The Nationals have announced that they want the left Richard Lovelady without leaving the Mets. New York picked him up last week when they acquired him Vidal Bruján. To make room for Lovelady today, the Nats designated a utility player Mickey Gasper by share.
Lovelady, 30, has yet to find major league success but has gotten plenty of opportunities thanks to a better number of young players. He has 111 major league innings spread over multiple seasons and different jerseys. During that time, he posted a 5.35 earned run average, a 21.1% strikeout rate, an 8.7% walk rate and a 50.9% ground ball rate.
Running out of options, he rode the league in a number of trades last year. He went from the Blue Jays to the Twins and then to the Mets, the latter club beating him and signing him off the roster several times. He only made ten major league appearances in the trade with an 8.49 ERA. But in Triple-A, he went 38 innings with a 1.66 ERA, a 26.3% strikeout rate, an 8.6% walk rate and a 52.6% ground ball.
He didn’t have a roster spot at the end of the season but the Mets quickly re-signed him in October to a split deal that would have paid him $1MM in the majors and $350K in the minors. It may seem strange to sign a player and then waive him a few months later but that is possible by design.
As mentioned, Lovelady has run out of options, meaning she cannot be sent to the minors without first clearing waivers. If he does resign, he will be eligible for free agency, because he has at least three years of major league service. But since his term of service is less than five years, that means Lovelady will have to give up the money in his contract to exercise that right. The Mets likely signed him to that deal in the hopes that it would deter other clubs from pursuing him and encourage Lovelady to accept an assignment to Triple-A.
The Nationalists thwarted that plan by rushing in with their request. That’s understandable since their bullpen is one of the worst, if not the worst. The Washington pitchers had a collective 5.59 ERA in 2025, the highest in the major leagues. The Rockies were second worst at 5.18.
Washington traded Jose A. Ferrer for the Mariners this winter, who have thinned out relief pitchers in general and left them relatively light in terms of lefties. Before this claim, PJ Poulin was the only southpaw reliever on the roster, unless the Nats plan to move some of their starters to the bullpen. Poulin has just 28 league games under his belt.
The Nats may try to move on from Lovelady in the future and other moves could change the roster picture, but for now he has reached a point where he has a good chance of getting the Opening Day job. If he has a roster spot at the end of the season, he can be restricted for two more seasons through arbitration.
Gasper, 30, hasn’t done much in the majors yet but has solid minor league numbers and defensive flexibility. He made his major league debut for the Red Sox in 2024 and appeared with the Twins last year, hitting .133/.250/.195 in his first 133 major league plate appearances.
He hit .285/.385/.531 in 208 Triple-A games last year. He was 29 at the time and that was his third season with at least some Triple-A action but a 137 wRC+ was impressive. Even if those offensive expectations are set too high, defensive diversity is real. Gasper has experience behind the plate, in three unbroken infield spots and in left field.
The whole package makes him attractive as a multi-position bench, especially since he’s a hitter. And he has options and doesn’t need to be guaranteed a big league roster spot. The Twins fired him last week and he was claimed by the Nats, one of the clubs closest to the waiver wire. Washington will now reinstate him from waivers sometime in the next five days.
Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images
