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Victor Robles Optioned to Syracuse

As expected, the Nationals’ top prospect was sent to the back fields yesterday to join his eventual teammates at AAA Syracuse. How long he’ll be in upstate New York remains a mystery, but if you’re this guy…

Asked for the earliest date at which the Nationals could call up Robles and still postpone his free agency another year — a calculation based on accumulation of major league service time — one Nationals official said he hadn’t even thought about it.

… have I got a deal on some Florida real estate for you!

Of course, he hasn’t thought about it… the same way he hasn’t thought about what date is Independence Day or Christmas. Every front office knows what that date is for their top prospects.

As mentioned previously, Robles made this decision easier and less of a farce than Ronald Acuna by struggling over his last few games after starting relatively strong. It may be heresy to suggest this, but it could also be that Robles isn’t quite ready yet.

That really shouldn’t be a surprise: Few 20-y.o.’s are ready for The Show after just 37 games at AA, zero at AAA, and less than 360 games total. Even Acuna has put in more time at AA (57 games) and AAA (54 games). That’s what makes players like Bryce Harper and Mike Trout so special – particularly in this current era where service-time manipulation is not tolerated, it’s celebrated.

I return you to your snowy Wednesday, which in the D.C. area, probably means working from home. Those of you who have to do it with small children may be inspired to work on your novel.

16 Commments

  1. They’re not only going to want to “reset the clock” for the MLB time Robles had last year, but also get to Super Two, so the date is probably very close to when it was for Trea, who was basically in the same situation. Trea came up for good on July 10, 2016, so right around the All-Star break.

    With Robles, there shouldn’t be a rush, unless there’s an OF injury or if Taylor really regresses. They’re going to want Robles playing every day.

    1. The big difference between Turner and Robles is that there’s isn’t an obvious need for Robles just yet, with Harper, Eaton, Taylor, Goodwin, Kendrick and, god forbid, Adams as ML options in the OF.

      With Turner, those starts were being given to Ben Revere and/or Danny Espinosa, and largely only because they needlessly started his clock in August 2015 to sit on the bench.

      I’m glad those days are over. What a frustrating time….

  2. We have 2 small samples of Robles: last year in MLB, where he did tolerably well at the plate, and ST this year, where he seemed unable to hit breaking balls. So, he needs to play every day to learn to stay on the ball. Surely the pitchers in AAA will have the scouting report on him, so he should see plenty of breaking balls. When he proves that he can hit consistently, he will be ready for MLB pitching.

    1. Wow. Pretty clear this guy hasn’t seen any of these players play in person. Also, some embarrassing cut and paste errors.

      1. Freudian slip that it says “A’s Top Prospects”?!!! That’s so funny . . . and true . . .

      2. Longenhagen is based in AZ. I’m pretty sure he saw Robles and Johnson in the AFL, but he probably hasn’t seen many/any of the others. They’ve got a 30 current hit grade on Soto despite reports that several scouts have called Soto’s the best swing they’ve seen on a young prospect in a while.

        2. But with Kiley McDaniel contributing to it, who’s East coast based, I’d have thought he’d have caught some of these mistakes.

          1. Yes, and he worked for the Braves for a couple of years. How can he not have a better handle on other systems in the division?

          2. They’re soooo far behind in publishing the farm system reports (this is the 13th team they’ve done, and they’ve been publishing these for almost 5 months) that I suspect they’ve lowered their editorial standards and are more focused on pumping them out as quickly as possible now. Their current pace means the 30th team will be published in late October.

            For comparison, check out how detailed and informative the Cardinals’ review is compared to the Nats: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/top-23-prospects-st-louis-cardinals/

          3. Yeah, they’ve got three times as much in that report as they do on the Nats.

            Somehow I missed, or had forgotten, that future Hall of Famer Max Schock is now a Card.

          4. Schrock was dealt for Stephen Piscotty this winter. St Louis seems to be the perfect place for someone like Schrock, a slightly old, low-risk, moderate-reward type player, in the same mold as Matt Carpenter, Stephen Piscotty, Tommy Pham, Grichuk, Matt Adams, etc.

            I wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised if Schrock turns into a better version of Kolten Wong.

  4. And right on cue, Benoit develops a forearm strain so he doesn’t have to be cut. Does that open up a spot for Gott or Adams . . . or Cole in the bullpen?

  5. Robles -37 games at AA, zero at AAA.
    Trout 91 games at AA, 20 at AAA
    Machado 109 games at AA, zero at AAA
    Bryant 68 games at AA, 77 at AAA
    Seager 58 games at AA, 105 at AAA

    pack your mittens Victor

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