If there is one thing I can confidently say about the Philadelphia Philles over the last couple of seasons, it's that they sure do love their former Washington Nationals players. Between their face of the franchise in Bryce Harper, and other former stars of the Nationals like Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Joe Ross, it's almost like the Nationals have become a feeder team for their rival up north.
Earlier this week, the Phillies gained their 5th (and 6th) infinity stones of former Nationals players, as it was reported on Tuesday afternoon that they had signed a former free agent flop of the Nationals in righty reliever Lucas Sims.
If that name sounds familiar, it should. I think almost every writer on our site took a turn at writing about how had Sims had been faring in the back end of the team's bullpen, and how we could not wait to get him off the roster. After a final blowout outing a couple weeks ago, Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo finally came to his senses, and swallowed his pride as he designated Sims for assignment.
While he was viewed as a low-risk, high-upside signing due to his veteran status and previous track record of being at least serviceable out of the bullpen, Sims' production absolutely fell off a cliff, leading to him being one of the worst relievers in the league before his release from the organization. His tenure in DC was absolutely miserable, but perhaps he will be a secret agent for the Nationals if he is able to crack the big league bullpen with the Phillies?
It seems unlikely that he was signed for anything more than depth at this point, as the Phillies' bullpen has struggled a lot so far this season, and recently saw one of their top two closing options in lefty Jose Alvarado get suspended for 80 games. Sims likely won't be much help, as his 13.86 ERA and 2.270 WHIP in 18 games had him worth -0.9 WAR, which is pretty difficult to accomplish in that short of a time.
Funny enough, the Phillies also signed another former National, righty Wil Crowe, to a minor league deal as well. You might remember Crowe for his brief cameo in a Nationals uniform after being a 2nd round pick back in 2017, who got his first crack at the big leagues in 2020. He was dealt along with Eddy Yean to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Christmas Eve of 2020 for Josh Bell, which, given how terribly Bell is doing now, shows just how long it's been since Crowe had major relevance.
What do you think of the Phillies signing a pair of former Nationals? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.