The Washington Nationals are back in the free agent frenzy with another massive signing. If you thought that Blake Snell to the Dodgers was massive, wait until you hear this news. On Tuesday, the Nationals signed catcher CJ Stubbs, a career minor-leaguer and a former prospect in the Houston Astros organization.
While obviously I was being a bit sarcastic in my intro concerning the signing of Stubbs, I am happy for him as a guy gets a chance to keep living out his dream of playing baseball at a professional level. As for the impact he could make on the Nationals, it's not likely to be one of major significance, unless the club has a slew of injuries or chooses to offload a lot of their prospect talent.
Over the last couple seasons, catcher has gone from a glaring weakness to a position of strength in the Nationals' organization. Obviously, Keibert Ruiz is the starter and is going to be for a long time in DC, but the prospect depth that the organization has behind him is fantastic. Between Drew Millas and 2024 draft picks Caleb Lomavita and Kevin Bazzell, the future is bright for the club at the catcher position.
Millas was picked by me to make the Nationals roster in 2025, but he will have to beat out Riley Adams, who has been the team's backup catcher for a couple years now, in order to earn the position. I would personally like to see Millas get more opportunities, as the switch-hitting catcher has the prospect pedigree, defense, and overall athleticism to make him a more intriguing pick as the Nationals backup to Ruiz.
Stubbs, who spent last season in both the Nationals' and Astros' organizations, accumulated a .187/.314/.335 slash line with a .649 OPS, as he also added 8 homers and 25 RBIs in 81 games across the season with both the AA and AAA levels for both organizations. With Lomavita and Bazzell both finishing last season with the Low-A Fredericksburg Nationals, where Stubbs is assigned to begin the 2024 MiLB season will likely depend on where the organization chooses to place both of their top catching prospects. Stubbs finished last season with the AAA Rochester Red Wings, where he posted a 1.045 OPS in 7 games, so that would be where I could see him starting next year, possibly as the backup to whoever loses the backup job to Ruiz between Millas and Adams.
What do you think of the Nationals re-signing CJ Stubbs? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.