Nats make a huge signing this week!

Big headline with a lot of sarcasm! The Washington Nationals went outside the organization to sign a struggling Triple-A reliever. This is Paul Toboni’s first official signing of a pro player who wasn’t previously with the Nats. Details below, and let’s go through some background of what happened since the beginning of November. There were a total of 34 players in the Nationals’ minor league system who became free agents — many by default because they weren’t extended.

In my work on this article, I contacted two former players who became free agents on a condition of anonymity. Both were surprised that nobody talked to them before they became free agents by default, which means their contracts expired at Triple-A and Double-A. Both told me they would have re-signed. Both are younger pitchers with better statistics than the player Toboni acquired.

According to Baseball America‘s full list of players who became free agents, it’s the highest across any MLB organization. Here’s the full list:

The headline from Sports Illustrated was, “Staggering Number of Nationals Minor League Players Have Become Free Agents.” Yes, the list is long. Very long actually. Yes, it was time for some of the players. For others, they seemed so close that with some offseason tweaks — maybe they would finally make it. Here are the stats.

Now since they became free agents, both RHP Erick Mejia and RHP Johan Otanez as TalkNats reported were players who were re-signed. The Nats need a lot more players to fill-out there roster.

Sure enough as we learned yesterday, Tyler Baum was just signed by the Nationals. Who? He was previously with the A’s Triple-A team in Las Vegas. His Triple-A numbers were really bad in a small sample size of 10 ⅔ innings with a 10.97 ERA and a terrible K/BB (1.20) rate and 2.34 WHIP. He almost gave up as many walks (10) as strikeouts (12). His ERA was close to Lucas Sims.

Sure, as Don H. said in a comment this morning, “Sign flawed players whose flaws are fixable?????” You hope that is the case here. Baum was at one time a decent prospect who was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 2nd round of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from University of North Carolina.

But after an horrific season as a starter in Single-A in 2021 with a 12.08 ERA and a 2.526 WHIP, they converted Baum to a reliever. That actually went worse in 2022 with a 17.00 ERA in 27 appearances. They stuck with him for the next four years, injuries and all until they let him become a free agent.

Here’s the thingie, Baum is now 27 years old. He turns 28 in January. Baum reached Triple-A in 2024 and struggled, and the A’s sent him back to Double-A for most of the 2025 season. He then went to Triple-A where you read his stats over 12 games.

As Don H. wondered, do they think this soon to be 28-year-old is fixable? The A’s couldn’t fix him. This is Toboni’s first official signing who wasn’t with the Nats before this. I sure hope he is fixable.

Talk DC Sports — The Nationals