Nationals Outright Darren Baker

"The Nationals announced Friday that infielder/outfielder Darren Baker, whom they had designated for assignment earlier in the week, went unclaimed on waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Rochester. He'll remain with the organization but will no longer occupy a spot on the 40-man roster. The 26-year-old Baker made his major league debut with Washington last September and went 7-for-14 with two doubles and five singles."

"The son of Hall of Famer and former Nats manager Dusty Baker, Darren has spent the bulk of the past three seasons in Rochester, hitting for solid batting averages that have helped fuel a solid on-base percentage. He has bottom-of-the-scale power, however, resulting in an ultimate .274/.345/.336 batting line in just shy of 1300 plate appearances. Baker runs well and has collected 83 steals in 99 attempts in his 309 games at the Triple-A level."

"Baker has spent the majority of his professional career playing second base but has more than 900 innings in left field as well. He hasn't been outrighted previously in his career and doesn't have three years of big league service, so he doesn't have the option to reject this assignment in favor of free agency. He'll stick around as a depth option and hope to play his way back into another look at the big league level."

Darren Baker cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Rochester, remaining with the Washington Nationals organization but removed from the 40-man roster. The 26-year-old debuted last September, going 7-for-14 with two doubles and five singles. He has spent most of the past three seasons in Rochester, compiling a .274/.345/.336 batting line in nearly 1,300 plate appearances with limited power but solid on-base skills. Baker has 83 steals in 99 attempts across 309 Triple-A games and has played primarily second base with more than 900 innings in left field. He lacks the service time to reject the assignment and will serve as organizational depth.

Read at MLB Trade Rumors