Cortes had been expected to provide the organization with some additional pitching depth in the upper minors. Cortes, who does have 14 MLB appearances to his credit, was widely expected to land in the Triple-A Syracuse bullpen once the season begins in April. However, due to the failed physical and voided contract, he is no longer in camp with the Nationals in Viera.

Sep 12, 2011; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Dan Cortes (57) pitches to the New York Yankees in the 7th inning at Safeco Field. New York defeated Seattle 9-3. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-US PRESSWIRE

The 6’6″ pitcher is still recovering from surgery to his right shoulder that was performed early this offseason. He reportedly suffered some damage to his rotator cuff and a partial tear in his bicep tendon in an unspecified fall once the regular season concluded. He also allegedly broke his hand (it’s unknown which one) in a separate incident just before the season concluded. The pair of incidents ultimately led to the Seattle Mariners non-tendering him this past December, according to Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times.

Cortes’ history of off-field concerns doesn’t quite end there, unfortunately. He was stabbed multiple times in a bowling alley fight in December 2005 which nearly cost him his life. He was then arrested in 2009 for public urination outside an Arkansas nightclub. He was also close friends with Greg Halman, the Mariners outfielder who tragically was murdered in the Netherlands this past November. Cortes spoke at Halman’s funeral.

When the minor league contract was first announced in January, I wrote of the optimism surrounding Cortes’ potential on the mound. He’d need to harness some control problems, but ultimately the potential was enough that I viewed the signing as a positive move for the Nationals as he’d provide yet another viable young hard-throwing arm in the minors should the team find itself in need of bullpen depth mid-season.

Comak does mention that the organization still has some interest in Cortes, once he’s fully recovered. Of course, he’s not on the free agent market and free to sign with another organization but it seems unlikely that another team will pursue him knowing he’s not fully healthy just yet.

Cortes has seem minimal action with the Mariners over the past two seasons. In 14 career appearances he’s totaled a mere 16.0 innings of work. He’s 0-3 with a 5.06 ERA, 5.1 K/9, and 5.1 BB/9.

Originally a 2005 Draft pick (7th Round) of the Chicago White Sox, Cortes will be joining his fourth organization in the Nationals. He’s actually been traded twice – first from Chicago to Kansas City (along with Tyler Lumsden in exchange for Mike MacDougal), roughly a year after being drafted, and then later from Kansas City to Seattle (with Derrick Saito for Yuniesky Betancourt) in July 2009. He’s generally been considered a quality arm, having twice been named to Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospect list (#57 entering 2008, #90 entering 2009).

The 6’6” right-hander is a hard thrower with relatively solid strikeout numbers through his minor league career. Most of that time has been spent working as a starter rather than out of the bullpen, but his abilities seem to fit better in a relief role moving forward. Command has been a concern, as Cortes has been prone to give up a lot of base runners. If he’s able to cut back on the hits and walks, he could prove to be a valuable option for the Nationals’ bullpen moving forward.