Do you want to talk about the Texas Rangers today? No? Well, neither do I.
So let’s talk about a former Rangers instead.
First baseman Nathaniel Lowe has been designated for assignment by the Washington Nationals, it was announced today. The Nationals had to open up a spot on the 40 man roster for Dylan Crews, who has been activated from the 60 day i.l., and Lowe ended up being the roster casualty.
It has been a bad season for Lowe, who is slashing .216/.292/.373 in 490 plate appearances this year. His walk rate has dropped by around 25%, his K rate has jumped by about 20%, and his BABIP has dropped by almost 60 points. As a result, he is sporting both a negative fWAR and a negative bWAR.
Lowe is making $10.3 million this year, and is heading into his final season of arbitration eligibility after this year. The Nats weren’t going to be bringing him back, since his arbitration salary would be more than they (or another team) would be willing to pay him to play for them in 2026, and they have the third worst record in the majors right now, so it makes sense to look at other potential future options. I have to imagine that the Nats shopped Lowe at the deadline, found not takers even if they ate a big chunk of his contract, and thus now will be waiving him and releasing him.
The Rangers sent Lowe to the Nationals this past offseason for Robert Garcia, and while Garcia has had a Very Bad month of August, that trade still looks pretty good for Texas right now.
I do wonder if the Rangers might look to sign him to a minor league deal once he clears waivers and stick him in Round Rock, given they have familiarity with him, and given that there’s not much in the way of real good first base depth in AAA right now.
Also, I assume that guy who is obsessed with Nathaniel Lowe and his attitude will be showing up in the comments to say that Lowe was released, not because he has been bad, but because Lowe’s attitude is bad. We can then all dogpile that guy and yell at him, and maybe that will make us all feel better.
