Washington Nationals release Matt Purke

The Washington Nationals have released lefthanded pitcher Matt Purke.

Purke, 24, was the Rangers' first round pick in 2009.  Purke and the Rangers had supposedly agreed to a $6 million signing bonus, but after he was drafted, the Rangers' finances ended up under the control of MLB because of the Tom Hicks financial problems that ultimately landed the team in bankruptcy court.  The Commissioner's office would not allow the Rangers to pay that bonus, and Purke ended up going to TCU instead.

Purke had a solid freshman season with the Horned Frogs, but his sophomore year he had arm problems.  Still, he was drafted in the third round of the 2011 draft by the Washington Nationals, who gave him a 4 year, $4.15 million major league contract.

Purke has struggled to perform and stay healthy with the Nationals, and underwent Tommy John surgery in May of this year.  One would think that the Nationals would have hung on to Purke and stashed him on the 60 day d.l. while seeing how he recovered, but that apparently isn't the case.

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