Nationals Name AFL Roster

Rosters for this year’s Arizona Fall League started to be unveiled across baseball on Tuesday, with the Washington Nationals announcing six of the eight players that they’ll be sending to the desert. Washington’s contingent will help comprise the roster for the Salt River Rafters, along with prospects from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, and Toronto Blue Jays.

The players headed to Arizona include right-handed pitchers Christian Garcia, Ryan Perry, and Paul Demny, infielders Anthony Rendon and Jason Martinson, and outfielder Brian Goodwin. The two remaining spots to be named are believed to be for another pitcher and another infielder, according to Nationals Prospects.

Rendon was an obvious choice, given how much of the 2012 season he’s missed thanks to an ankle injury in the season’s first week. At times this past Spring there was talk that he could eventually find his way to Washington before the season concluded. But now the extra at bats in Arizona may prove vital for his continued development and chances to appear in a Major League lineup in 2013.

Perry’s inclusion came as a surprise to many, considering the amount of MLB service time he’s accumulated over his career. In fact, by all accounts, Washington had to ask for and received a waiver in order to send him. The team has been converting him into a starter for much of the past two months and it would appear that they’d like to extend the experiment a few more months, despite the fact that as of yet Perry does not appear to be among the team’s September callups.