLB debut with Washington earlier this month, slashed just .182/.206/.182 in 34 trips to the plate with the Nationals prior to his demotion. Rutherford’s demotion sparked rumors regarding who would replace him on the active roster, with both Bobby Blanco and Mark Zuckerman of MASN indicating that the club could look to promote catching prospect Drew Millas. Millas, the club’s 23rd-best prospect per MLB Pipeline, is a defensive-first catcher who has impressed with the bat this season, batting .291/.390/.442 in 328 trips to the plate this season between the Double-A and Triple-A levels.