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40-Man Moves: Atilano Designated For Assignment

Luis Atilano is dropped from the 40-man roster

Today, the Washington Nationals designated RHP Luis Atilano for assignment. The NationalsPR twitter feed is claiming this is directly related to the signing of Adam LaRoche.

Atilano was 6-7 with an ERA of 5.15 in 16 starts from May to July before being placed on the DL with bone chips in his elbow on July 23, 2010. He was originally drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the first round of the 2003 draft and acquired by Washington in a 2006 trade for Daryle Ward.

Atilano spent the 2007 season recovering from Tommy John surgery before pitching for three Nats affiliates in 2008 (Hagerstown, Potomac, Harrisburg), which earned him a spot on the 40-man roster. With two surgeries on the same elbow, he is unlikely to be claimed despite turning just 26 in May.

UPDATE – Sunday, February 20
Like Martis before him, Atilano has cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Syracuse. He will report to the major-league spring training camp as a non-roster invitee.

31 Commments

  1. So, the other shoe finally drops. I’d guess that unless Luis is claimed by another team, he’ll be outrighted to SYR, but stay in camp as a NRI.

  2. If Shairon wasn’t claimed, I don’t think that Luis will be… very similar stuff, IMO. But you never know. I keep on thinking how you can never get value for obviously middling players, but think about that Langerhans for Morse trade a few years back.

  3. I realize that the Syracuse rotation continues to remain murky. Atilano’s likely to clear, correct? If so, your Syracuse Chiefs rotation is likely to be IMHO:
    Maya
    Detwiler
    Mock
    Milone
    Atilano/Martin/Chico/Martis/Barthmaier

    Where do folks think that Barthmaier rates on this list? I know he’s on Syracuse on the Big Board at present. Are they serious about giving him a shot at Syracuse to become relevant again or his merely upper minors filler? Seems to me investing all of that time in a guy coming off some major injury (TJ?) may be somebody that they have a bigger role for than the DFAed guys.

    1. sould: The SP & Long-relief logjam at SYR could be interesting, indeed. Guessing that Detwiler, Maya, & Mock are likely option choices from DC to the ‘cuse – That would give Knoor the following list of ten or more arms (Arensen, Atilano, Chico, Detwiler, JD Martin, Martis, Maya, Milone, Mock; maybe Barthmeier, Broderick, Gaudin, & Stammen as well) for six openings. They could drop a one or two of these guys back to Harrisburg, but I think a few of them will be seeing ‘red-tags’ by mid-March.

      As of today, my best guess for SYR in 2011 – Detwiler, Maya, Milone, JDMartin & Chico as SP’s; Stammen as the LR arm.

      1. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Broderick an R5? Meaning he must make the 25 man or become eligible for his former team to reclaim him for a 50% sale price. The only way he ends up in SYR is if WAS doesn’t add him to their 25 man (seems unlikely) and STL doesn’t take him back at the firesale price (which, isn’t so implausible I guess).

        Interesting to try and figure out the rotations though! I also read with dismay that Elvin Ramirez and Henry Rodriguez are both hung up with visa issues. I was looking forward to both, but E Ramirez is another R5 who’ll be fighting to stick with WAS or end up back with the NYM. He ended up as BA’s #20 Prospect for WAS….

        1. Yes, both Ramirez and Broderick have to make the big club to stick, unless they are traded (entirely possible – happened last year with Chuck Lofgren, drafted from Cleveland to Milwaukee).

  4. Hey Sue, where would you expect CM Wang to do his rehab? I am thinking that he might stay in extended spring training until the weather gets warmer and then spend some time in Harrisburg and Syracuse. Also, do you know if he has any options remaining? All this is assuming that he actually pitches in real games this year…

    1. DCB — The reason Wang was DFA’d in December before they signed him up again was he had 1 or 2 option years remaining.
      Not a bad investment if he’s healed enough to pitch again. Was a 19 game winner twice before going down. I always thought this was a smart sign, even if nothing comes of it.
      Souldrummer — Between the 40 man & Syracuse, the Nats have at least 12-14 starting pitchers. Not to mention the AA guys looking to move up. (did somebody say Milone?)
      I’ts going to make for a fascinating 6 weeks ahead!

      1. Check the Big Board for option status (there’s an Option Status tab at the bottom). Wang is a little bit of a challenge… Brian Oliver concluded that he used an option in ’05 (as well as ’03 and ’04), but I’m not totally sure about ’05. At best, he has 1 option year remaining.

        1. … and I’ve confirmed that he used his last option year in 2005, just as Brian thought.

    2. If Wang ever leaves Florida, he’ll most likely follow that path that Jordan Zimmermann took last summer – a start or two at Hagerstown, Potomac, and Harrisburg. The level matters less than who’s home when. And if you’ve been following this site for some time, you’ll know that rehab starts are overrated.

  5. Cubs just signed two Cuban junior national team players.,..any word on the fruits from internationals scouting??

  6. alex valdez is superman- on two teams @ once. LOL!
    I could imagine Knorr with the loser of the Cintron/Cora competition along with the memory of Buck Coats
    playing some 3b earlier in his minor league days…

  7. Have to figure Tatusko could move up to Syracuse. I can’t see him repeating AA. And he looks vastly improved after the move to Harrisburg from the Texas league.

    You have to almost figure he will definitely be one of the starters in Syracuse. Quite the
    logjam! And with Solis a potential candidate to get as high as AA perhaps?

    1. Is Tatusko really a long term starter option for the big club, though? At some point, they may be considering moving him to the bullpen. Be curious what others think about that.

      1. I’d agree, but with so many RHRPs to choose from, I think they’ll keep him starting until the AAA batters say otherwise.

  8. Wang almost has to start in the bullpen I suspect. Not sure how this will all pan out. My guess is he is one of those pitchers who ends up “red-tagged” as BinM puts it.

    1. It’s been so long since wang pitched, even if he’s back it’s going to be a long time to build arm strength.
      Tatusko & Roark are just a bonus at this point; I mean we lost 2 months of Guzman for them! Rooting for them but not exactly a big investment.

  9. Speaking of the Big board. I believe Michael Aubrey received an non-roster invite to major league spring training as well?

  10. Courtesy of Ben Goessling twitter: Luis Atilano cleared waivers, and has been outrighted to Triple-A Syracuse, the Nats said. He’s en route to big league spring training.

      1. Updated. As predicted, a bit of a slowdown since the news from Viera has had little to do with the minors, but I’ve got a post tucked in bed that I’ll roll out on the (word)press tomorrow a.m.

  11. Looks like there may be some confusion as to who Atilano was designated to make room for? I had thought that La Roche’s contract was already approved and the requisite DFA already executed? Now the Nats PR office is saying that Atilano was designated for La Roche … then who was DFA’ed for Gorzelanny and when was his contract approved?

  12. I don’t know if its been posted but it appears that Hardballtimes has posted their organizational rankings: The Nats finished 15th out of 30. Florida finished last?

    http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/fantasy/article/ranking-baseballs-farm-systems/

    15. Washington Nationals. Washington’s system goes downhill quickly after the top 10, and the pitching is thin and unproven, but Espinosa, Norris, and the crown jewel, Harper, make this system shine.
    1. Bryce Harper / OF
    2. Danny Espinosa / 2B/SS
    3. Derek Norris / C
    4. A.J. Cole / SP
    5. Wilson Ramos / C
    6. J.P. Ramirez / OF
    7. Corey Brown / OF
    8. Eury Perez / OF
    9. Sammy Solis / SP
    10. Chris Marrero / 1B

  13. Noting from the above that Corey Brown finally makes a list finishing 7th behind JP Ramirez? Not sure I agree wi that. And Espinosa finishes above Norris. Marerro at #10. No sign of HRod or Robbie Ray.

    I’m sure Sue will be posting something soon about this recent post by Matt Hagen.

  15. I tend to shy away from the fantasy-focused sites and stories. As much as I’d like for Espinosa to be the starting SS, I think they mean that he’ll play there enough to qualify. In some fantasy leagues, it’s as little as one game at the position. That’s why I stopped playing — the fantasy game makes you root for stupid things, like your pitcher hitting your batter, a manager emptying the bench for the win, but only getting the tie so someone has to play out of position (e.g. Mike Greenwell at catcher back in the ’80s)

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