MLB News: Washington Nationals Have Officially Engaged in a Protracted Battle With San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins And Baltimore Orioles For the Signing Of Chicago White Sox Star Pitcher,garrett crochet, However…….

selected to the Nationals’ active roster, and likewise, Senzel signed a guaranteed one-year, $2M contract with Washington over the winter. If Senzel isn’t claimed or traded during his DFA period and then released, the Nationals will be responsible for the roughly $950K still owed to Senzel, apart from the prorated minimum MLB salary that would be covered by a new team if Senzel signs elsewhere.

The financial element of this move is probably secondary to the bigger aspect of the Nationals pulling the cord early on a veteran player rather than looking to move Senzel in a trade closer to the deadline. As with Rosario, it seems like Washington just opted to move on entirely since Senzel wasn’t producing enough to generate much trade interest. Senzel has hit .209/.303/.359 with seven home runs over 235 plate appearances, translating to a below-average 90 wRC+. Apart from an excellent 11.5% walk rate, Senzel wasn’t bringing much to the table either offensively or defensively as the Nats’ regular third baseman, and he had only 0.1 fWAR over 64 games.

As has often been the case for Senzel, health was a factor. He suffered a fractured thumb right at the end of spring training that required a season-opening stint on the 10-day injured list, and though the fracture was slight enough that he missed less than three weeks of action, it is easy to imagine how any kind of lingering thumb discomfort might’ve impacted Senzel’s performance at the plate.