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Transaction Update

A release, two activations, and a transfer from AAA to AA

It’s been a busy couple of days for transactions, as the Harrisburg Senators announced this morning the following moves:

• IF Adam Fox transferred from Syracuse
• IF Tim Pahuta activated from 7-Day DL
• IF Alex Valdez released

In the DSL, Juan De Los Santos was activated from the Restricted List (recent IFA signing, not on suspension for PEDs).

16 Commments

      1. Looks like the same is true for Matt Chico and Luis Atilano. Both with the GCL Nationals at this point. Chico started today. Playing with guys from the DR who are younger than Harper.

        1. I think both Chico & Atilano may be getting a last-chance opportunity to re-start their careers. If they bounce back from the low minors, maybe they can catch on with another orginization after offering some benefit to the Nationals overall MiLB W-L record for the season. Neither one of them occupy a 40-man roster spot at this point, and they’ll either move back up the ranks or be replaced by late signees from the 2011 draft.

  3. This sure looks like a sign of strength for Harrisburg, they finally don’t have room for weak hitting OG’s.
    A big improvement over the bad old days.

    1. Albeit things still look less than optimal in Syracuse. Hitting is better because they advanced both Valdez and Antonelli (bringing him out of X-ST) but Marerro is still a much less than average offensive force at first base (He’s got time he’s only 22.) And there’s absolutely no bullpen at this point. As he proved yesterday, Tatusko prefers starting. Perhaps he’ll get the chance with Randy Knorr once there’s some movement in the rotation in Syracuse.

      Last year it was Harrisburg that looked pretty pathetic. This year Syracuse. I see that Curran is also now with the GCL Nationals. Starting over or is he now an Org guy?

  4. I read somewhere about 4 years ago that you can a lot of times define a teams’ minor league system by how their AA team is doing. Of course, this was after Harrisburg had been named the worst team in all the minor leagues.
    Right after the Nats farm system was rated 30th four years in a row.
    How times have changed for the good! 🙂

    1. This. Very much this. I’m so happy for the fans of Harrisburg. They’ve got a beautiful ballpark on a beautiful island where they get to see a future superstar and an organization with quality prospects develop. Dare I say that some H-Nats fans in Harrisburg should consider abandoning Pittsburgh and Philly for the parent squad of their increasingly beloved Senators.

  5. “Last year it was Harrisburg that looked pretty pathetic. This year Syracuse.”

    And what do they both have in common??

    2. Harrisburg had great pitching for much of last year (Aaron Thompson not withstanding). The offense was anemic for long stretches (correct me if I’m wrong here, Sue). Burgess and Lombardozzi contributed offensively during their late season callups. If I remember correctly, Marrero got hot as well.

      So both ’10 Harrisburg and ’11 Syracuse struggled offensively, and that makes a lot of sense. Syracuse is even worse because Espinosa is the guy that they would have retained developmentally if the man hadn’t messed up and decided he’d rather give a run at ROY in The Show.

  6. The purging has now begun. I want to know when do we release Stairs? This guy sucks! I know this is more of an affiliate blog but this guy has to go! Mock, Chico, and Atilano are all next.

    BTW – Great dominant performances from Arnesen and Martis in AA the last two nights. I still believe they are both really AAA pitchers.

    Finally, I’m glad to see Lombardozzi having success at AAA. He’s looking good and I hope to see him in Washington when he is ready.

  7. After a marvelous*cough* start and like the other guy said, lousy offense. You really need to get up here and see this team (not against Rochester, those losers make Knorr look like Scioscia) and see how losy they play and how horribly managed they are. Until you see them play on a constant basis like I do, you have no buisiness sticking up for Knorr or Browne.

    1. No, you’re right. What do I know? I only saw Knorr manage for two and half seasons to the half season that you have. That league championship he won was pure luck. Any schmuck can work with 70 different players over six months and mold them into winners.

    2. Syracuse looked to be in decent shape at the opening of the season, with a handfull of MLB experienced players (Flores/Maldonado/Aubrey/Bixler/Bernadina/Frazier), a scattering of supposed prospects (Solano/Marrero/Brown/Whiting), and a group of OG types (Bynum/A.Valdez/McConnell/Fox). The group looked sound defensively, but unfortunately they collectively stumbled out of the gate offensively (with a couple of exceptions).

      The starting staff was initially filled with MLB experienced pitchers (Maya/Stammen/Detwiler/Mock) and a AA prospect (Milone), who should have been ready for the challenge, and a bullpen with more MLB-experienced arms (JD Martin/Chico/Hyde) and a few prospects (Balester/Carr/Kimball/Rodriguez/Wilkie). The middle-inning pitchers all failed horribly, while the prospects by-and-large either held their ground or advanced.

      Is part of the overall 1st-half failure on the SYR staff? Undoubtebly, because it ultimately falls on management when the collective fails to perform to expectations. I would however, stop short of making any assumptions on Randy Knoor’s managerial skills until the end of the season, as he has won both a League chanpionship in high-A (2009), and the EL All-Star manager’s slot (2010).

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