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Nats Add One (1) to 40-Man Roster

For the second year in a row, the Nationals have added just one player to its 40-man roster ahead of next month’s Rule 5 draft. That one player was Ben Braymer getting the call ahead of consensus pick of Sterling Sharp.

Braymer, who shared the “Pitcher of the Year” honors for the Washington Minors with Wil Crowe (eligible next year), split time between AA and AAA in 2019. In 13 starts for Harrisburg, the 18th Rd. pick from Auburn went 7-2 and posted a line of 2.51/3.37/0.97 across 79 innings. In 13 starts for Fresno, he did considerably worse (OK, fine: 0-6, 7.20/7.98/1.93 in 60IP).

The 25-y.o. Louisiana native becomes the fourth 2016 Draft pick to be added to the 40-man roster in 2019 (Jake Noll, Carter Kieboom, and Tres Barrera are the others). The two would-have-been-eligible 2015 HS picks were traded in 2018 (Tyler Watson) and 2018 (Blake Perkins). Both repeated High-A in 2019.

It would appear that GM Mike Rizzo, who loves RHRPs who throw 95+ the way a fat kid loves cake, is confident that Sharp will not make another team’s 2020 Opening Day roster, despite the limit increasing from 25 to 26 next season. Conversely, Braymer’s L/R splits are in line with what southpaws will need to be with the implementation of the three-batter minimum rule: effective against both sides of the batter’s box (.268/.250 BA against, L/R).

Last year’s Rule-5-deadline addition, James Bourque, pitched ⅔ of an inning in one (1) MLB game in 2019. He pitched 20⅓ IP in 14 appearances (3-0, 6SV, 1.33 ERA) for Harrisburg prior to his callup in May, then finished the 2019 season in Fresno with 43⅔ IP (4-1, 3SV, 5.56 ERA) in 33 appearances.

We now return you to the 2019-2020 offseason…

11 Commments

  1. The Nats have decided that Braymer is the only MLB-ready guy in their system. That speaks volumes about the quality of their player development.

  2. After adding Braymer, the Nats have 9 open roster spots, more than any team in MLB. Nats must be closing in on signing a bunch of talent to MLB contracts or the move to leave Sharp off the roster makes no sense in balancing the risk v. reward test (unless the Nats are certain that Sharp has no potential to contribute on the MLB level, which would be an odd conclusion given Sharp’s assignment to and performance in the AZ Fall League). Adding Sharp to the 40 man only becomes an issue if the Nats have a strong feeling that the 40 man roster will be full soon.

  3. The Nats actually did find themselves somewhat hamstrung in 2019 because of the 40-man additions of Bourque and Noll, neither of whom ended up spending much time with the big club. Of course there became an almost silly revolving door to cycle through washed-up relievers . . . but all’s well that ends well. Anyway, even though they’ve got a lot of open slots now, they will be full by the start of the season, and presumably filled with guys who could contribute in 2020. I’m doubtful that Sharp would be considered a potential MLB contributor that soon.

    The addition of Braymer makes sense first and foremost because he’s the only LH arm who could be considered somewhat of a “prospect” still left with the team who pitched at the AAA or AA level. I’m not incredibly high on him as a potential major-leaguer, but he certainly has a straight path to getting a long look, particularly if they non-tender Elias.

    I seem to be in the minority in this opinion, but I’m not losing any sleep over Sharp not being added. I highly doubt he will be picked in the Rule 5 draft, but if he is, it will be an opportunity for him better than any I can foresee in the near future with the Nats.

    1. In the last ten seasons, the Nats have “lost” one player to the Rule 5 draft (Adrián Nieto, who was out of affiliated ball in 2018 and made it back to AA last summer). We get worked up because there’s nothing else going on. And I would agree: Sharp could develop into a serviceable back-of-the-rotation SP, but not with the Nationals.

      1. Agree that losing Sharp doesn’t present of much of a risk. The oddity of not adding Sharp is more from the perspective that the Nats have 9 open roster spots, rather than some concern that Sharp is going to have a long MLB career elsewhere. Even if MLB success seems a long shot for Sharp, thought it might be worth protecting that long shot given the current flexibility with the Nats roster.

      2. As Miles Davis song went : So what. Sharp gave Nats IP up the ladder all that a prospect can be asked for.
        Oddly enough Nats have some innings eaters on the FRED Nats roster including that org guy Viera from the Pirates cast off

  4. I will add that I hope Sharp proves me wrong and becomes a solid major-league starter. Right now, though, I see Mario Sanchez (whose status we’re still unsure about) as closer to the majors than Sharp, and Steven Fuentes, who is two years younger and had better numbers at AA (although with a little PED boost), as perhaps with a higher ceiling. We’ll see. I hope all stay in the organization and do well enough to force themselves into the Nats’ plans.

  6. Jeff,
    I agree about Bird. I guess we’ll see what happens.

    We may lose Fuentes but he won’t be much good to anyone on the inactive list.

    1. I’d be more upset if they lose Fuentes than if they lose Sharp. Fuentes only has about 25 games left on his suspension, so basically the month of April. He’ll get to stretch out in extended spring training.

      I’m puzzled by the Bird fascination. He hasn’t been above the Mendoza Line in the majors since 2015.

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