Nationals announced that it has selected infielder contracts Jordy Mercer and Hernán Pérez. First base Jake Noll was assigned to the task of cleaning up the 40-man on-call space. Washington also opted for five players for Triple-A: Carter Kieboom, Luis garcia, Sam Clay, Kyle McGowin and Yadiel Hernández. In addition, Nats launched Yasmany Tomás and TJ McFarland of their respective minor league contracts.
Today’s list of movements lends some clarity to the Nationals’ internal plans. With Kieboom out of the picture, it looks like Washington is prepared to turn to the veteran Josh Harrison on third base most days. Mercer and Pérez will be available as utility options to support Harrison, Trea Turner and Starlin Castro around the dirt.
Mercer had a fairly long run as a regular intermediary with the Pirates and Tigers between 2013-19. He signed a minor league contract with the Nats in February and now has a base salary of $ 1 million. In that sense, he joined Pérez, who is more familiar with the utility function. The 30-year-old has already jumped around the diamond a lot with the Brewers, where he showed some strength and speed, but struggled to get to the base consistently.
Noll, 27, hit the small ones well up to Triple-A. But he fought there in 2019 and has only managed 30 MLB appearances in the past two seasons. Nats have a week to negotiate or dismiss him. Noll still has a year to choose from the secondary league, so he brings some flexibility on duty that can intrigue other clubs.
Tomás and McFarland signed unscheduled agreements with the Nationals during the off-season. The former was a regular corner outfielder with the Diamondbacks, but has barely played at the MLB level since 2017. The latter shot 23 games for the A’s with a 4.35 ERA / 4.56 SIERA last season. They are now going back to the open market. As Maria Torres of Atlético points out (on twitter), McFarland’s departure seems to suggest another guest not on the list Luis Avilán will win a left-handed bullpen role at the opening of the season.