Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Chico outrighted to Class AAA

Rest easy, Matt Chico fans: The left-hander will remain with the Nationals organization after all.

Chico, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Class AAA Syracuse, the club announced today.

Though the Nationals only announced the DFA move last night, Chico must have been placed on waivers earlier in the week after the team signed right-hander Chien-Ming Wang. Players must remain on waivers for 72 hours, with other clubs having the right to claim them. If no claim is made, the player remains his original team's property and is outrighted to the minors.

Chico will be invited to big-league camp next spring, though his chances of making the Nationals' Opening Day rotation are slim at best.

21 comments:

natsfan1a said...

Dang, Mark's fast. I just posted to the other thread about this. hmmm...who owes whom a coke now? :-)

Sunderland said...

I was never "invited to camp". I was always either sent to camp, or sent home from camp.

Mark, when does the 60 day DL open up?
March 1, mandatory reporting day? Sooner than that?

Anonymous said...

Mark, the other night Harold Reynolds stated that he knew that the Nats were thinking seriously about moving Desmond to the outfield. Have you heard anything along those lines?

BinM said...

@Sunderland: I think the 60-day DL is only available while the season is in play (25-man active roster).

NatsJack in Florida said...

What BinM said.... he's correct.

Anonymous 2:35... NEVER, EVER, EVER, listen to a talking head. If it ONLY comes from a talking head, he's making stuff up and Harold Reynolds is famous for that.

Knoxville Nat said...

Mark,

Thank you for all the fine reporting, analysis and commentary throughout this past season. I have enjoyed your work quite a bit and look forward to reading more this next season.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to you and your family.

Now could you please deliver a starting pitcher and a first baseman under our collective tree??

N. Cognito said...

Isn't Hanukkah over?
Oh well. Along those lines, how come Chico looks more like Harpo?

Section 223 said...

I think Harold Reynolds gets his scouting reports on the Nats from M JayB. As interesting as MLB network is, Harold just doesn't impress me.

Section 223 said...

Oh, and I wold also like to thank Mark for taking this leap into a variation of his previous work. I have enjoyed the informative and fair writing found here.

To all the folks on the comment board - Have a Happy whatever you're having!

Cwj said...

Happy Festivus!

I've always liked Chico. You never know, if the rotation completely collapses we may yet see him on the mound again.

Anonymous said...

Festivus is ongoing around here. Thanks to idiots like JayB the airing of grievances never ever lets up, not even for a minute.

NatsJack in Florida said...

It's not beyond my imagination that we could approach 13 different starters again this year so, yes, Chico could appear on the bump in DC yet again.

DFL said...

Matt Chico is a good pitcher. Perhaps he will the Nats' answer to Jamie Moyer.

Anonymous8 said...

PAY TO PLAY said...
http://twitter.com/NatsTownNews/statuses/17648082833375232

Mark - How is this possible? I thought Chico had to clear waivers first?

December 22, 2010 1:40 PM
______________________________________

PAY TO PLAY was right on it again! Way to go! This is the place to go for the news----QUICK!

Anonymous said...

My question is why has Matt Chico fallen so far off the radar? Last summer we were running out the likes of Martin and Atilano but wouldn't give Chico a sniff but for that one start (which was quite good.) I don't understand why Chico is behind Martin, Atliano, Collin "watch your head" Ballestar, Garrett Mock, etc.

Mark said...

Anon8, Pay2Play, : I only have to come here as all the pertinent news is here first. Great explanation as to the 72 hour expanse of time.

RayMitten: I agree with you as that was my thought too given how bad the rotation got.

Mark said...

Mark Z., are we to assume that 2 more players have already been DFA'd to make room for Ankiel and Mattheus and just hasn't been announced publicly?

Sofa said...

Ray, only guessing here, but I imagine they feel like they know what Chico brings, and they still want to find out about the younger guys you mention.

Ballinonabudget said...

It could also be that for whatever reason, Rizzo thought Chico was the least likely to get picked up off waivers.

Could it have something to do with the number of options left? I'm pretty sure Chico has more ML service time than Atilano and Martin. So those other guys would be more likely to be picked up by another team. All just guesses here. Rizzo also has made it clear that he likes Mock's "stuff."

Ernie said...

@N. Cognito

I was ready to make the same comment last night but figured I was just feeling loopy. Give the guy a horn and let him pester Margaret Dumont fora while!

Anonymous8 said...

Frank Wren of the Braves talking about Zack Greinke...“We talked about it [trading for Greinke]. I just think it was going to be cost-prohibitive for us because some of those players it would've taken to make that deal are players we’re going to be counting on in the next year or 2, and we think they’re going to be premium talents at the major league level.”

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