AquaSox catcher Harry Ford hits a fly ball during a game against the Vancouver Canadians on Thursday, June 8, 2023, at Funko Field in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
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No one would have blamed Harry Ford for celebrating Saturday.
The team that traded him away, the Seattle Mariners, might as well have been baseball purgatory for a catcher eyeing full-time work in MLB. And his new team, the Washington Nationals? No MVP finalist. No backstop with a six-year, $105 million extension. No big butt that captured hearts across the sport.
That situation brought Ford (a top-100 prospect) and pitching prospect Isaac Lyon (a 2025 10th-round draft pick) to Washington in exchange for reliever Jose A. Ferrer. Without Cal Raleigh blocking Ford’s way, a clearer path toward playing time could have brought comfort. But there is what you might assume Harry Ford felt. And then there is what Harry Ford actually felt.
“I was pretty sad,” said Ford, who was a Northwest League All-Star with the Everett AquaSox in 2023.
In a call with reporters Monday, it became evident why. When Ford spoke, he did so in terms of relationships: with his faith and with the people who molded him into the catcher the Nationals were so desperate to acquire. With his former pitchers, catchers and coaches. To him, the job, more than anything, is to care for and love the pitching staff as much as he can. On a plane ride from Georgia to Great Britain, he had time to reflect on his four-plus years in the Seattle organization.
“Just about all I’ve known is the Mariners and the relationships and the people that have been around there. It definitely hit hard, knowing I’m not going to see them anymore or consistently,” Ford said. “I really believed that I was drafted there for a reason. … I truly believed that God had a plan for me, for the Mariners, and that I was there to stay. I was loyal to that until the end.”
There is, however, that aforementioned opening behind the plate. Given Keibert Ruiz’s struggles and the absence of another blue-chip prospect in the Nationals’ minor league system, the 22-year-old Ford appears in line to be Washington’s new franchise catcher. At MLB’s winter meetings in Orlando, Nationals President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni said he views Ford as a catcher and hopes that, within a few years, he will make an impact on defense. Ford said he loves that he is going to get a chance to fight for a spot on the team.
“I am thankful for the chance to be — I guess — a little more in the conversation than in Seattle,” Ford said.
Ford’s profile should give him a place in the conversation. Last season, he hit .283 with 16 homers and a .408 on-base percentage at Class AAA Tacoma. He coupled a gap-to-gap approach with patience at the plate as he drew 74 walks in 97 games.
Washington’s catchers, by comparison, drew just 30 walks all of last season.
“(It was) learning how to stop tinkering and just trust yourself and trust that you are a good player,” Ford said. “You have God-given talent, and just go play and not trying to manufacture something every day.”
Behind the plate, he is less of a sure thing. Among other offseason plans — Ford said he expects to play for Britain in the World Baseball Classic — the backstop is working on framing, blocking and throwing. New catching coordinator Bobby Wilson will have his work cut out for him, especially after the Nationals’ catchers ranked 28th in blocks above average (minus-15) and 30th in catcher framing runs (minus-18) this year.
But that is what these new Nationals are about: developing at the major league level.
A year ago, the Nationals traded another controllable left-handed reliever with great peripheral stats (Robert Garcia) for Nathaniel Lowe. That trade, in part, was viewed as a win-now move, even though Washington wasn’t actually close to competing. (And, to make matters worse, Lowe was designated for assignment before the season ended.) This time around, under a new administration, the Nationals got a young catcher who could be their long-term answer.
“I’m excited to be on … a young team and just start from scratch really,” Ford said. “I’m looking forward to building something.”
Ford probably won’t be the last prospect the Nationals acquire this offseason. He probably won’t be the only one who is sad to leave his old organization for one that is reestablishing its foundation. But the guys on the roster now — they know what it’s like to be in his shoes, in one way or another.
Three of his new teammates — Brady House, James Wood and Daylen Lile — also were drafted out of high school in 2021. He knows Dylan Crews and Nasim Nuñez as well. He played against a handful of them while he was in high school.
“It feels different because I’m in the same boat (as my new teammates) — I’m coming up, I’m trying to eat, I’m trying to get up there,” Ford said. “With Seattle, I love all the guys there, [but] we are a little different. Most of us are Iin) different phases of our career. So I think with the Nationals, everyone’s really fresh and up-and-coming. So, yeah, I’m excited to be around some grinders.”
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Harry Ford of the Seattle Mariners poses for a portrait during photo day at the Peoria Sports Complex on Feb. 20, 2025, in Peoria, Arizona. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images/TNS)