NationalsProspects.com

Transaction Update

We interrupt your Boxing Day celebration to bring you another transaction update, courtesy of BA and MiLB:

SIGNED
• RHP Gabriel Arias – Did not pitch in 2016. Unable to confirm whether he was in Dr. Andrew’s waiting room when the Nats were stopped by for their monthly meeting.

• Player-Coaches Devin Ivany & Andruth Ramirez – Presumably both will return to Harrisburg and Potomac, respectively.

• C-1B Pat Leyland – As noted in the comments, the son of manager Jim Leyland, and continuing the Nats’ fetish for legacy picks. Also did not play in 2016, though he was signed and released by the Reds last spring.

TRADED
• RHP Mario Sanchez – The other cleat has dropped on the Jimmy Cordero trade with Philadelphia.

19 Commments

  1. Sanchez for Cordero seems like a very positive swap. Was Cordero a DFA claim? I know he had to be added to the 40-man. His 100 mph heater is a lottery ticket, but for the price of an A-ball reliever, it’s worth a scratch.

    Arias presumably is a AA-AAA innings eater, if his arm is capable of it.

  2. John Wooten still on the big board
    Was his 2016 injury riddled ?
    Can he muster enough in March to
    Compete healthy and make senators??

  3. I’m not so sure that I agree with you that Mario was an “organizational guy” (if that’s what you meant by OG). He just turned 22 in October and, if you back off two bad appearances where he took one (or two as the case may be) for the team, his ERA drops from 3.46 to 2.12.

      2. Sanchez rarely did much more than eat innings and didn’t show much more than average stuff on any given night. He didn’t walk all that many but also didn’t strike out very many. He averaged nearly a hit per inning for his career. The one season he was given some starts was the same season he gave up double digits in HRs without hitting triple digits in IP. As the old saw goes, if the only good thing you can say about a player is he’s young for the level, he’s really not that good.

        1. Sounds like your review a year or so ago on Austen Williams, which proved prophetic.

          At least we get to take a flyer on a ‘Nuke Laroosh’ pitcher; maybe Paul ‘ Magic Man’ Menhart can fix him.

        2. So that, in your opinion, makes him an OG? That’s funny. I’m glad Rizzo’s calling the shots instead of you…..

          1. So am I… when Mario Sanchez makes the majors and sticks, you can rub it in my face. But it won’t be for Washington, so I don’t much care at this point.

          2. I’d note that Sanchez was nowhere near the Nats Top 30 prospects list on MLB.com even after the trades decimated their minor league system. It should be added that the same list includes three players who have yet to even appear in a minor league game.

  4. That is so rich. I chuckle whenever someone who has never pitched for an organization is ranked as one of their best.

    “Hey, they paid him all that money, he must be good.”
    If you’re a pitcher in the Nats org. and you’re not ranked in the top 30 that’s ominous.

  5. Back to my original point, Sanchez for Cordero seems like a significant upgrade. Neither may make it, but Cordero has a considerably higher upside. He and Adams in the same minor-league ‘pen could be a lethal combination, either for hitters or for people sitting behind the backstop.

    1. If Cordero has that much potential, why would Philly DFA him? They are a young, rebuilding team and he seems like the profile of someone that they would hang on to.

      I’m not arguing, or even expressing an opinion since I didn’t pay much attention to this trade, just wondering.

      1. Wally, here’s the MLBTR summary of the situation:

        http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/11/nationals-acquire-jimmy-cordero.html

        Cordero had “arm issues” in 2016, and the Phils decided to clear the 40-man spot for others before the Rule 5 draft. The Nats presumably have good familiarity with him since he’s spent most of the last two seasons in the Eastern League.

        Something from Cordero’s stat page that strikes me as weird is that although he’s Dominican, he didn’t play pro ball until he was 20, turning 21 at the end of that season. So he sort of started out behind the 8-ball age-wise. It’s one thing to bring in college kids at that age who have played in advanced programs, have no language issues, etc., but quite another to start a Latin kid that late.

        We’ll see. As I said, he’s a lottery ticket. Right now, the Nats have plenty of flexibility with their 40-man, but the spring will establish the pecking order of those most vulnerable, probably from among Martin, Grace, Cordero, and maybe Gott. They gave up more to get Gott than they did the others, so the investment is higher with him, if that matters.

  6. The Phillies are a weak MLB team, but their organization has amassed a lot of young talent that they want to protect.

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