Doolittle doesn’t get enough enough credit for the championship. He was literally the only effective option in the bullpen for the entire first half of the year. Keeping the Nats hanging on by a thread until reinforcements can come. That overwork probably is one of the reasons his 2020 sucked. I’d have brought him back for 1.5 million as well.
They want to road test Avilan as the second lefty, and he was willing to sign a minor league contract. Also, they may be hoping that Romero makes the squad, with his options. I can't believe it was money. Doo pretty much said he loved DC and his time here, so he would have signed for the same money.
IT was most definitely a roster structure call. I think there's a bullpen squeeze already with Voth out of options. It almost requires Fedde to go to Rochester. There's Triple H + R (Hand Harris Hudson + Rainey) at the back end, and I think Suero and Finnegan are likely locks even though they have options. That's 7 locks, and one slot up for grabs among the 2d lefties and McGowin, whose shown he can do the job as a multi-inning guy.