The Washington Nationals elected not to tender Luke Voit and right-handed pitcher Erick Fedde before Friday’s 8 p.m. deadline, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. Both players are now free agents.
There is the possibility Voit and Fedde could re-sign with the Nationals for less than their arbitration figures, but the rarity shows the club is ready to move on.
The Nationals drafted Fedde in the first round of the 2014 MLB Draft out of UNLV. Fedde underwent Tommy John surgery ahead of the draft, keeping him out of play in 2014. Fedde made his MLB debut in 2017.
Erick Fedde appeared in 102 games during his six seasons, including 88 starts. Last season, he compiled a 6-13 record with a 5.81 ERA and 1.63 WHIP in 27 starts.
Despite the high draft pick, Fedde never materialized more than a bottom of the rotation arm. His career ERA was 5.41, allowing 9.9 hits per nine innings.
The Nationals acquired Voit from the San Diego Padres in the Juan Soto trade after Eric Hosmer used his no-trade clause to veto a move to Washington. Voit, 32, had an up-and-down season last year.
Luke Voit appeared in 53 games with Washington after the trade. He hit .228/.295/.381 with nine home runs and 21 RBI which stayed on par with what he did with the Padres.
Voit struggled with runners in scoring position, batting .214/.291/.437 in 148 plate appearances. He had a .241 average with the ball in play.
Another alarming stat was Voit hit just .184 when batting in the cleanup spot. The collection of data is why the Nats opted not to tender Voit, who had an $8.2M arbitration projection.
The Nationals did tender Victor Robles, Lane Thomas, Victor Arano, Carl Edwards Jr., Kyle Finnegan, Hunter Harvey, and Tanner Rainey. The club also agreed to a one-year, $975,000 deal with Ildemaro Vargas.
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