Jun 19, 2021; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals left fielder Kyle Schwarber (12) rounds the bases after hitting a three run home run against the New York Mets during the fourth inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
MLBBy Matt Clapp on

A stunning trade went down in Major League Baseball on Thursday night that sent superstars Max Scherzer and Trea Turner from the Washington Nationals to the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Nats also traded closer Brad Hand to the Toronto Blue Jays earlier in the day. And as the night goes on, the Nats are still dealing big-name players.

The Nats traded slugger Kyle Schwarber to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for minor-league pitcher Aldo Ramirez.

Later, the Nats sent Daniel Hudson to the San Diego Padres in exchange for two prospects: minor-league pitcher Mason Thompson and minor-league infielder Jordy Barley. Hudson is currently on the COVID-19 Injured List after the Nats experienced an outbreak.

Schwarber went on a historically special home run tear in June, but is currently on the Injured List with a hamstring strain. However, he’s expected to return in the next week or two, and he can provide a big power bat for the AL East-leading Red Sox.

On the season, Schwarber has 25 home runs and a .253/.340/.570 slash line in 303 plate appearances. Defensively, he’s slightly below average in left field (but not nearly as bad as some make him out to be), but there’s also the designated hitter option in the AL. And maybe the Red Sox consider trying him at first base. Boston was heavily linked to Schwarber’s former Chicago Cubs teammate Anthony Rizzo just hours ago, but the New York Yankees swooped in and acquired the first baseman. Perhaps Schwarber was option B on that front for Boston.

Regardless of the positional questions, there’s no doubting Schwarber’s ability to crank dingers. And he also has a robust .981 OPS in 79 career postseason plate appearances, which the October-hopeful Red Sox surely took note of.

After the NL West rival Dodgers acquired Scherzer and Turner, general manager A.J. Preller upgraded the Padres roster by acquiring Hudson to bolster the bullpen. Hudson has a 2.20 ERA and 2.45 FIP this season, to go with 48 strikeouts and only seven walks in 32 2/3 innings pitched (13.32 K/9, 1.93 BB/9).

As for the prospects, Ramirez is an intriguing 20-year-old pitcher that FanGraphs ranks eighth in the Washington farm system with a Future Value of 40+. Thompson is a hard-throwing right-hander — averaged 98 mph in three big-league innings this season — who slots in at 21st (with a 40 Future Value) in the Nats’ system, and Barley is a 21-year-old middle infield prospect that FanGraphs has at 26th (35+ Future Value). That’s after acquiring its new top two prospects in the system with the Dodgers trade, in pitcher Josiah Gray (No. 21 prospect in MLB per FanGraphs) and catcher Keibert Ruiz (No. 42 prospect).

So, the Nats have greatly improved their farm system in a matter of hours, but the bigger takeaway is of course how much they’re depleting their major-league roster. In the short-term (and who knows for how long), it’s going to be young superstar Juan Soto and not much else in Washington.

It’s been a franchise-changing night for the Nats, and it’s not going to go over too well with much of the fan base- and it’s something Cubs fans can relate to right now.

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor at The Comeback. He attended Colorado State University, wishes he was Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris, and idolizes Larry David. And loves pizza and dogs because obviously.

He can be followed on Twitter at @Matt2Clapp (also @TheBlogfines for Cubs/MLB tweets and @DaBearNecess for Bears/NFL tweets), and can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.

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