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The Nationals began the process of trimming down their 40-man roster for the start of the offseason this evening, announcing four players cleared outright waivers in Paul Toboni’s first official transactions since being named president of baseball operations.
Right-handers Eduardo Salazar and Mason Thompson, left-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara and catcher CJ Stubbs were dropped from the 40-man roster, with Ogasawara and Stubbs assigned outright to Triple-A Rochester. Salazar and Thompson refused their outright assignments and instead declared for free agency, leaving the organization in the process.
All major league clubs must activate players who ended the season on the injured list following the World Series, and typically that requires some other maneuvering to make sure they do not exceed the 40-man roster limit for the offseason. Today’s moves leave the Nationals with 36 active players, plus four more under club control who ended the year on the 60-day IL: Josiah Gray, DJ Herz, Drew Millas and Trevor Williams. (Derek Law also was on the 60-day IL, but he’s set to become a free agent after the World Series and will automatically come off the roster.)
Thompson also ended the season on the IL with right biceps tendinitis, a frustrating conclusion to a frustrating season for the 27-year-old reliever, who in his return from his second Tommy John surgery produced an 11.81 ERA and 2.625 WHIP in 14 big league appearances. Originally acquired from the Padres for Daniel Hudson in one of former general manager Mike Rizzo’s flurry of 2021 trade deadline deals, Thompson ends his Nationals tenure with a 7-9 record, 5.27 ERA and 1.640 WHIP in 116 games.
Salazar, a waiver claim from the Mariners during the 2024 season, showed initial promise with a 2.96 ERA in 25 appearances but struggled this season to the tune of an 8.38 ERA in 30 games while bouncing back and forth between D.C. and Rochester.
Though Ogasawara remains in the organization, his removal from the 40-man roster only one year after Rizzo signed him to a two-year, $3.5 million contract as the Nationals’ first free agent from Japan underscores how far the franchise still has to go to become serious players in the Asian market. The 28-year-old left-hander was viewed as a potential rotation piece but never looked big league ready and was moved to the bullpen after two unimpressive starts in July. He finished the season with a 6.98 ERA and 1.552 WHIP in 23 total games (21 of those coming in relief).
Stubbs becomes an interesting footnote in Nationals history, a longtime member of the Astros organization who came over this season on a minor league deal and spent the majority of the year at Rochester and Double-A Harrisburg. When Millas fractured his finger in late August, the Nats were desperate for catching help and promoted Stubbs to make his major league debut at 28 alongside left-hander Andrew Alvarez. He wound up behind the plate for a 2-0 victory over the Marlins, only to be optioned back to Triple-A the next day when the club signed veteran Jorge Alfaro to serve as backup catcher for the remainder of the season.
