Much of the Washington Nationals’ rebuilding relies on the historic package they received for San Diego Padres superstar outfielder Juan Soto and first baseman Josh Bell.
The rest of the plan seems to consist of siphoning prospects from the Boston Red Sox.
The Nationals claimed 24-year-old center fielder Jeter Downs was waived Thursday after being assigned a week earlier.
154 with a double, a home run, four RBIs, and an underground-level .427 OPS in 14 games. His 21-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio has shown that he has failed to put the ball at bat over the past two seasons.
The struggling prospect posted . 193, . 661 OPS in two seasons at Triple-A Worcester before being finally assigned to the quota.
The Nationals appear to have favored Boston, but Downs was a key prospect in the Mookie-Betts trade and was once ranked the #2 prospect in the Red Sox farming system. .
Instead of returning to the Red Sox organization outside the 40-man roster, Downs will try to get his career off the ground in Washington’s farm system.
The news comes on the heels of the Nationals expending the No. 1 pick in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft to former Red Sox right-hander Thad Ward.
The Downs is a low-risk, high-reward lottery, but Ward is a far more promising prospect and would not have stood to be stolen if he had stayed healthy over the past few seasons, or in Red’s case. Well, the Sox had him right before the draft.
Boston will have to wait for both Downs and Ward to try to make the Red Sox regret letting them go.
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