It has been a few weeks since the MLB Trade Deadline, so I wanted to take stock of some of the moves the Nats made. So far, the results have been all over the map. There have been some wins, some deals where you wish the Nats got more and everything in between. Let’s break it down.
Amed Rosario Trade:
The first trade Mike DeBartolo made was the Amed Rosario deal. Signed on a cheap one-year deal, Rosario was a great bat against left handed pitching for the Nats. That made him a target for contenders
who wanted to strengthen their bench.
The Yankees jumped in and traded for the well traveled veteran. In return, the Nats received relief prospect Clayton Beeter and young outfielder Browm Martinez. So far this move has gone well for the Nats.
Rosario got hurt pretty quickly into his Yankees tenure. He is back now, but he has only had four at bats in the pinstripes. Rosario is 4/8, so he has produced in his tiny sample size. We will see if Rosario can get any big hits against tough lefties to propel the Yankees in October.
On the Nats side, Martinez has been out with injury, but we have gotten to see Beeter. Clayton Beeter has been a fixture in the Nats bullpen this August. He has a 4.50 ERA in 9 outings with the Nats. His stuff is nasty, but the command is an issue. Beeter has the look of a solid middle reliever going forward.
The Soroka Heist:
When the Cubs traded for Michael Soroka, they were trading for damaged goods. They should have been more wary of trading for a guy whose velocity had taken a nose dive in recent starts. In Soroka’s first outing, he got hurt and has not pitched since.
On the Nats side, they got back Ronny Cruz and Christian Franklin. Cruz has not played, but Franklin has been very productive. The 25 year old outfielder is knocking on the door of the big leagues.
In 60 at bats, Franklin is hitting .300 with an .849 OPS in the Nats system. He is a patient hitter, who is good against lefties. I would love to see him get a shot, even in a crowded Nats outfield. A platoon of Hassell and Franklin would be fun.
This looks like a good trade for the Nats. For an injured rental, they got a high probability big leaguer in Franklin and a high upside lottery ticket in Cruz. I am excited to see what Cruz can do next year.
Tigers Fix Finnegan:
One trade where the return seems light is the Kyle Finnegan trade. The Nats traded their long-time closer to the Tigers for two pitching prospects in Josh Randall and R.J. Sales. Both Sales and Randall are solid arms who throw plenty of strikes. However, neither has overwhelming stuff or big upside.
Finnegan has been a godsend for the Tigers. In 8 outings, Finnegan has yet to allow a run and has only given up two hits. He also has 11 strikeouts in 8.2 innings and is 4/4 in save chances. Finnegan has been sharing the closer role with Will Vest. They are the two high leverage guys in Detroit.
The Tigers have made some big changes to Finnegan’s game. He is throwing fewer fastballs than ever and relying heavily on his splitter. Finnegan actually talked about these changes with a Tigers reporter.
It is something the Nationals should have figured out. While Finnegan has a good fastball, it is not so good where he should be throwing it two thirds of the time. This should be a learning lesson for the Nats pitching development team.
Sam Brown Breakout:
When the Nats traded Luis Garcia and Andrew Chafin for Jake Eder and Sam Brown, I was underwhelmed. Why trade two of your more reliable bullpen arms for what seemed like nothing. Eder was actually the more well known piece in the deal, but he has been hurt.
Garcia and Chafin have both been very good for the Angels. They have stabilized the Halos weak bullpen. However, it is not going to be enough to get the Angels into the playoffs. So the move will not accomplish a ton for the Angels.
For the Nats, Sam Brown has been a revelation. I saw him as an org guy who would not amount to much. However, he has been on fire in Double-A. In 62 at bats, Brown is hitting over .400 with an OPS over 1.000. He should start next year in AAA.
Brown is about to be 24 and was not seen as much of a prospect in LA, so who knows how much upside there is. However, it is great to see him hit the ground running.
TBD on the Call Return:
While it is too early to declare any of these trades wins or losses, for some of these moves you can tell which way the wind is blowing. For the Alex Call trade, I have no idea how to judge the return yet.
In exchange for the gritty fourth outfielder, the Nats received pitchers Sean Paul Linan and Eriq Swan. Linan was my favorite prospect we received at the deadline due to his nasty changeup. However, he only made one start before being put on the IL.
Swan has been as advertised. Nasty stuff but rudimentary command and feel for pitching. Swan was a position player until later in college, so he is a guy who will be a later bloomer. He has walked at least three guys in all three starts. However, two of those starts he got good results.
Call has played more of a bench role in LA, but has done a good job when called on. He had a massive game against the Rockies the other day. Call actually hit the furthest Dodger homer of the season, something he seemed to enjoy online.
Knowing Call, he will probably come up big in the playoffs. He is just that kind of gritty ballplayer. Call also has a lot of team control after this year. The Nats got two high upside arms, but they are both pretty far from the MLB.
Overall, this has been a solid deadline. None of the acquisitions have fallen on their face which is nice. There were not any super high profile moves, but it looks like Mike DeBartolo made some good moves on the margins.