The Nationals have sent longtime reliever Drew Storen to the Toronto Blue Jays for outfielder Ben Revere.
All offseason long, the question surrounding the Washington Nationals bullpen is which reliever would go between Drew Storen and Jonathan Papelbon after Storen was demoted to the setup role in the second half of the season. Tonight, we have that answer. According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the Nats are sending Drew Storen to the Toronto Blue Jays for Ben Revere. James Wagner of the Washington Post added that a player to be named later will also go to the Nats and cash will go to the Blue Jays:
Revere for storen is agreed upon
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 9, 2016
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Storen appeared in 58 games this past season for Washington and went 2-2 with a 3.44 ERA while saving 29 games in 34 chances. He had a a 1.89 ERA in the first half of the season as the closer (27-for-29 in saves), but it all came tumbling down once he became the eighth inning guy again (5.82 ERA in his final 23 games).
For the Nationals, they had been looking to acquire another outfielder and Ben Revere does fit what they are looking for. Last season, with the Phillies and Blue Jays, Revere had a slash line of .306/.342/.377 in 152 games with two home runs, 45 RBI’s, and 31 stolen bases. He will be 28 in May.
The Nats were looking for another left-handed bat to play the outfield and Revere will likely be the team’s center fielder and leadoff hitter when the season begins as Revere is most known for the speed portion of his game. He has stolen at least 20 bases in each of the last five years and he should help the Nats, who had the second fewest stolen bases as a team last year in the National League (57).
Revere was selected by the Twins with the 28th pick in the 2007 MLB Draft and was originally teammates with former National, Denard Span (now in San Francisco). He made his Major League debut with Minnesota in 2010. In Decembver of 2012, the Twins dealt him to the Philadelphia Phillies for Vance Worley and Trevor May. He had his breakout season with Philadelphia in 2014 when he led the league in hits (184) and finished sixth in batting average (.306).
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Last July, the Phillies dealt Revere to the Blue Jays for two minor leaguers. He hit .319 over the final 56 games of the season and was part of a team that made it all the way to the ALCS (lost to the eventual champion Kansas City Royals in six games).
Right now, it would seem that Michael Taylor will be the team’s fourth outfielder when spring training begins next month. But, with this move for Revere, Dusty Baker now has another speed and contact hitter in his lineup. Revere is under team control until 2018 and is projected to make $6.7 million this season in arbitration, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
As for Storen, he joins a bullpen that already has a closer in Roberto Osuna. This past season, Osuna was 20-for-23 in saves and appeared in 68 games during his rookie season. He will be 21 in February. Storen could either move into the closer’s role or be the setup man for Osuna.
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This looks like a good deal for both sides. The Nationals get what is likely to be their new center fielder and leadoff hitter for 2016. As for Storen, he gets a fresh start in Toronto and has a chance to build his value again as he will be a free agent next offseason. He is projected to make $8.8 million in arbitration (according to MLB Trade Rumors).