Nationals Claim Jeter Downs
Ryan Brasier is still on the Red Sox 40-man roster. The guy who was supposed to be the main piece of the Mookie Betts trade is not. Apparently, that somehow makes sense to the dumbest person to ever attend Yale, Chaim Bloom. Get ready for more criminal asset management as Downs has been claimed by the Washington Nationals.
Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post was the first to report the news:
Downs, 24, now gets a chance to revamp his career on a rebuilding team. Downs was awful in his big league debut a year ago with Boston sporting a batting line of .154/.171/.256 in 14 games. His minor league numbers haven’t been much better since leaving the Dodgers organization. Still, Downs is a young player with some promise and there’s a chance Washington found a long term contributor.
The Nats have now taken advantage of two clunkers by the small balls Bloom led Sox front office. The Nationals had the worst record in the sport a year ago so they had access to any waiver claim they so choose. Washington also took former Red Sox prospect Thad Ward with the first pick in the Rule 5 Draft. They also now add Downs for free as well. Don’t ask my why Bloom didn’t protect Ward and or Downs. Doesn’t make sense to any rational human but I’m not convinced Bloom is a real human at this point.
Time will tell what Downs can become but this Nationals team as it stands right now is a pretty clean slate. The opportunity is there for playing time.
