Retaining Promising Slugger Was Massive Win for Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals made the surprising decision to designate Stone Garrett for assignment following their signing of Kyle Finnegan becoming official.

With a new need to open a spot on the 40-man roster, the slugging outfielder was the odd man out, a casualty of the franchise now having multiple options at his position even outside of the incumbent starters James Wood, Jacob Young and Dylan Crews.

While that decision was seen as surprising, it was borderline shocking when he went unclaimed on waivers which allowed the Nationals to outright him to their Triple-A affiliate.

This is a major win for Washington.

Garrett has had an interesting baseball journey, one that began by being an eighth-round pick of the Miami Marlins in the 2014 draft out of high school and turning into one of their top prospects before it briefly ended in 2020 when he decided to become a real estate agent.

That was short-lived, and he inked a minor league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks, a tenure that didn't amount to much besides him making his Major League debut in 2022 before he was non-tendered after the season.

He signed with the Nationals and flashed some of his high upside, slashing .269/.343/.457 with nine homers, 40 RBI and OPS+ of 121 in 89 games and 271 plate appearances.

But things came to a crashing halt when he broke his leg in late-August of 2023.

Garrett worked his way back and appeared in two games last year, hitting a homer and driving in three runs during his five at-bats.

Even though it's a small sample size, it seems like slugger is able to hit at the Major League level, a huge asset for Washington as they continue to look for production across their roster at multiple positions.

That's why getting him back in the organization was massive.

Garrett might never be a future cornerstone like he appeared to be during the early part of his career, but based on the past two seasons, he seems to be peaking at the right time at 29 years old.

All eyes will be on how James Wood and Dylan Crews perform this season.

They are supposed to be the faces of the franchise going forward, but they also need another running mate out there or in the lineup, something Jacob Young, Robert Hassell III and now Garrett will try to provide.

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