Rosenthal passes physical, signing announced

Trevor Rosenthal's signing with the Nationals became official this morning after the right-hander passed a physical, giving the club its first free agent addition of the offseason.

Rosenthal, the Cardinals' former All-Star closer who missed all of the 2018 season following Tommy John surgery, agreed on Wednesday to a one-year contract with the Nats that guarantees him $7 million (a $6 million salary in 2019, plus a $1 million buyout if his 2020 option is not picked up). That conditional 2020 option would pay him $14 million, but it also automatically will be picked up if he appears in 50 games or finishes 30 games in 2019, according to a source familiar with the terms.

The Nationals are taking something of a chance on Rosenthal, who has not pitched competitively since Aug. 16, 2017, but club officials are confident he has fully healed from his elbow ligament surgery after the reliever threw in front of scouts last week and topped out at 99 mph.

If healthy and back to his pre-injury form, Rosenthal would give the Nationals a proven, late-inning arm to join Sean Doolittle in their ever-changing bullpen. The 28-year-old Rosenthal owns a career 2.99 ERA and 121 saves, was an All-Star in 2015 and has an 0.69 ERA in 23 career postseason games with the Cardinals.

Though he had lost his full-time closer's job for St. Louis in 2017, Rosenthal actually was pitching well before he got hurt that summer. His strikeout rate (14.3 per nine innings) was the highest of his career and his WHIP (1.196) was his lowest in four years.

The Nationals won't be asking Rosenthal to close for them, not unless Doolittle is unavailable because of injury or excessive use. But he'll become their top eighth-inning option and be available to fill in for the ninth if needed, essentially holding the role Ryan Madson had from July 2017-August 2018.