Derek

Law

Law, 35, missed the entire 2025 season after undergoing surgery to repair a tear in his flexor tendon. He’s expected to be ready to return in April or May. He’ll earn $1.5 million if he makes the Diamondbacks’ active roster and can earn up to an additional $500,000 in incentives. Given his success in the two years before the injury, it makes for a nice low-risk signing for the Diamondbacks.

Law will not only miss the remainder of this season, but is expected to not be ready until the middle of 2026. He’s a free agent after the conclusion of the 2025 campaign, so he’ll likely be looking at an incentive-laden deal with his new club or a reunion with the Nationals.

It’s merely a procedural move to free up a spot on Washington’s 40-man roster since Law has already missed two months. The 34-year-old veteran reliever is dealing with renewed elbow pain following a recent minor league rehab appearance and will undergo an MRI. There should be an update on his status at some point in the coming days.

Law, 34, has been sidelined since spring training due to inflammation in his forearm. He has made slow and steady progress in his recovery though and is finally getting to the point where he’s ready to test things out against minor league competition. The Nationals are going to continue to take a cautious approach here, but if all goes according to plan he could be ready to help out the Nationals’ bullpen before the end of June.

The positive news here is that Law doesn’t appear to be facing an extended absence based on his comments last weekend when he acknowledged that he would open the regular season on the shelf. The 34-year-old veteran reliever should be ready to return by mid-April, when first eligible to be activated.

Law is dealing with some general arm soreness this spring and won’t be ready for Thursday’s season opener. It doesn’t sound like a serious concern, but the Nationals don’t want to ramp him up too quickly and risk anything more serious. He should rejoin Washington’s high-leverage mix at some point in April.

Sims split last year between the Red Sox and Reds, finishing with a pedestrian 4.38 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and 49/30 K/BB ratio across 49 1/3 innings (58 appearances). He has plenty of high-leverage experience and would figure to be in the mix with Jorge López, Derek Law and Jose A. Ferrer to close for Washington. Even if he winds up winning the job, his fantasy appeal is limited to extremely deep mixed leagues.

The 34-year-old Law threw 90 innings in relief last season despite missing a couple of weeks with an elbow strain in August, and he wound up with a 2.60 ERA. He’s the undisputed leader of the Nationals pen currently, but the team will almost certainly pick up a closer candidate or two prior to Opening Day.

He takes the spot of Orlando Ribalta, who was demoted after Sunday’s game. Law’s 15-day absence due to an elbow strain ruined his chances of getting to 100 relief innings this year. Of course, being on pace for 100 relief innings was probably what led to the problem. He’s at 75 2/3 innings right now.

Fellow rehabbing teammate Derek Law will also throw in that game. Law is scheduled to work one inning while Williams will throw two. The 32-year-old right-hander will likely have to complete the exercise a few times before he’s ready for a minor league rehab assignment. He has been sidelined since the start of June due to a right elbow flexor strain.