This former Nationals' Top 100 Prospect is officially back

It's the end of the 2023 Double-A season. Robert Hassell III, surely, feels dejected. The once-heralded prospect just finished a 106-game campaign with Harrisburg, posting a slash line of .225/.316/.324 and a 32% strikeout rate. After dominating Class Advanced-A Fort Wayne in the Padres' organization the previous year, hitting 10 home runs in 75 games and posting a 135 wRC+, Double-A was the logical next step following his trade to the Nats. And yet, the power never materialized. His slugging value of .324 was the highest he had been able to post at any level since the trade.

Fast forward to Saturday evening; a partly cloudy but otherwise perfect setting for baseball at the Cubs' Spring Training facility, Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona. Hassell suits up for the National League in the Arizona Fall League's "Fall Stars" Game. His Salt River Rafters are tied for second in the league at 14-12, with the top three teams advancing to the postseason. When "Bobby Barrels," as he was once called, stepped up to the plate for the second time that night in the 3rd inning, he was looking to keep a National League rally going as the NL tried to recover from the four-run deficit they had started the inning with. Royals prospect Luinder Avila left one over the plate, and Hassell turned on it, smashing it into the left-center gap and driving home Pirates prospect Sammy Siani all the way from first base to cut the American League's lead to one.

Hassell's presence at this Fall Stars Game is not a mistake by any stretch of the imagination. Robert worked his tail off to get here, and has talked extensively about the work he's done with the Rochester Red Wings' pitching coach Brian Daubach, and he looks to have finally turned the page he just couldn't get a grip on. His promotion to Triple-A at the end of the 2024 season was underwhelming results-wise, but also likely the product of a small sample--his .125/.188/.156 slash line in 17 games was supplanted by an unsustainably low .170 batting average on balls in play, and his slight dip in walk rate and slight jump in strikeout rate were characteristic of someone who was just promoted a level in the minor leagues... which he was. Minor league ball is all about trusting the process and waiting for the results to come, though, and this autumn season the results have come in spades. Through 19 games this Arizona Fall League, he has eleven extra-base hits, four of which have gone for home runs, to go along with a slash line of .286/.360/.545. He's not running too terribly much, but he's gone 5-for-5 on the base paths, a welcome sign to an organization that's running more than any other team in baseball at the top level. Possibly most telling, though, is his groundout to flyout ratio of 0.71, which suggests that Hassell is starting to hit the ball in the air more and more often. For someone who's struggled with as many injuries as Robert has, this is critical towards regaining the power that his wrist injuries sapped from him.

Hassell's breakout this fall could have massive implications at multiple tiers for a Nationals organization that believes itself to be right on the doorstep of competing for a playoff berth. Three of the other four players not named Luke Voit acquired in the Juan Soto trade are all actively in the majors, and Jarlin Susana made enormous strides this season to put himself on MLB Pipeline's top 100, a list Hassell used to be a mainstay on since he was drafted in 2020. For President of Baseball Operations Mike Rizzo, a return to form by Hassell could mean that the Soto trade yielded five major league-caliber players, rapidly accelerating the final stages of what's been an arduous rebuild for the Nationals.

Hassell's 113 wRC+ in Double-A this year across 60 games, despite another wrist injury that kept him out of action for two months from June to August, has him poised to start 2025 solidly in Rochester. If he performs there, he's going to make himself a compelling addition to a Washington outfield already rife with talent. James Wood has elite pop, Dylan Crews just won a Minor League Gold Glove, and Jacob Young should have won the Platinum Glove, let alone a Gold of his own. That's all assuming the Nationals don't add another outfielder via free agency or trade, which is entirely possible, especially in the off chance they win the Juan Soto sweepstakes. Either way, with a Hassell promotion, Young probably becomes the odd man out, much as I love him and treasure his defensive instincts. Crews figures to see more time in center field on the major league team this year, freeing up a corner for Hassell, who grades as a solid outfielder in his own right.

All of this, of course, assumes that Hassell is still in the Nationals organization come Opening Day. Hassell has been in affiliated ball for four seasons now, and has not been placed on the team's 40-man secondary roster. While it's unlikely this comes to pass, it's possible the team's front office opts to leave him off said roster, thus making him vulnerable to the Rule 5 Draft this December. That would mean any team can add him to their major league roster for 2025, and as long as he remains on the major league roster the whole season, they get full rights to him. A rebuilding team with an outfield in flux, like the White Sox, feel like likely candidates to take a flier on him in this scenario. Again, though, it's not particularly probably the team leaves him unprotected to begin with; the Nationals have plenty of room on the roster, so choosing not to add him to it represents effectively giving up on a player showing great potential at age 23.

The Nationals have also been identified as potential buyers in the trade market for the first time in years. It feels like a long shot to expect the team to make a splashy move this offseason, but if Rizzo's brass feel the time is right, Hassell could be the centerpiece in a trade for who the team views as a major league starter.

Ultimately, these are hypothetical scenarios. It feels more plausible the team looks to make any additions they plan on making through free agency, but if the Nationals do decide to trade Hassell, who would you like to see coming to Washington? Do you think they should, or will, trade him to begin with? Maybe the team should hang on to him, continue to monitor his development, and let him slide into the major league outfield at some point late in 2025? Whatever your thoughts are, sound off with those opinions in the comments section, either on my Bluesky @theottspot.bsky.social or our Twitter account @DistrictOnDeck.