Trevor Rosenthal Released by Nationals After Signing 1-Year, $7M Contract

The Washington Nationals released reliever Trevor Rosenthal on Sunday after signing him to a one-year, $7 million contract last offseason. 

But Rosenthal, 29, has been a disaster this season, going 0-1 with a 22.74 ERA, 3.63 WHIP and five strikeouts in 12 appearances (6.1 innings). 

Without piling on Rosenthal too much, he was historically bad in his 12 appearances this year:

In Rosenthal's defense, he returned to action after missing the entire 2018 campaign following Tommy John surgery in August 2017. He spent his first six seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and was excellent for the team, at times serving as its closer and finishing his time there with an 11-24 record and a 2.99 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 121 saves and 435 strikeouts in 325 innings. 

The hope for the Nationals was that Rosenthal would return to his pre-injury form and help bolster a bullpen in desperate need of an upgrade. Instead, he struggled and spent time on the injured list with a viral infection. 

So Washington cut its losses on Sunday.

It's possible that Rosenthal will get nibbles from other teams hoping he can round back into form in the minors. But for a Washington team that gave up a solid chunk of change to sign him, Sunday was the culmination of a disappointing stint.