Yesterday's Nationals Trades: Just Who Are These Guys?
Most of the baseball world was focused on who was buying and who was selling in the hours before yesterday's trading deadline. Of course, there were no such inquiries about where the Nationals fell on that spectrum. As the deadline approached, it was thought that the Nats might sell high on moving outfielder Josh Willingham -- hitting two grand slams in one game just days before the deadline certainly gave his trade value a little bump. But Willingham, likely the biggest chip that the Nationals would have seriously considered trading for prospects, is still a Nat today.
That doesn't mean the team stood pat. Washington did jettison veteran first baseman Nick Johnson to Florida and relief pitcher Joe Beimel to Colorado. In return, the Nats received three pitching prospects: lefty Aaron Thompson from the Marlins, and Ryan Mattheus and Robinson Fabian from the Rockies.
The trade of Johnson seemed to really affect the clubhouse, if reports are to be believed. In Interim GM Mike Rizzo's new character-first plan, the last remaining Nationals player who played for the Expos had a sterling reputation on and off the field -- and both sides acknowledged that Johnson might come back to Washington this offseason when his current contract expires (for much less money than his current 5.5 million per year deal, one would assume).
But enough with the past. Who are the new guys, and will you see them anytime soon?
Well, soon is a relative term, but, uh, no.
Thompson is considered the "best" of the bunch. A first-round selection in 2005, the 22-year-old Texan was 5-9 with a 4.11 ERA for Double-A Jacksonville this season. Thompson was ranked as the 13th best prospect in the Marlins system, but the overall reputation is that he has yet to live up to expectations. Thompson does feature a solid changeup, but his 2009 minor league numbers -- .268 batting average against, 1.74/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, 75 strikeouts and 43 walks in 114.0 innings -- seem to indicate a potential fourth or fifth starter, at best.
As far as Mattheus and Fabian go, well, the less said the better -- anything that the Nationals get out of them will be a bonus. Any evaluation of Mattheus, 26, must be preempted by the fact that he just had Tommy John elbow surgery less than a month ago; but if you really need to know, he seems to be a hard-throwing reliever who has control problems (because we obviously don't have enough of those already). Fabian is similarly mediocre (3-6, 6.24), but at least he is young. To quote Nationals Inquisition, "these two might be two of the worst pitchers the Rockies could have sent the Nats and Rizzo ate them up like a whale eating Geppetto."
Overall, our inclination is to agree with the Washington Times' Tom Lovarro -- his argument is that these three prospects do little to bolster the Nationals' farm system, already full of long-shots and projects. Then again, both Johnson and Beimel were headed out of town after the season, so it's probably okay to call it a wash.
On the positive side, the trades clear space on the roster for outfielder Elijah Dukes, who probably shouldn't have been sent down in the first place.