Washington Nationals announce 60-Man Player Pool for 2020 MLB season

The defending World Series champion Washington Nationals announced the 60-Man Player Pool of players for the upcoming 2020 season* on Sunday afternoon, with a few surprising-ish names on the list, and the Nats also provided a roster update on one of their apparently injured players who was currently on the 40-Man roster.

The Player Pool, for this shortened, 60-game season, “is a list of players who will be eligible to participate in Major League games during the 2020 season.”

Ryan Zimmerman, who has been pondering whether to play baseball with the coronavirus pandemic still a serious issue around the country and world, is on the Nationals’ 60-man roster, though that is likely not definitive evidence that he’s made a decision on starting a 16th major league season after he signed a 1-year/$2M with the club this winter, since the players still have the option of opting out of playing this season (with their full prorated pay if they’re deemed “high risk” health-wise).

There are some interesting prospects on the list (Joan Adon; Jake Irvin; Seth Romero; Nick Wells — acquired in a deal for Austin Adams last May; Matt Cronin; Jackson Rutledge (the Nats’ top 2019 draft pick), and infield prospect Luis Garcia). Will any of the organization’s next generation of players actually play* during the 2020 campaign? Not likely, but they’re included likely so they can continue to develop and be on hand when/if there is a need.

The only player on the Nats’ 40-Man roster who is not on the 60-Man player pool is Adrián Sanchez, the veteran infielder, who apparently suffered a torn right Achilles while working out in anticipation of baseball’s return on July 23rd/24th as the Nationals announced late Sunday afternoon.

UPDATE: The Nationals issued the following update on their PR Twitter feed this morning:

Later this week, the Nationals will gather in the nation’s capital (July 1st) for testing for the coronavirus and then the start of workouts (July 3rd) as players try to ramp back up for an abbreviated season.

The 60-Man Player Pool, as noted above, is the list of the players who, “... will be eligible to participate in Major League games during the 2020 championship season,” and it includes, “... all players on a Club’s 40-man roster that the Club anticipates participating, and any non-40-man roster players under contract and reserve to the Club whom the Club anticipates may be selected during the 2020 season.”

Before the season starts*, clubs will submit “an Opening Day Active Roster with a maximum of 30 players, and a minimum of 25. The minimum of 25 players will remain throughout the championship season and postseason.”

After that (via MLB’s Operations Manual for the 2020 season):

• The maximum Active Roster limit shall be reduced from 30 to 28 at 12:00 PM ET on the 15th day of the championship season.
• The maximum Active Roster limit shall be reduced from 28 to 26 at 12:00 PM ET on the 29th day of the championship season for the remainder of the championship season and postseason.

[ed. note - “All *s included above = Assuming they do ever play baseball this summer, what with the pandemic still, you know, going on, and getting worse in many cities in the U.S.”]