The Washington Nationals have added another to a minor league deal ahead of the start of spring training next month.
The Washington Nationals have been active retooling its 2026 roster and finalizing its spring training roster under new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, leading the organization to another infielder signing on a minor league contract.
The Nationals have already added pitchers Trevor Gott and Zach Penrod along with catcher Tres Barrera and Mickey Gasper, while Wednesday's move added infielder Sergio Alcantara on a minor league contract. Per Francys Romero, the deal includes a non-roster invite to spring training.
Alcantara is coming off one game with the San Francisco Giants in 2025 where he posted a pair of strikeouts in four at-bats, though the bulk of his production came earlier in his career.
After signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks as an international free agent back in July 2012, he made his debut the following year in the minors before being traded to the Detroit Tigers midway through the 2017 season as part of the JD Martinez trade. Alcantara then spent the rest of the season with the Tigers' High-A affiliate where he tallied three home runs and 35 RBIs in 121 total games. He was added to the 40-man roster in 2017 to avoid the Rule 5 draft before retuning to the minors the following year.
He made his MLB debut in 2020 where he notched a home run in his first at-bat with the Tigers, becoming the eighth Tiger ever to accomplish the feat and first position player for the organization since 1974.
Alcantara then spent the 2021 season with the Cubs where he was invited to spring training as a non-roster invitee before being assigned to Triple-A. He then had stints with the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates before his most recent signing with the Giants in November 2024. He also was signed to a major league contract by the Arizona Diamondbacks midway through the 2025 season but was unused for two games before being designated for assignment two days later, eventually clearing waivers then spending the remainder of the year in Triple-A.
Across four years, nearly 200 games and 450 at bats, Alcantara has notched 12 home runs, 47 RBIs and 44 walks to 137 strikeouts while hitting .207 in the majors.
Alcantara becomes the latest addition for the Nationals, who also officially made another roster move on Wednesday evening after sending right handed pitcher Andry Lara to Triple-A Rochester after clearing waivers. Lara, a 23 year old international signing back in 2019, was designated for assignment a week ago after the Nationals claimed utility player Mickey Gasper.