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by RotoWire Staff | RotoWire
Joe Nathan: Officially hangs up cleats
Joe Nathan is expected to officially announce his retirement Friday at Target Field.Nathan, who has pitched 6.2 innings in the majors over the last two seasons, decided to call it quits after failing to break through with the Nationals this season. He'll retire as a Twin, where he spent eight seasons and established himself as an elite closer. The six-time All-Star will end his career with an impressive 2.87 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 976 strikeouts in 923.1 innings. He is also eighth on the all-time saves list with 377.
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by RotoWire Staff | RotoWire
Joe Nathan: Becomes free agent
Joe Nathan was released by the Nationals on Wednesday.Nathan struggled during his time with Washington's Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse, producing a 6.19 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP in 16 innings. He has a wealth of major-league experience, but with his best days clearly behind him, it's hard to believe he'll garner much interest on the free-agent market.
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by RotoWire Staff | RotoWire
Nationals' Joe Nathan: Logs scoreless debut
Joe Nathan threw a scoreless inning with a walk and a strikeout Wednesday during his season debut for Triple-A Syracuse, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post reports.The right-hander is probably no better than a desperation backup plan for Washington Nationals saves, as he's not even on the 40-man roster. Still, it's encouraging that Nathan is chugging along at age 42. If the choppy performance of closer Blake Treinen and other Nationals relievers continues, the former elite closer at least could get a call-up to the big leagues to solidify the setup bridge and position himself for high-leverage appearances. That seems like a move from Dusty Baker's playbook. Keep a casual eye on Nathan's progress.
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by RotoWire Staff | RotoWire
Nationals' Joe Nathan: Returns to Nationals on minor-league deal
Joe Nathan, who was released by Washington on March 27, agreed to a minor-league contract with the Washington Nationals on Sunday, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports.It appears Nathan's time as a free agent was short-lived this time around. After failing to find a team willing to immediately give him a big-league opportunity, the 42-year-old will likely report to Triple-A Syracuse, where he will look to demonstrate that he still has enough left in the tank to be an effective reliever in the majors.
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by RotoWire Staff | RotoWire
Joe Nathan: Released by Washington
Joe Nathan was released by the Nationals on Monday, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.Nathan made a spirited bid in spring training to win a spot in the Nationals' bullpen, but the organization simply felt that it had higher-upside options than the 42-year-old. Given his age, Nathan wasn't willing to accept an assignment to the minors, so he'll become a free agent and see if he can draw interest from other teams for a bullpen gig in the big leagues. Nathan made 10 total appearances with the Cubs and Giants last season, tossing 6.1 scoreless innings and striking out nine batters.
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by RotoWire Staff | RotoWire
Nationals' Joe Nathan: Can opt out of deal Friday
Joe Nathan has a clause in his deal with the Washington Nationals that allows him to opt out Friday, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports.He pitched on back-to-back days for the first time this spring Wednesday and Thursday, and while the 42-year-old hasn't looked bad so far (8:3 K:BB in 10.2 innings), the Nats already seemingly have seven relievers locked into spots after the late signing of Joe Blanton. If Nathan does opt out, he may have done enough to earn a look from another team in need of some veteran savvy in the middle innings.
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by RotoWire Staff | RotoWire
Nationals' Joe Nathan: Chances of winning job shrink
Joe Nathan's odds of winning a spot in the Washington Nationals' bullpen may have taken a hit after the team signed Joe Blanton, The Washington Post reports.Assuming the team carries seven relievers, five of those spots will be taken up by Blanton, Shawn Kelley, Blake Treinen, Sammy Solis and Oliver Perez. A sixth spot will go to a long reliever, which leaves Nathan competing with younger fireballers like Koda Glover and Enny Romero for the final opening. A good spring could still earn Nathan a look from another team in need of bullpen help, but his chances of pitching for Washington, much less working his way into the mix at closer, appear to be growing dimmer.
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by RotoWire Staff | RotoWire
Nationals' Joe Nathan: Effective in spring opener
Joe Nathan hit 92 mph on the stadium radar gun during a shutout inning of work in Saturday's Grapefruit League opener against the Mets, The Washington Post reports. "I'll tell you, it felt very easy today," Nathan said. "I'm surprised that it got there. Normally, for me, spring has always been velocity down, even when I was a mid-to-upper [90s] guy. I always threw low 90s in the spring, so for me to go out and be 91, 92 for a first outing, and I felt very easy out there. I didn't feel like I was putting too much effort into pitches. I felt very smooth, very effortless, I would say."He gave up a leadoff single to Rene Rivera, but escaped facing the minimum number of batters thanks to a double play. If those velocity readings were accurate, they represent a big step forward for Nathan in his quest to secure a spot in the Washington Nationals' bullpen, after he averaged a career-low 91.2 mph on his fastball last season in a handful of innings after recovering from his second Tommy John surgery. There's still a long way to go, but Saturday's performance was definitely an encouraging one for the 42-year-old.
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by RotoWire Staff | RotoWire
Nationals' Joe Nathan: Arm feels good
Joe Nathan threw about 20 pitches in a bullpen session Monday and came away feeling great, Glenn Sattell of MLB.com reports. "Pretty easy day, just made sure my stuff was kind of in the zone when I wanted to," Nathan said. "For the most part, I threw strikes; didn't throw too many breaking balls. But mixed in sinkers, change."The 42-year-old is trying to resume his career after Tommy John surgery in April of 2015, and his lengthy resume makes him an intriguing wild card in a bullpen that currently lacks an established closer. The Nats have a history of adding veteran arms off the scrap heap every spring, so if Nathan can show he has something left, his chances of breaking camp on the 25-man roster might be better than you'd think. Whether that translates into saves and fantasy value, though, is another question entirely.
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by RotoWire Staff | RotoWire
Nationals' Joe Nathan: Will compete for closer spot
Joe Nathan will be in the mix for the Washington Nationals' closer job this spring, The Washington Post reports.He's thrown just 6.2 innings in the majors over the last two seasons, but Nathan has one thing going for him that none of the Nats' other closing options do, and that's experience. The 42-year-old has 377 career saves, eighth most in MLB history, and if he shows that he has anything left in the tank during spring training, he could give manager Dusty Baker the veteran security blanket at the back of the bullpen that he prefers. Nathan's still a long shot to even win a spot on the 25-man roster, much less a high-leverage role, but in deep NL-only fantasy leagues he could be an interesting stash on your reserve list.
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