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Washington Nationals: Looking Back At The Turner/Ross Trade

By Ricky Keeler

Jun 17, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Joe Ross (41) pitches during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 17, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Joe Ross (41) pitches during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports /
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With the Washington Nationals in San Diego for the weekend, we look back at the Trea Turner/Joe Ross trade from December 2014

On Friday night, Washington Nationals starter Joe Ross made his first career start at PETCO Park and his second outing against the Padres. In over a year with the Nats, Ross has made great strides with the organization while San Diego is currently looking to find their next young impact pitcher. Of course, San Diego was the team that drafted Ross with the 25th pick in the 2011 MLB Draft.

This weekend series between the Washington Nationals and the San Diego Padres made me look back to the three-team deal from December 2014 involving the Nats, Padres, and the Tampa Bay Rays. The notable pieces in this three-team deal were that Ross and a player to be named later went to the Nats, Wil Myers went to the Padres, and Steven Souza Jr. went to the Rays.

Of course, that player to be named later ended up being Trea Turner. Turner, who was drafted with the 13th pick by the Padres in 2014, was not allowed to join the Washington Nationals organization officially until June 2015.

While Turner has only played in 29 Major League games in the last two seasons, he continues to be the likely Washington Nationals shortstop of the future. As for Ross, he has a 3.38 ERA in 26 starts with the Nats and has shown great poise since being called up in May 2015 after spending a month at double-A Harrisburg.

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When you look at this deal in the big picture, the Nats appear to have the edge, but the other two prominent names have fared well for their respective teams. For example, Myers (who is now at first base for San Diego) has 16 home runs and 44 RBI’s in 68 games this year after playing only 60 games last season.

Down in Tampa Bay, Souza Jr. (who is currently on the DL with a hip injury) has 26 home runs in 167 games with the Rays. He is third on the Rays in home runs and tied for third in RBI’s this year. But, he only finished with a 1.0 WAR last season.

All in all, San Diego is now in sellers mode trying to find more prospects after making that Turner/Ross deal and Joe’s older brother, Tyson, has been on the disabled list since the first week of the season because of shoulder inflammation. You would think Padres’ general manager A.J. Preller would not make that deal again in hindsight.

Next: Bullpen Implodes In 7-3 Loss To Padres

All in all, it appears the Washington Nationals have fared the best out of this deal, but there still is a long way to go before they are declared the outright winners. If Turner turns out to be a great shortstop at the next level, then that conversation can be re-visited. For now, we can say Mike Rizzo made a good trade in getting these young players two offseasons ago.

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