Rivero Outrighted, Garcia To DL
We now interrupt your lazy Sunday afternoon for another transaction-oriented post.
The Washington Nationals announced late Sunday afternoon that out-of-options IF-OF Carlos Rivero passed through waivers and has been outrighted to Syracuse while RHP Christian Garcia was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a forearm tendon strain.
If there’s an underlying theme among these moves — minus Garcia — it’s that Nats GM Mike Rizzo is adamant that “surplus” players aren’t leaving without a decent return. Both Colorado and Detroit were looking to hold onto Danny Rosenbaum and Jeff Kobernus, respectively, but returned them because “the asking price was too high.”
It’s probably safe to deduce that the Nats were unable to trade Rivero for the same reason.
The Garcia move is retroactive to Friday, which would make the righthander eligible on April 6th. With zero exhibition appearances, his injury history, and the careful management of his workload last summer, estimates such as Adam Kilgore’s of Garcia missing the month of April seem rather plausible.
Could be another CM Wang deal with Garcia.
This has been a fruitful weekend for the Nats’ minor-league system. I am truly shocked to see Rivero simply return to Syracuse. As always, though, what do I know?
I like that they are keeping Rivero in major-league camp regardless. This must have been pretty dispiriting for him. After all, any team could have taken him, and they simply didn’t. He’s still a valuable prospect for the Nats, though.
Rizzo comes out smelling like a rose on his management of the 40 man roster. He got a lot of criticism when Kobernus and Rosenbaum were taken in the Rule 5 draft. But not only are they back, now the team hangs on to Rivero as well (Rivero did struggle defensively in the OF this spring; I cut him some slack since he had never played OF before). Now the team has two extra 40 man roster slots to keep an eye out for a player that they need (LHRP? #6 starter?). Well played, sir.
I assume that the minor league Rule 5 guys, McGeary and Nelo, aren’t coming back though.
Correct. Only the MLB phase has that restriction, the AAA and AA phases do not.
Pretty shocking that Rivero passed through waivers; there’s some real pop in that bat. If I’m correct, this means they’ll be reluctant to bring him up in-season because he’ll have to pass through agian next time.
I think the other MLB clubs view him as a ‘tweener — some pop (but not enough to keep him in the lineup)… some versatility (but not enough to be a utilityman)… that’s probably why he went unclaimed
But you have to wonder about the timing… was he put on waivers once the club got wind that Kobernus was coming back? If so, then it’s possible that they’d risk losing him if he’s needed. Nevertheless I have a feeling Walters or Kobernus would get the call first unless something happens early (before Mother’s Day) in the season.
I’m glad as a fan, but I feel for Rivero — he’s no longer on the 40-man (read: pay cut) and blocked by both major leaguers and minor-leaguers with options.
hopefully he recovers from the setback and plays well enough to attain some value
Yes, at some point this season he’ll be backing up Anthony Rendon at third base … guess he could end up replacing Seth Bynum at the UTL in Syracuse. Not sure but his glove might be better and he is a lot younger.