Washington Nationals sign Miguel Montero, miss out on Alex Avila

This week, the Washington Nationals signed catcher Miguel Montero to a minor league deal, but also missed out on inking Alex Avila.

The Washington Nationals catcher situation remains unsolved. While it’s almost certain Matt Wieters begins the season behind the dish, questions about his abilities will continue until he proves naysayers otherwise.

Beyond Wieters, there is a question about who takes over as his backup. The Nationals have two young internal options with Pedro Severino and Raudy Read listed as the top choices. This week, they did add another potential backup. Veteran catcher Miguel Montero agreed to a minor league contract with the Nationals in hopes of making the Opening Day roster.

Until recently, Montero was a productive offensive catcher with good power and a talent for drawing walks. Unfortunately, the last two seasons haven’t gone so well. The 2017 campaign was especially poor for Montero. Not only did he struggle at the plate, his criticism of Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta cost him his job with the defending champions. He’d eventually finish the year with the Toronto Blue Jays with a horrific .138 batting average in just over 100 plate appearances.

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Montero is clearly not the answer. A guy who had a much different season last year, Alex Avila, may have been.

Sadly, Avila is now off the board. The Arizona Diamondbacks signed him to a two-year deal worth $8.25 million. Certainly, something the Nationals could have afforded, they seem to have missed a great opportunity in adding a notable number two behind Wieters.

Washington Nationals: The Remaining Options

The Washington Nationals aren’t completely out of options. J.T. Realmuto is very available in a trade and free agent Jonathan Lucroy is running out of options. Personally, I prefer the Lucroy route. Perhaps he accepts a pillow contract and can split time with Wieters. Since both would fight for playing time and are free agents next winter, the fire under them could burn a little harder.

Of course, the problem with Lucroy is that even in a slimming market, the price tag would be high. Combine this with Wieters’ salary and the Nationals are suddenly paying a lot of money for two part-time players.

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The good news is that the Nationals should be fine with Wieters and anyone else behind him for at least a few months. The rest of the lineup has enough talent to carry them through one weak number eight hitter. If they still need a catcher when the trade deadline approaches, more than just Realmuto could become a target.