Preseason Update: Apr. 4, 2022
Hopefully this will be the one and only of these this week – a few quick hits until we hear about the rosters.
● Andrew Stevenson has indeed taken the Hobson’s choice given to him by the Nats and will return to Rochester… again. In what ought not to be a small surprise, OF Gerardo Parra was reassigned to minor-league camp as well.
● C Tres Barrera has been optioned, which may affect the initial placements of Brady Lindsly and/or Israel Pineda to start the season. Between Barrera, Riley Adams, and the veteran du jour, it will probably take a big breakout season for either Lindsly or Pineda to move up more than one level. Well, there’s always the possibility of an injury, but that never happens, right?
● Allegedly, between the new CBA and the increased scrutiny (read: lawsuit), the treatment of minor-leaguers is supposed to improve this season, but based on the “business as usual” treatment so far, we could be seeing more stories like this one in 2022. You might recall the the Nats pulled a similar stunt in June 2020 until they were shamed into reversing their decision.
We now return you to your Monday…
At least Stevenson gets to keep his $850,000 salary this year at Rochester, so a good reason to stick around. Parra’s basically a mascot/coach at this point.
‘Our guys’ left camp Friday and still no roster releases by the clubs.
TJ White tweeted that he is going to Fburg.
FRED should be as expected blue chip filled .
Wilmington might be a tad lean on the enforcements with many repeaters .
The future of the Washington Nationals franchise will exist almost entirely within Fburg…
Should be an exciting team.
And likely extended Spring training.
Does anyone know the number of players each level will have on their roster?
I believe we’re back to 2019 rules for the full-season clubs, i.e., no taxi squads.
FWIW, last April they raised the limits for AA and AAA to 28 and to 30 for High-A and Low-A. What’s not clear is if that change would be permanent.
I get that Stevenson and Barrera are not Prospects™, but my gosh, it’s not like we can afford to give away the extreme dearth of AAAA caliber players in our farm system.
Is Andrew Stevenson (2022 projection: .249/.304/.383) really worse than Dee Strange-Gordon (2022 projection: .257/.285/.352)?
Is Tres Barrera (2022 projection: .222/.294/.344 with good defence) really worse than Riley Adams (2022 projection: .215/.310/.369 with slightly less good defence)?
I’m not trying to criticize Adams. He too is a mediocre AAAA prospect. I’m trying to criticize the fact that Rizzo decided to acquire 3(!!) catching prospects in the span of 24 hours, basically forcing us to give up on Tres Barrera. Surely, there were other mediocre prospects in the Blue Jays or Athletics farm system at positions where we have absolutely no depth, such as the starting rotation, bullpen, 2B, SS, 3B, LF, CF, etc.
Then with Dee Strange-Gordon, it makes absolutely no sense to me his addition at the expense of Stevenson. Stevenson is 7 years younger and has actual (limited) upside. DSG is a speed-only player (the original Billy Burns), but at age 34 the speed has dropped off a cliff which has left him with no appreciable skills.
Far from a MLB scout, and I like Tres Barrera, but Riley Adams has a higher ceiling than Barrera. It’s not close.
Adams is far from a sure fire prospect, but Adams has a chance to be a starting MLB catcher with pop (not saying it will happen, but he has +power). Tres Barrera has reached his ceiling: a AAAA player that can fill in at the MLB level if injuries hit that position, but Tres will never be an everyday MLB catcher. Also, the Nats traded Brad Hand for Adams; so, it’s not like the Nats gave up much for Adams. Hand ended up getting released by the Jays; anything that the Nats could get for Brad Hand, including get out of some of his contract, was a plus.
While I agree that the Nats seem intent on wasting their time with washed up MLB players like Dee Gordon instead of seeing what younger players can do, Gordon has had an exceptional Spring, and position versatility has become a big “thing” these days; Gordon can play multiple infield and outfield spots. Guess the Nats think that if Gordon has decent start to the season, they can flip him for a prospect in June or July. Again, I like Stevenson, but not one of the other 29 MLB teams was willing to sign him before the Nats sent him to AAA, which tells you all you need to know about Stevenson’s ceiling too. Even so, Stevenson will be back in DC this year.
MLB.com has House starting in Fburg. No surprise.