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Nats Make Some Minor-League Signs

Ask and ye shall receive… eventually.

Yesterday marked the first transaction post from BA of the year, and only a mere 38 days after the one prior.

Like the Democratic presidential hopefuls aside from Biden, the pickings are slim:

  • 1B Dérmis Garcia
  • RHP Samuel Reyes
  • RHP Ty Tice
  • OF-1B Juan Yepez




Garcia had a cup of coffee with the A’s in 2022 (39G, .652 OPS) and spent most of 2023 in Las Vegas, posting a slightly better than Lg. Avg. .891 OPS.

Reyes is on his third organization as the age of 27 (turns 28 in March) and split time between AA and AAA last summer with 23 appearances in the Southern League and 10 in the I.L. with a combined mark of 6-3, 3.19 and two saves.

Tice is also on system #3 while spending time in both AA and AAA in 2023, posting a 5.23 ERA in the former across 25 appearances and a 7.94 ERA in the latter over 10 appearances.

Yepez, who was the first to sign this offseason, has spent the past two seasons bouncing between AAA Memphis and the Cardinals.

Ordinarily this is where I caution readers from assuming that the roster these guys are on now is where they’ll be in March, but you can probably place a Duke Bros. bet that at least three of these guys will be assigned to Rochester if they’re not cut in spring training.

32 Commments

  1. These signings have been rather underwhelming so far. I thought there’d be more Rutherford/Blankenhorn kind of MiLFAs available; guys who have been unable to make the jump from AA/AAA to the majors, and because of a short leash haven’t been given time to find a rhythm in the majors. Yepez fits this mold. Between 2021-22 he hit a blistering .285/.367/.585 in AAA, which was about 50% better than average.

    It’s been a loooong time since Dermis Garcia was good. He put up good numbers in A ball, way back in 2017-2019, but since then he’s been basically an average hitter, while manning a premium bat position… It’s the exact same story for Lewin Diaz, another recent MiLFA signing.

    Generally, I don’t really understand why both Rutherford and Blankenhorn elected free agency. I can think of few other major league teams with a clearer path to regular playing time in corner OF/1B positions.

      1. I’d be particularly happy to see Rutherford re-sign. I think there’s some real untapped potential there, and nothing of note blocking him at LF/1B/DH at the moment.

          1. Interesting that Feliz is already listed as a 3 b not to be confused with the young Rox prospect .
            So do we have another member of the “ Orange “ family tree in SS Eddy M?
            Plenty of $50,000-$25,000 salaries handed out besides the big two I’m sure

    2. Scanning the article on Orioles opening new DR island complex I noticed the DR baseball commish : Junior Noboa from the ole Expo days in Indianapolis playing for Skipper Joe Sparks.

    4. Eddy and Jose related ?? Marmelejos??
      Looks like spreading the intl bonus money around .

  2. How do Nats fit the three bats around the Diamond in Wilmington
    White 1b
    Boissiere with an eventual bump up to AA if his BA improves ? LF / DH/ 1b
    Will the Thrill? DH
    Hmmmm

    1. we can only hope TJ’s struggles can at least be partially explained on the shift to 1B. he’s in need of a bounce back year. same for De La Rosa

    1. C M Romero
      1B White
      2B Infante
      SS Brown
      3B Dugas
      OF Lile
      OF De La Rosa
      OF Quintana

      I can live with that mix

        1. well, they’ll be 25 and 24 respectively on Opening Day so if they’re not ready for AA yet then I’d guess that they become org guys to be placed wherever there’s a need. not a very bright prospect for them I’m afraid but, Millas broke out at 25 so there’s that.

        2. I’d expect Frizzell to start in Harrisburg like he did in 2023. He will have a much shorter leash in 2024, though. A start in ’24 like in ’23 could permanently derail his career. Even though he didn’t set Wilmington afire (.805 OPS), he still posted an OPS .174 points higher than Boissiere.

          Boissiere frankly hasn’t earned a starting job. In 40 games in Wilmington, he put up a line up of .240/.313/.318, which isn’t even good enough for a quick, defense-first middle infielder, never mind a lumbering 1B… Such a disappointment for a 3rd rounder.

          2. well he was an under slot sign, you can’t always assume he was a better prospect than some drafter later

      3. Quintana spent twice as much time in 2023 at 1B as he did in LF. As stacked as the organization is with outfielders, he probably doesn’t have much future there.

        Quintana, de la Rosa, and Infante all are still relatively young in the grand scheme of things, so plenty of time to turn things around. But they all also seem developmentally stalled. Among other things, strikeouts are really holding back all three. You keep hoping that some organizational hire can reach them, as well as some others. As we’ve just noted about Millas, if the light bulb ever goes on, things can turn around quickly. Same for TJ White, who is also quite young.

        1. you’re right, my recollection was they moved him back to the outfield but he finished the year mostly back at first. he got hot at the plate when they moved him off first but the fact that they returned him to the infield is probably a good indication of where they see his future.

          both he and TJ are behind the recent arrivals in hype but you never know.

    1. Looking at the Fangraphs list, there are only three pitchers among their 48, and no one ranked higher than #24. The Nats desperately need a young pitching infusion way more than they need another outfielder, but you take what you can get.

      Here’s hoping they get good development from younger high-ceiling guys like Susana and Sykora this coming season.

      1. The author touches upon it in the article:
        “There again aren’t many pitchers on the list because it’s rare for teams to funnel seven figures worth of pool space into arms. More and more, teams are signing older, slightly more developed pitchers on the international market with $10,000 and $20,000 bonuses. Teams once mostly targeted younger pitchers, who struggled to develop at the rate the CBA expects them to. That allowed other teams to add pitchers discounted because of their age en masse and then develop them with modern methodologies; this was a boon for Houston, among other clubs. Now it’s a more common approach, so common that Japanese teams have also become active in that segment of the market and are trying to outbid MLB clubs that have gotten used to handing out $10,000 bonuses to 20-year-old arms.”

        It’s interesting that many teams have realized that the development time for a young Caribbean arm tends to take more than the 5 years of minor league control (what 16 year old Dominican SP is ready for the majors at age 21?). Also, historically, the Caribbean has proven to be much more effective at producing bats rather than arms. Lastly, arms in general are just a lot less projectable. Only 9 of FanGraphs’ top 50 prospects are pitchers.

    2. Hurtado’s deal is expected to be worth $2.8 million and Feliz’s $1.7 million. The Nationals, who have a $5.284 million base signing pool, have not yet confirmed the agreements.

      1. Hurtago reminds me in video with his build of Roger Bernadina .
        And Feliz swings from left side too.
        Bats acquire arms in time

  6. Agree with the comments about how long it’s taking for Latin arms to develop. The Nats rushed Adon onto the 40-man a year or two too early because of Rule 5 vulnerability. We were afraid they were going to do the same with Lara this year.

    Over the last decade or so, the only Latin pitcher the Nats have developed who has stuck in the majors for an extended period has been Reynaldo Lopez. He was an “older” signee, as were Wander Suero and Jefry Rodriguez. All three were 18 when they first pitched as pros. Even with that, J-Rod was another one who they rushed onto the 40-man too soon.

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