WASH: 3 players Nationals should sign to minor league contracts
Teams sign players to minor league contracts throughout the offseason to fill out minor league rosters and add depth. The Washington Nationals should sign theses three guys to compete for jobs at the big league level.
The free agent market remains slow and we sit around the hot stove waiting for teams to make some moves and light the fire. The Washington Nationals have only added a couple of players to the 40-man roster since the offseason began.
With the way transactions are moving at a snail’s pace and the economics of the game being the way they are, there will be a lot more minor league contracts offered than guaranteed major league jobs. Players used to being on a roster may have to prove themselves in spring training, after signing a minor league contract.
There has been some movement on the Nationals front as far as minor league contracts are concerned. They have brought back a few of their own minor league free agents, in Aaron Barrett and Brandon Snyder. Players who are long shots to make the opening day roster, though guys who have big league experience and can hold their own should injury force them into action.
Yasmany Tomas has already been signed to a minors pact and even though he has struggled the past a couple of years, if he is anywhere near the guy who put up huge numbers in 2016, he’ll be a great sign.
Here are three players who could be had on minor league contracts who can contribute to the Nationals at the big league level.
Welington Castillo
Well, all indications point to James McCann signing a deal with the New York Mets for four years. This will push the market for J.T. Realmuto even more towards bigger dollars and potentially more years. With him being too expensive for the Nationals to consider (they have the money, I just think they should spend it elsewhere), it’s time to get serious about bringing in someone else.
With little discussion being leaked on who the Nationals may be targeting behind the plate, I am beginning to think they are readying themselves to give the keys to Yan Gomes full-time and bring in a lesser known guy to back up. This won’t be a shared situation like Gomes and Kurt Suzuki perfected in the World Series year of 2019, it’ll be a Gomes catching every night, getting day games and get-away games off.
While I think the Nats could bring in a Jason Castro or a Tony Wolters for this role, they might as well go out secure Welington Castillo as well.
Castillo was signed to a minor league contract last year and had he not opted out of the season admist the global pandemic, I’m convinced the Nats would have began the season with three catchers, utilizing him as one of the extra position players allowed.
Castillo has ten years experience under his belt and 98 career home runs. I’d trust him as the third option, or even the backup, should the Nats choose to sit on their hands too long watching the other catchers get snatched up.
Felix Hernandez
There are four pitchers who have nailed down jobs in the the starting rotation for the Nationals this coming season. As we wait around for Washington to sign Taijun Walker or one of Jim Hickey’s former disciples, they should court Felix Hernandez with the notion he’ll fight for the fifth starter job, or find a home in the bullpen as the long guy.
King Felix is not the pitcher who won 19 games in 2009 or the guy who won the Cy Young Award the following year. However, he probably isn’t the pitcher who went 1-8 with a 6.40 ERA in 2019 for the Seattle Mariners, either.
After signing a minor league contract last year with the Atlanta Braves, Hernandez pitched very well during spring training. Well enough he would have earned a spot on the roster for the eventual National League East Division Champions.
Instead he opted out of the season.
With the years rest his arm received heres hoping Hernandez is more like the 2009 version and not the 2019. Kicking the tires to see if there is any tread left on them, well worth the price of admission for the Nationals. If he sticks, odds are it only costs the incentives in his contract offered him to lure Felix from the competition.
Justin Smoak
One aspect which was missing from the Washington Nationals in 2020 was a home run hitter off the bench. This franchise has always had a guy who could be called on to hit a long ball when needed (Adam Lind, Matt Adams, Mark Reynolds). Time to bring in Justin Smoak and see if he has any gas left in the tank, or power in the stroke.
Getting a veteran like Smoak on a minor league contract may be difficult. He has a proven track record (196 HR over 11 years) and is one year removed from a $4M deal he signed with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The investment didn’t pay off and by early September Smoak was kicked to the curb. The San Francisco Giants brought him in for a whirl and he was hitless in six at-bats before being released for the second time in less than a month.
True, Smoak is a lifetime .229 hitter. Sure, its been four years since he crushed 38 home runs. A look at the current depth chart at first base displays Jake Noll, and nothing else.
Next. Maikel Franco a cost efficient third baseman. dark
Guys like Justin Smoak are not signed to minor league contracts to play in the minors. They are signed to make the team out of spring training and hit bombs when the season starts. If the price is right, he needs to be brought in to compete for a roster spot.