On Saturday, the Washington Nationals made a transaction that completely flew under the radar amid the Baltimore Orioles and their firing of manager Brandon Hyde following his team's loss to the Nationals on Friday night. The game was certainly one the Orioles had no business losing, and it was seemingly the straw that broke the camel's back.
However, circling back to the Nationals, the team chose to release veteran catcher Andrew Knizner, who had an opt-out in his minor league contract over the weekend. This doesn't really come as a major surprise, as, despite Knizner's great numbers with AAA Rochester, his path to playing time at the big league level with the Nationals seemed murky at best.
In 23 games with the Red Wings, Knizner had accumulated a .382/.516/.500 slash line, good for a 1.016 OPS, to go along with a homer and 11 RBIs across 91 plate appearances. He was absolutely dominating AAA pitching, but was still seemingly behind fellow Red Wings' catcher Drew Millas on the organizational depth chart.
Knizner was signed as catching competition in spring training to challenge Millas and incumbent big league catcher Keibert Ruiz and Riley Adams, and was among the team's final cuts before the regular season began. Given his numbers and teams across the big leagues always seeking veteran catching depth, it shouldn't be long before Knizner finds a new home for the 2025 season.
Given that Keibert Ruiz has started more games than any other catcher in the big leagues so far in 2025, and Riley Adams doing the best he can in his limited playing time to earn more reps, if an injury were to occur, it's hard to deny that the Nationals wouldn't look to give Millas the first crack at earning the backup job.
While Millas hasn't exactly impressed in his limited big league opportunities, with just a .259/.330/.365 slash line in 95 plate appearances at the big league level, his long-term upside is much higher than Knizner, and is't not too late for him to show some of that upside that once had him ranked as a TOp 30 Prospect in the organization.
We are wishing Knizner all the best moving forward as he looks to continue his career, and surely his defensive chops will get him a look from another organization in the near future.
What do you think of the Nationals releasing Andrew Knizner? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.