As Brittany Ghiroli put it in The Athletic ($$), it’s important to recognize this reversal is only for the month of June and, citing an internal memo, that the team “will consider future payments on a month-to-month basis.” In other words, this could still happen a month from now.
Ghiroli also revealed the names of 39 minor-leaguers, 30 of which were also reported by Baseball America. Without further ado…
| C | Tyler Cropley (24) Nic Perkins (24) |
| 1B | Keon Barnum (27) Adalberto Carrillo (25) Anthony Peroni (23) |
| 2B | Phil Caulfield (25) Paul Russo (24) |
| SS | Luis Sardinas (27) |
| IF | Dante Bichette Jr. (27) Austin Davidson (27) Juan Pascal (22) Trey Vickers (24) Drew Ward (25) |
| OF | Hunter Jones (28) Alec Keller (28) Landerson Pena (22) Eric Senior (22) Jack Sundberg (26) Mac Williamson (29) |
| OF-P | JB Shuck (32) |
| RHP | Jose De Los Santos (23) Rafael Gomez (21) Merandy González (24) Abrahan Hiraldo (21) Jacob Howell (24) Tyler Mapes (28) Adrian Martinez (21) Bobby Milacki Jr. (23) Jorge Pantoja (26) Miguel Pozo (20) Derek Self (30) Wilson Severino (21) Alejandro Vallejo (21) Eduardo Vera (25) Allen Webster (30) |
| LHP | Hayden Howard (26) Jordan Mills (28) Jairon Peguero (22) Ryan Williamson (25) |
I listed their ages as of right now, not the season’s end, but you can see the pattern: veterans that the Nationals could re-sign as needed in 2021, youngsters that they don’t project making the Low-A roster, and too-old-for-the-level guys.
Bear in mind that some of these—alright, many of these—guys may have been released anyway – pushed down by the veterans, or pushed out with the new draftees. But you still feel bad because there are probably a few that might have gotten that one last chance.
It’s also disheartening because this one more step toward the inevitable announcement that the 2020 minor league season will not happen.