Nationals Select Jacob Young, Transfer Stone Garrett To 60-Day IL
1:15PM: The Nationals have now made it official, announcing that they have selected Young’s contract. In corresponding moves, infielder Jeter Downs was optioned to Triple-A Rochester and Garrett was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Garrett suffered a fractured fibula earlier this week and underwent a season-ending surgery yesterday, as Nats manager Davey Martinez informed the Washington Post’s Andrew Golden and other reporters.
11:51AM: The Nationals are calling up outfield prospect Jacob Young, according to Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (X link). Young will be making his MLB debut whenever he appears in a game, which could be as early as today against the Marlins. The Nats will need to make at least one corresponding move, since Young isn’t on the 40-man roster.
Young is a University of Florida product who was a seventh-round pick for the Nationals in the 2021 draft. Playing in A-ball for his first two pro seasons, Young has made a quick progression in 2023, starting in high-A ball and now moving all the way up to the majors. Hitting well at both the high-A and Double-A levels, Young has only played in four Triple-A games, appearing in Rochester for the first time just earlier this week.
Over 496 total minor league plate appearances this season, Young has hit .305/.376/.418, with six homers and an impressive stolen base ratio of 39 steals against seven times caught. This comes on the heels of Young’s 52 steals (in 59 chances) at A-level Fredericksburg in 2022. Pundits rate Young as plus-plus speed, with Baseball America’s scouting report noting “some scouts called him one of the best baserunners they have ever seen.”
This skill alone makes the 24-year-old Young an interesting player to watch, though the rest of his game might need some polish. BA ranks Young 24th among Washington prospects and MLB Pipeline ranks him 30th, as Young doesn’t have much power and is reliant on his speed to beat out a grounder-heavy approach. His defense is promising, since Young has mostly played left field in the pro but has also seen time as a center fielder and right fielder, as well as a couple of games at second base.
With Stone Garrett likely out for the season due to a leg fracture, the Nationals have some need for outfield help. Young figures to join Lane Thomas, Alex Call, Jake Alu, Blake Rutherford, and utilityman Ildemaro Vargas in the outfield mix, as the rebuilding Nats continue to evaluate their young talent while quietly playing some quality baseball in recent weeks. Washington has a 24-15 record since the All-Star break.
Stephen Strasburg Plans To Retire
Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg plans to retire, per a report from Jesse Dougherty and Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post. A news conference is tentatively scheduled for September 9. He signed a massive seven-year, $245MM contract prior to the 2020 season but has hardly pitched since then due to injuries. The financial specifics of how that contract will be affected by this retirement are not yet known.
The news is, on the one hand, not terribly surprising in light of what has transpired in recent seasons. In the almost four years since the ink dried on that contract, Strasburg has only thrown 31 1/3 total innings. Frequent injuries have repeatedly derailed his attempts to get on the mound, with thoracic outlet syndrome the most significant. But taking a wider view, it’s a shocking, sad and far-too-early end to a career that had such tremendous highs.
Strasburg, now 35, was one of the most highly-regarded prospects in history based on his work at San Diego State University. As a sophomore in 2008, he posted a 1.58 ERA in 98 1/3 innings and followed that up with a 1.32 ERA in 109 innings as a junior. The Nationals held the first overall pick in the 2009 draft and selected Strasburg, signing him shortly thereafter to a four-year, $15.1MM contract.
Strasburg made his professional debut in the Arizona Fall League that year and went into 2010 as already one of the top prospects in the league. Baseball America ranked him second overall, trailing only Jason Heyward at that time. Their report from that time noted his fastball, which sat in the mid-to-upper 90s and could touch 102 mph. They also highlighted his plus-plus curveball and plus changeup, noting that he had excellent command of all his pitches.
He came into 2010 with the highest of expectations, especially for a franchise that has just moved to Washington from Montreal in 2005 and had performed quite poorly since then. He began that year in Double-A but dominated in five starts with a 1.64 ERA and was in Triple-A by early May. Six starts at that level resulted in an ERA of 1.08 and a promotion to the major leagues by June.
In his much-hyped first major league outing against the Pirates, he tossed seven innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits. He didn’t surrender a walk and punched out 14 opponents. He finished his rookie season with a 2.91 ERA in 68 innings, striking out an incredible 33.6% of batters he faced. Unfortunately, the excitement of those results was paired with the news in August that Strasburg would require Tommy John surgery.
Although Strasburg was set to miss most of the 2011 campaign, the positive feeling around the Nationals was starting to build. The club was able to select another franchise-altering player when they got Bryce Harper with the first overall pick in 2010. Subsequent years would see them add other significant young players like Anthony Rendon, selected 11th overall in 2011, and Trea Turner, acquired from the Padres in a 2015 trade.
Strasburg, along with those players and many others, would lead the Nationals out of their years-long rebuild and into a period of prolonged success. The club went 80-81 in 2011 as Strasburg returned from his Tommy John rehab and made five starts late in the year. The club would emerge as a perennial contender from there, making the postseason in 2012 and finishing above .500 in each season for the rest of the decade, with multiple playoff appearances sprinkled in.
That stretch was marked by tremendous work from Strasburg, though also significant injury issues. The 2012 to 2018 period saw him post a 3.19 ERA over 189 starts, striking out 28.8% of batters, walking 6.5% and getting grounders on 45.2% of balls in play. But there were limits to the volume of his workload, most controversially in 2012. His first full season after the Tommy John surgery, he was famously shut down in September. The Nats made the playoffs for the first time since the franchise relocated, but they were eliminated by the Cardinals in the NLDS as Strasburg was left off the roster.
He finished that year with 159 1/3 innings pitched and managed to increase that total over the next two years, getting to 183 in 2013 and then 215 in 2014. He added another five postseason frames in that latter campaign, though the Nats were again eliminated in the NLDS, this time by the Giants. But he struggled to stay at that level of output in the seasons to come. Issues with his shoulder, back and elbow would send him to the injured list at various times, which kept him between 127 1/3 and 175 1/3 innings in each campaign from 2015 to 2018.
But the results were still good, despite the injuries, with Strasurg never finishing any of those seasons with an ERA higher than 3.74. In the midst of that period, May of 2016, he and the Nats agreed to a seven-year, $175MM extension, though one that afforded him opt-out opportunities after 2019 and 2020.
It was in 2019 that everything finally went right, both for him and the club. He stayed healthy all season and logged 209 innings over 33 starts. He registered a 3.32 ERA, 29.8% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 51.1% ground ball rate. The Nationals as a club got out to a dreadful 19-31 start but rallied over the rest of the season to finish 93-69, securing a spot in the Wild Card game. Max Scherzer started for the Nats against the Brewers, but Strasburg entered the game with the Nats trailing 3-1 after five. He tossed three shutout innings as they took the lead, eventually winning 4-3 as Strasburg went down as the winning pitcher.
From there, the Nats went through the Dodgers, Cardinals and Astros, winning their first World Series title. Strasburg tossed 36 1/3 innings in that postseason with a 1.98 ERA, including two starts in the World Series with a 2.51 ERA, earning MVP of the series in the process.
On the heels of that excellent season, Strasburg triggered his opt-out and signed the aforementioned seven-year, $245MM deal. In 2020, he made just two starts before being diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome and undergoing surgery. It was hoped that he would be fully healthy for 2021 but he only made five starts before it was determined he would require thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, a procedure that he was never able to recover from. He made one start in June of 2022, with diminished velocity, before landing right back on the injured list immediately after. Later that year, he expressed his belief that he had been dealing with the thoracic outlet symptoms since 2018.
This year, he tried to start a throwing program in the offseason but continued to experience nerve discomfort. He was shut down from all physical activity and apparently has given up on ever getting things back on track. Today’s report indicates that his nerve damage is such that “he has struggled with mundane tasks, such as lifting his young daughters or opening a door with his right hand.” A report from Dougherty back in July highlighted that there are two different types of thoracic outlet syndrome. Players like Merrill Kelly have had venous TOS and bounced back whereas Strasburg has neurogenic TOS, which typically is harder to recover from. Though his deal runs through 2026, he and the club have presumably worked out some sort of arrangement for the remainder, the details of which remain unknown at this point.
Thanks in large part to that condition, Strasburg’s career will be filed in the brief-but-brilliant category. He appeared in 247 regular season games, throwing 1,470 innings with a 3.24 ERA. He struck out 28.9% of the batters he faced in that time, walked 6.6% of them and kept the ball on the ground at a 45.8% rate. He was selected to three All-Star clubs and won a World Series, earning series MVP honors in the process. MLB Trade Rumors congratulates Strasburg on a fantastic career and wishes him the best in retirement.
Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Nationals’ Stone Garrett Suffers Fractured Leg
12:08pm: Garrett is heading back to Washington D.C. to have additional testing, including an MRI, performed on his fractured fibula, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. Surgery is a possibility, it seems. The severity of the fracture will determine both the treatment and potential timeline for recovery.
Aug. 24, 9:40am: The Nationals announced this morning that Garrett has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a fractured left fibula. No timetable for his return was provided. Infielder Jeter Downs was recalled from Triple-A Rochester in his place.
Aug. 23: In an unfortunate scene this evening at Yankee Stadium, Nationals’ corner outfielder Stone Garrett suffered a potentially serious left leg injury. Playing right field, Garrett tracked a DJ LeMahieu fly ball that cleared the fence for a home run (video provided by Talkin’ Yanks). Garrett leaped to try to pull the ball back. His cleat appeared to catch in the padding of the right field wall, and he was in obvious pain after landing.
Trainers placed Garrett’s leg in an air cast and carted him off the field. After the game, manager Dave Martinez said the club was still awaiting word on the injury’s severity (link via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com). Garrett underwent x-rays at Yankee Stadium and will soon head for an MRI. Martinez said the club believes the injury to be to the outfielder’s lower leg as opposed to his ankle.
Garrett, 27, has been a solid contributor for Washington this season. He made his MLB debut with the Diamondbacks late last year, appearing in 26 games. He elected free agency after Arizona designated him for assignment at the start of the offseason. Garrett caught on with the Nats on a major league contract and has tallied 271 plate appearances.
The right-handed hitter owns a .269/.343/.457 line with nine home runs. He’s striking out over 30% of the time and has benefitted from a lofty .365 average on balls in play, but he’s making plenty of hard contact and walking at a quality 9.6% clip. Garrett at least looks like a potential rotational outfield option with power — particularly when holding the platoon advantage. Between his brief stint in Arizona and this year’s work, Garrett has slugged .524 with nine homers in 193 MLB plate appearances versus left-handed pitching.
This is Garrett’s first full season at the major league level. He is under club control for five-plus seasons and won’t qualify for arbitration until after the 2025 campaign at the earliest.
Carl Edwards Jr. Shut Down With Stress Fracture In Shoulder
Nationals reliever Carl Edwards Jr. was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his throwing shoulder, tweets Andrew Golden of the Washington Post. He’ll be shut down from throwing indefinitely.
The Nats haven’t officially ruled Edwards out for the season. With less than six weeks remaining, it’d nevertheless be a surprise if he makes it back to an MLB mound this year. Edwards has already been out of action since June 20 on account of shoulder inflammation. He seemed on his way to a return, making three rehab appearances last week. He felt renewed discomfort following an appearance with High-A Wilmington on Saturday, leading to further testing that revealed the stress fracture.
It’s not the most consequential news for a Washington club that, while playing better of late, has no playoff aspirations. It’s a tough break for Edwards, though, as the right-hander is headed back to the open market next offseason. Missing the final few months of his platform year — if that indeed proves the case — would be an unfortunate way to hit free agency.
Edwards, 32 next month, has been an effective middle innings arm for Washington over the past two seasons. He provided 62 innings of 2.76 ERA ball a year ago. Even with middling strikeout and walk marks, that was enough to secure a $2.25MM contract for his final season of arbitration. Edwards pitched 31 2/3 innings before the injury this year, turning in a 3.69 ERA.
That respectable run prevention mark belied underlying numbers that went in the wrong direction. Edwards’ strikeout percentage fell five points to 16.9%. His walks jumped from 9.8% a season ago to 12% this year. He kept the ball on the ground at a decent 46% clip but saw his swinging strike rate dip to a career-low 9.6% rate. Between that strikeout/walk profile and the shoulder concerns, Edwards could be limited to minor league offers during the winter.
Nationals Agree To Extension With Dave Martinez, Working On Deal With Mike Rizzo
The Nationals are working to finalize extensions for manager Dave Martinez and president of baseball operations/general manager Mike Rizzo, report Ken Rosenthal and Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic. Martinez has already agreed to a two-year deal with a club option for the 2026 season, per the report. Rizzo is close to agreeing to a contract of “similar length.”
Both Martinez and Rizzo had club options exercised for the 2023 season and are in the final seasons of their current contracts. There’s been longstanding speculation regarding the contract status of both, with the ongoing rumblings of a potential sale of the franchise only muddying the waters. Even amid that uncertainty, current Nationals ownership will opt for continuity and give both Martinez and Rizzo the opportunity to see the rebuild that began under their watch through to completion.
Martinez and Rizzo helmed the Nationals’ stunning run, famously shaking off a 19-31 start to surge into postseason contention, seize a Wild Card spot, and ultimately emerge as World Series champions. Things have since taken a turn for the worse. Several stars who keyed that World Series run — most notably Anthony Rendon — have left in free agency. The decision to re-sign World Series hero Stephen Strasburg proved almost immediately regrettable, as Strasburg has been injured for the vast majority of the past four years and is facing questions about whether he’ll ever pitch again.
With the Nationals falling well shy of expectations in 2021, Rizzo made the difficult decision to trade ace Max Scherzer, star shortstop Trea Turner and several other veterans, kickstarting a rebuilding effort originally envisioned to be built around young phenom Juan Soto. However, when Soto rejected a 14-year extension offer, Rizzo & Co. bit the bullet and traded Soto for a franchise-altering package of young talent.
Scherzer, Turner, Soto, Daniel Hudson, Kyle Schwarber, Jon Lester and others were all traded in deals netting a combination of Keibert Ruiz, Josiah Gray, CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Lane Thomas and a slew of prospects (James Wood, Jarlin Susana and Robert Hassell III among them). As with most rebuilding clubs, the Nats have also picked near the top of the past several drafts, landing notable prospects like Brady House, Elijah Green and 2023 No. 2 overall pick Dylan Crews.
Buoyed by that wave of young talent, the Nats have the look of an organization on the rise. But while the faces taking the field will have turned over almost entirely from the prior core that led the club to a World Series win, ownership clearly has faith in the same decision-makers who previously brought them to the dance.
Martinez is in his sixth season as the team’s manager and is now guaranteed another two years at the helm. The rebuild has taken a toll on his overall managerial record, which sits at 378-455. Rizzo, meanwhile, has been the team’s general manager since 2009 and was bumped to the title of president of baseball operations back. A two-year deal for Rizzo would lock him in for his 16th and 17th years running baseball operations in D.C. — and give him an extended window to see how the fruits of his latest rebuilding efforts will acclimate to the Major League level.
Nationals Release Franmil Reyes, Jacob Nottingham
The Nationals released Franmil Reyes and Jacob Nottingham from their minor league deals, as indicated by the transactions page for Triple-A Rochester. Reyes signed with the Nats in May and Nottingham joined the organization in early July, with neither player seeing any action at the big league level.
After hitting 92 homers with a .260/.325/.503 slash line over 1540 plate appearances with San Diego and Cleveland from 2018-21, Reyes’ production has sharply cratered over the last two seasons. He struggled so much in the first half of the 2022 season that the Guardians designated him for assignment in early August, and Reyes then went to the Cubs on a waiver claim. Chicago opted to outright Reyes off their roster after the season rather than pay a projected $6MM arbitration salary, and Reyes then landed in Kansas City on a minor league deal.
Reyes hit only .186/.231/.288 over 65 PA with the Royals, who then DFA’ed him in May, and Reyes opted to again become a free agent. Signing with the Nationals organization didn’t provide any new spark, as Reyes hit .219/.322/.383 over 149 in Rochester, electing to stay with the team despite a pair of earlier opt-out dates.
Despite all his struggles over the last two seasons, it still seems likely that the 28-year-old Reyes will catch on with another team eager to see if his power bat can be revived. The next chance might not come until 2024, however, if clubs prefer to give their younger players more playing time over the last few weeks of the Triple-A season and postseason.
Nottingham’s MLB resume consists of 53 games with the Brewers and Mariners from 2018-21, and the catcher has yet to return to the big leagues. He spent 2022 in the Orioles’ farm system and then returned to the Mariners on another minor league contract during the offseason, before getting traded to the Giants in May and released in late June. Nottingham provided Washington with some catching depth at the Triple-A level, but the Nationals will now make room for prospect Brady Lindsly, who was just promoted to Rochester on Friday.
Nationals Place Paolo Espino On Release Waivers
The Nationals announced a series of roster moves today as they reinstated right-hander Trevor Williams from the bereavement list, reinstated catcher Israel Pineda from the 60-day injured list, and optioned him to Double-A. In a corresponding move, right-hander Paolo Espino was placed on unconditional release waivers.
Williams signed a two-year, $13MM deal with the Nationals ahead of the 2023 on the heels of a solid season as a swingman for the Mets last year, when he posted a 3.21 ERA and 3.88 FIP in 89 1/3 innings of work. In a full-time rotation role this season, Williams hasn’t been able to replicate that success, as he’s struggled to a 4.72 ERA and 5.55 FIP in 22 starts. Among pitchers who have recorded at least 100 innings this season, Williams’ 0.4 fWAR ranks ahead of only Michael Kopech of the White Sox and Martin Perez of the Rangers.
While Williams has struggled as a full-time starter this season, the former second round pick has previous success as a rotation piece dating back to 2018, when he posted a 3.11 ERA in 170 1/3 innings of work with the Pirates. He’ll look to get back on track through the remainder of the 2023 campaign with an eye toward 2024, where he figures to continue as a rotation option for Washington alongside the likes of Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore, and Patrick Corbin.
Pineda, 22, has just four games of big league experience under his belt and has missed the entire season to this point due to a fractured ring finger and an oblique strain. He’s ranked as the club’s 23rd best prospect per MLB Pipeline and 17th per Fangraphs. While Pineda could be ready for a longer-team big league role as soon as next season, the Nationals are fairly well set up at the major league level behind the plate with a tandem of youngsters in the form of Keibert Ruiz and Riley Adams.
Espino, 36, had been on the 15-day IL since mid-July with a flexor strain. He pitched just four innings with the big league Nationals this season, during which he allowed 11 runs on 14 hits and three walks while striking out three. Prior to his disastrous stint with the club earlier this season, Espino had spent the last two seasons as a fixture of Washington’s pitching staff, throwing 223 innings across 77 appearances (38 starts) to a 4.56 ERA and 4.70 FIP. Going forward, Espino will likely have to look for a new minor league deal as he looks for a new team to rehab his current injury with.
Nationals Release Jose Urena
The Nationals released right-hander Jose Urena, according to his MLB.com profile page. Urena has been part of the Nats organization since May, when he inked a minor league contract after being released by the Rockies.
Things haven’t gone smoothly for Urena at either the major or minor league levels in 2023. He posted a 9.82 ERA with nine homers allowed over 18 1/3 innings for the Rockies, before being released at the end of April. Urena followed up those struggles with a 6.31 ERA in 67 frames for the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate, with 16 more long balls allowed. A low-strikeout grounder specialist throughout his career, Urena has had some home-run issues in the past, but those problems have become a full-blown crisis this season.
Colorado still owes Urena the balance of his 2023 salary — roughly $950K left of a $3MM guarantee, and there is a $500K buyout of his 2024 club option. The Nationals ended up not having to pay Urena even a prorated MLB minimum salary, as he never made Washington’s big league roster.
Rough 2023 numbers aside, there’s a chance Urena might still catch on elsewhere on a minors deal, as teams are always looking for starting pitching depth. The right-hander could also fill a roster hole left as clubs call up pitching prospects to the Show. However, with about a month left in the minor league season, teams also simply might prefer to give that remaining playing time to their future prospects, rather than a 31-year-old who hasn’t been effective at the MLB level (5.61 ERA in his last 324 innings) for a few years now.
Corey Dickerson Clears Release Waivers
The Nationals announced that veteran outfielder Corey Dickerson went unclaimed on release waivers. He’s officially a free agent.
Dickerson, 34, lost his roster spot on Wednesday. The left-handed hitter signed a $2.25MM free agent contract over the winter. His stint in the nation’s capital didn’t go well. Dickerson missed six weeks with a calf strain and struggled over the 52 games he played. He hit .250/.283/.354 with a pair of home runs. The on-base and slugging marks were the lowest of his career.
Once the trade deadline passed, the Nationals decided to move on from the former All-Star. They called up former Yankees’ first-rounder Blake Rutherford for an audition in the corner outfield. It’s understandable the last-place club preferred to get a look at Rutherford, who’d be controllable for a number of seasons if he plays well enough to secure a spot.
The Nationals remain on the hook for the rest of Dickerson’s salary. He’ll likely be limited to minor league offers now that he’s back on the open market. If another club called him to the majors at any point this season, they’d pay just the prorated portion of the $720K minimum, which would be subtracted from the Nationals’ payments.
Nationals Option Luis García, Release Corey Dickerson
The Nationals announced after today’s game that they have requested unconditional release waivers on outfielder Corey Dickerson and optioned infielder Luis García to Triple-A Rochester. The corresponding moves haven’t been announced but Talk Nats reports that outfielder Blake Rutherford will be selected to the roster for one of them. Infielder Jeter Downs will be recalled for the other, per Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post.
García, 23, was once a top 100 prospect but has continually struggled to hit in the big leagues. Dating back to the 2020 season, he’s appeared in 302 games and taken 1,169 plate appearances, coming into today’s action. He’s mustered a batting line of .263/.291/.388 in that time, which amounts to a wRC+ of 82. That includes a .260/.294/.363 showing this year, translating to a 74 wRC+.
Those numbers are especially concerning since his hit tool was supposed to be his standout feature as a prospect. Advanced defensive metrics don’t like his glovework at second base much, with García having tallied -2 Defensive Runs Saved there in his career, along with -14 Outs Above Average and a grade of -6.5 from Ultimate Zone Rating. His numbers at shortstop are worse.
The Nats will now send him back to Triple-A to get more work there, though he has little to prove at that level. In 82 games there in his career, he’s hit .306/.368/.554 but hasn’t been able to replicate that at the big league level. He’ll now try to get back in a groove and earn himself another chance.
From a service time perspective, he began this year with one year and 164 days of service. He’s already gone well past the two-year mark but his chances of reaching Super Two status at the end of the this year could go down, depending on how long he’s out. Perhaps more importantly, he has just one option year remaining. Once he spends 20 days on optional assignment, he’ll burn that last option here in 2023 and be out of options going into 2024. The Nats will likely still be rebuilding next year and could give him another shot, though his grasp on a roster spot would likely be more tenuous at that point.
As for Dickerson, 34, it’s hardly a surprise to see him lose his roster spot now. He was one of a handful of veterans that the Nats brought in over the winter on one-year deals to serve as veteran mentors and hopefully become trade chips. Jeimer Candelario showed the best-case scenario as he mashed and was able to be flipped to the Cubs for a couple of prospects. But Dickerson has hit just .252/.285/.357 for the year, producing a wRC+ of 71 that would be a career low for him. Now that the deadline has passed, the club will use his roster spot to give a chance to other players with a greater chance to help in future seasons.
One of those players the Nats will get a look at will reportedly be Rutherford. The 26-year-old was a first round pick of the Yankees, getting selected 18th overall in 2016. He was considered a top 100 prospect going into 2017 before getting flipped to the White Sox that summer as part of a seven-player deal that sent Todd Frazier, David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle to the Yankees.
The Sox added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2019 to prevent him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft, but he didn’t hit much in the years to come and was eventually outrighted off the roster, without getting a chance to make his major league debut. He cleared waivers in the process, meaning the other 29 clubs in the league had a chance to grab him and passed.
He reached free agency after last year, signing a minor league contract with the Nats in the winter and has seemingly been back in good form. He’s hit .345/.395/.583 in 62 games split between Double-A and Triple-A this year, producing a 153 wRC+. That’s obviously much better than his combined batting line of .262/.305/.399 from 2019 to 2022. The Nats will now give him a chance to see how he can handle major league pitching. If he succeeds, he still has no service time and can be retained for six seasons beyond this one. He also has an option year remaining, giving the club a bit of roster flexibility to use at some point.