Thanks to Luke Erickson, who culled through Brittany Ghirolis Athletic article and Baseball America minor league transaction details to list out the 39 players who got cut from the various Nats minor league affiliates on 5/31/20.
Luke’s post at Nats Prospects here: https://nationalsprospects.com/2020/06/nats-backtrack-from-minors-pay-cut-releases-revealed/ , The Athletic’s link here: https://theathletic.com/1847453/2020/06/01/nationals-make-cuts-drop-minor-league-pay/ and BA’s here: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/milb-releases-we-learned-about-today
With this posting, we have completely updated both the major links for all these releases:
- Big Board: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/186nm-v5F-zTCoR2Be7TFYM3e2cZ-gYi2WVqJLEkHdmc
- Draft Tracker: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Qd5DS9GlmkQOEh_zGhOvlhHK0EegqY1uJB4mLGmRBaY
As always, if you notice an error/omission on these two resources let me know.
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I wanted to go through some notable releases, perhaps identify some surprises and speculate on the obvious ramifications going forward.
Notable/Surprise releases for me:
- Luis Sardinas: mlb-experienced middle infielder who was relatively successful last year between AA and AAA; marginally surprised they cut him. But, they did NOT cut Emilio Bonifacio so perhaps that’s the decision/either or player.
- Drew Ward: the highest draft pedigree of any player released, this 3rd rounder put 7 years into the org, and wasn’t too bad in AAA last year. He’s only 25; its not like he’s in his upper 20s. I think he gets another chance somewhere, perhaps with us, perhaps elsewhere.
- Tyler Mapes; one of my favorite Nats draft stories of all time. 30th rounder, cruised through the minors and was the best starter on our 2016 AA team. What a steal. But then he got hurt, missed 2017, and couldn’t regain his old AA glory. Now he’s too old to keep around. He’s a perfect example of a guy who perhaps gets one more shot with someone’s AAA team in 2020, but the loss of the season cuts his career short.
- Bobby Milaki: drafted as a favor to a staff member, he was effective in the lower levels. Why cut him now? Why not see what he can do in low-A as a 25yr old? Don’t get this release.
- Jorge Pantoja: I never understood the team’s usage of Pantoja. Four years straight he was in High-A; in 2019 he was actually good. So why cut him now? Why not after 2016 season when he posted a 6 ERA in Potomac?
- Hayden Howard; two straight solid seasons in high-A; why cut him now? Why not see what he can do in AA? Oh yeah that’s right; there won’t be a AA this year. He’s a great example of a player who was released for no other good reason.
- Ryan Williamson: man the team was patient with this guy; drafted in 2016, did not appear professionally for another two seasons. Put up acceptable numbers in low-A in 2019, but was way too old for hte level and I guess his time was up.
- Derek Self: cut loose after 8 full seasons in our system. Drafted in 2012, re-signed as MLFA, a long serving org arm.
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Stating the obvious.
Clearly the team is anticipating the loss of two full teams going forward. Covid19 couldn’t have come at a better time in this respect for MLB’s wishes to gut the minor leagues. We cut 40 players, add just 5 in the draft and voila; you have most of the legwork done to cut lower minor league levels. Next spring training you have tryouts for the lowest full season team and we’ll see another huge round of cuts.
And then there’s this: the cost of keeping a player is $400/week for the rest of the season versus cutting them right now, so we’re not talking about a ton of money to keep them under contract.
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Last thing: fun facts. After cleaning up/updating the draft tracker for all these releases, here’s some useless information.
- Ryan Zimmerman remains the longest serving player by tenure from draft day obviously, being the first player drafted by the team in 2005.
- Next up? Michael Taylor and Stephen Strasburg, 2009 drafteees. Aaron Barrett did not get cut with this purge; he’s a 2010 drafteee.
- Oldest serving non-40 man player? Jakson Reetz, 2014 3rd rounder. There’s now basically nobody left from the 2013, 2012, 2011 drafts on the team.