September 19, 2012; Washington, D.C., USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher John Lannan (31) pitches in the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE

This comes as no surprise for Lannan and Flores. Lannan, now 28, started on Opening Day twice for the Nats, owns a career 4.01 ERA, and made $5 million last season, spent almost all of the season at AAA Syracuse. The team chose to go with Ross Detwiler over him for the fifth spot in the rotation, and he made only six major league starts, most of those coming as Stephen Strasburg‘s replacement at the end of the season. He would have received a raise from his salary this season through arbitration, and the Nationals were unwilling to pay that much for him to stay in AAA for another season. He was the second-longest tenured National, behind only Ryan Zimmerman, but now figures to draw interest from teams like the Royals and Mets.

Flores, also 28, came to the Nats as a Rule 5 draft pick from the Mets in 2007, the same season he made his MLB debut. He had been a fairly highly regarded prospect, but was 23 years old and still playing in A ball. He played decently in the majors, with a combined .252 average over his first two seasons. He was hitting .301 29 games into the 2009 season when he suffered a stress fracture in his shoulder that caused him to miss the rest of the season. Repeated setbacks caused him to miss the entire 2010 season as well. He finally returned in 2011, but was not the same player, hitting .209 in 30 games. In 2012, he was given a chance to become the team’s number one catcher after Wilson Ramos tore his ACL in May, but failed to take advantage of that opportunity, hitting .213 in 83 games. With the acquisition of Kurt Suzuki from Oakland in August, Flores was made expendable. He made $815,000 last season, and would likely have received a similar or slightly higher amount in 2013. He has already drawn interest from the Mets, and figures to receive calls from a few other catcher-needy teams as well.

Gorzelanny’s non-tender came as a bit more of a surprise. He was acquired from the Cubs before the 2011 season in exchange for prospects Michael Burgess, A.J. Morris, and Graham Hicks. Burgess hit .259 as a 24-year-old in AA last season, the 26-year-old Morris missed all of the 2011 season with an injury but had a 2.24 ERA in 52.1 IP in High A last year, and Graham Hicks recently returned to the Nats as a minor league free agent. Gorzelanny was an effective reliever with the Nats, throwing to a 2.88 ERA in 72.0 IP last season, but made $4 million last season and was going to receive a raise, a hefty cost for a reliever. However, with Gorzelanny’s becoming a free agent, the Nationals now have no left-handed relievers on their roster. In addition to Gorzelanny, Sean Burnett and Mike Gonzalez are free agents, but the Nationals could conceivably re-sign all three, or sign any other free agent relievers in order to put lefties in their pen.

August 21, 2012; Washington, D.C., USA; Washington Nationals catcher Jesus Flores (26) hits a three-run home run in the fifth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE

2012 Projection (ZiPS): .226/.266/.366, 6 HR, 31 RBI, 73 games (243 AB)
2012 Actual: .213/.248/.329, 6 HR, 26 RBI, 83 games (277 AB)

As you can see, Flores was pushed into action a little more than was initially thought but still had a backup workload except for a brief spell when he was the every day catcher. Flores’s best action in his career came in part-time duty (29 games) in 2009. Many believe Flores being a Rule-V pick forced him into the Majors earlier than he should have been with his development. He missed the entire 2010 season stemming from a September 2009 injury of a torn labrum. Ever since then, his power has been sapped and seems to have hurt him at the plate.

In the field, Flores has also been affected by the injury. Prior to the injury, he threw out 30.9% of potential base stealers in the Major Leagues. After the injury, he has only thrown out 16.3%. Some of that may be small sample size, some of that may be his continued recovery but it doesn’t bode well if you have a backup catcher who has trouble throwing people out and at the plate.

Flores is still young (27) who could bounce back and the Nationals hope he does. He isn’t looked to for a big role but with so many Nationals catchers getting time at the major league level, Flores may be in trouble if his shoulder forces him to continue to struggle. Add that to the fact that both Ramos and Suzuki should be in Nationals uniforms by the start of next season.

Season Highlight: Flores had a hard season at the plate for the most part but on May 27, he had 2 RBI singles – including the go ahead run – in a 7-2 win against the Atlanta Braves for his most productive game of the season at the plate.

Previous Reviews:
Xavier Nady
Chien Ming Wang
Mark DeRosa
Henry Rodriguez
Carlos Maldonado
Brad Lidge
Ryan Mattheus
Ryan Perry
Rick Ankiel

Jun. 8, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Oakland Athletics catcher Kurt Suzuki against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Suzuki’s acquisition gives the Nationals a veteran battery-mate for Flores who can relieve their fielding issues at catcher. GM Mike Rizzo said that he views Suzuki as a number one catcher, and that he will compete with Wilson Ramos, who is out with a torn ACL, for the starting job next season. It is unknown whether or not Suzuki will become the team’s number one catcher when he joins the Nationals, but Rizzo said it is likely that Sandy Leon will be optioned to AAA Syracuse to make room for Suzuki on the 25-man active roster. To make room for Suzuki on the 40-man roster, the team designated catcher Carlos Maldonado for assignment.

David Freitas was a 15th round pick for the Nationals out of the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2010. He has hit well in the minors, compiling a composite .288/.398/.437 line over parts of three season in three minor league levels, the highest being High-A Potomac this season. In a compilation of many Nationals top prospects rankings across the internet, including ones from Baseball America and ESPN’s Keith Law, the baseball blog Steal Of Home ranked Freitas as the 19th best prospect in the Nationals’ system.

With the trade of Suzuki, Derek Norris will become the Athletics’ everyday catcher. Norris is a former Nationals prospect who was acquired by the A’s in the December trade of Gio Gonzalez.