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Transaction Chain Reaction

Two pitchers move up, one comes off the DL

With the parent club’s purchase of Ryan Mattheus’s contract from Syracuse, there’s a chain reaction of transactions to report…

TO SYRACUSE
RHP Ryan Tatusko assigned from Harrisburg

TO HARRISBURG
RHP Pat Lehman assigned from Potomac
RHP Erik Davis put on the temporary Inactive List
3B Tim Pahuta activated from the 7-day DL

TO POTOMAC
RHP Rob Wort activated from the 7-Day DL

As always, if I learn who got the boot will be moved from the 40-man to make room for Mattheus before I head to Woodbridge, I’ll post it here.

UPDATE
Well, by now everybody knows that Cole Kimball is the “other shoe,” going on the DL with shoulder inflammation. But above (in red) is another transaction that came across since the last post

23 Commments

  1. I’m pretty sure they’re at 39 right now. Nobody was added after they DFA’d Broderick.

    Interesting move bringing up Mattheus. Who does he replace on the active roster?

    2. Todd, you’ve been following Mattheus more closely than anybody. What’s his story? I know he was out for quite awhile (TJ?), enough for his original club to give up on him. He’s been unhittable all year!

      1. Acquired and signed to a major league contract by Rizzo in 2010 while still recovering/rehabbing from Tommy John. This is his first full year back. He has been the Syracuse bullpen ace of late. Kind of beat out Balester, Carr and Wilkie for that spot.

    3. The Nationals were at 41 of 42 total by my count, with Strasburg & Wang on the 60-DL. Adding Mattheus to the 25-man just needs a player moved off the 25-man roster (either DL or demotion) to keep the roster total within limits (40 plus 2).

    4. Aack, I forgot about E. Ramirez. Totals should have been 40 of 43 (with Mattheus), with Strasburg, Wang, & E.Ramirez on the 60-DL. You were right, the 40-man had a slot open, but the 25-man will still need an adjustment from either a DL or minor-league assignment.

  2. Of course, someone is going to the DL, we have made up so many inuries this year it is pathetic.

  3. Next move is for Manno to move up to Potomac to take over Lehman’s spot as closer. He’s more than ready.

  4. As a reminder, Mattheus was acquired in the Joe Beimel deal awhile back. If he plays a day in the bigs, that trade is a victory as far as I’m concerned.

    1. That’s makes two relievers move to Syracuse of late: both power pitchers. Tatusko and Hassan Pena.

  6. Next has to be Antonelli at some point. Maybe they plan on waiting until he has 100 PA’s or AB’s first? Still, beggars can’t be choosers and once again the Nats find themselves in that unenviable position.

    1. Antonelli is having a nice run in Syracuse, but who would he logically replace in DC – Bixler? RZim is probably coming back to the 25-man on Tuesday at 3B, and the two-headed replacement of Hairston/Cora have been competent in his stead, imo.

      I’d rather have Antonelli continue his run in SYR & gain trade value, rather than purchase him only to have him waste away on the bench as a 5th-6th infielder at this point.

  7. “Sue”, any chance you can add the ability to receive an email when comments are made on a thread?

  8. Antonelli is probably just in a hot streak right now and nothing more……he hit .215 and .196 the last two seasons he got serious ABs.

    1. If you’re bullish on Antonelli, you say he’s finally healthy enough to rake and he’s figuring the game out as a mature ballplayer. If you’re not, you raise eyebrows at his .404 batting average on balls in play. His line drive percentage is up to 21%, though. Listening to the first part of the game, I heard that he made a loud out in his first at bat. I think he’s legitimately a good hitter at this point, although he’ll regress from his scorching hot streak at some point. He’s certainly more justified of a spot than Mench ever was, and he’s at least as justified as Jorge Padilla was. I think it’s a callup and a chance to solidify his prospect status. For a man who was completely off my map at the beginning of the year, I feel that’s quite an achievement to get back to the show for the first time since 2008.

      Sue, I’ll be interested to see what you think on this one.

        1. Also, in case you weren’t aware, he’s got a blog that’s pretty informative about his situation and about the life of a minor leaguer in general: http://www.matthewantonelli.com/ If you haven’t read his posts about spring training and want to know more about what life/schedule is like down there, scroll back through the posts to those. The blog made me a big fan before he started hitting!

          1. Thanks for the link, that’s pretty interesting stuff.
            I’m surprised the Nats let him do it. One of the Guzman twins wrote a blog when he was with the Rangers AA team, and I heard that the Nats made him stop after the trade.

          2. @Springfield: I remember Antonelli being pretty excited about signing w/ the Nationals in the spring as a ‘new start’, based on some of the twitter & blog posts I’ve read.
            I wish him well, but I’d rank him behind current depth with the home club (RZimm, Hairston, Cora and Bixler at 3B, Desmond, Cora, & Bixler at SS, and Espinosa, Cora, and Hairston at 2B). He could possibly replace Bixler in the field, or Stairs at the plate, but to what ultimate end?

      2. Sould: Consider me ‘bearish’ on Antonelli. He’s having a great offensive run in SYR right now, and can play 2B-3B reasonably well, but I don’t see any place for him on the 25-man roster right now. RZimm should be back with the big club on Tuesday, Desmond & Esposito are locked-in in the MI slots, and the Hairston/Cora combo have been effective as RZimm replacements & plug-ins when Danny or Ian need a day off.

        The Nationals called up Bixler from SYR off of a hot start when RZimm went down; That went nowhere fast. I’d let Antonelli stay in the ‘cuse & gain value as a trade piece, rather than call him up to waste away on the bench.

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