Signed to a $3.85M bonus out of the Dominican Republic in 2016, Yasel Antuna was added to the Nationals’ 40-man roster in 2020 to protect him from selection in that year’s Rule 5 Draft, but this winter he was DFA’d to clear a spot on the 40-man, then outrighted to Triple-A Rochester, after the 23-year-old in-turned-outfielder put up a .227/.307/.385 line with 17 doubles and 11 home runs in 125 games and 523 plate appearances at High-A Wilmington and Double-A in the Nats’ system this past season.
Antuna shifted from the infield to the outfield this season after committing 36 errors in 96 games at short for Wilmington in 2021, and he’s struggled to hit for average in the minors, so the move was not completely unexpected.