Washington Nationals: Winter Meetings Day Three Recap
By Chris Lacey
The Washington Nationals landed a key piece on day three of the Winter Meetings but it didn’t come cheap. Adam Eaton becomes a Nat.
The Washington Nationals missed on some chances to add players early in the Winter Meetings, but their fortunes changed on the third day.
The Nationals acquired outfielder Adam Eaton from the Chicago White Sox.
They sent right-handed pitcher Reynaldo Lopez and minor-league pitchers Lucas Giolito and Dane Dunning to the White Sox, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
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Besides Lucas Giolito, the #Nats also sending minor-league pitchers Dane Dunning and Reynaldo Lopez to #Sox for Adam Eaton,as @CSNHayes said
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 7, 2016
The acquisition of Eaton is huge because he plays stellar defense, is under team control until 2021 and it allows Trea Turner to return to his natural position, which is at shortstop.
The Nats fell short in earlier attempts to make roster upgrades, but the addition of Eaton is a step in the right direction.
The team is also in discussions with the Tampa Bay Rays to acquire reliever Alex Colome, per Jon Morosi of MLB Network.
#Rays, #Nationals have discussed closer Alex Colome in trade talks, sources say. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 7, 2016
The acquisition of a closer has been one of the primary objectives for the Nationals at the meetings.
Wade Davis is one reliever who won’t be available as the Kansas City Royals traded him to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Jorge Soler, per Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com.
Davis was going to be an attractable option for teams looking for relief help once Mark Melancon was off the board.
This move impacts the Nats as the right-handed reliever would have been the ideal candidate to close for them.
Some other moves that happened on day three involved division-rival Miami Marlins.
They inked left-handed pitcher Jeff Locke to a one-year deal worth about $3 million per Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball.
Then signed catcher A.J. Ellis to a one-year, $2.5 million deal, per Buster Olney of ESPN and re-signed right-hander Dustin McGowan to a one-year contract, per Heyman.
These deals don’t have too much of an impact on the Nats as they’re minor in the grand scheme of things.
The Colorado Rockies made a surprising move, by signing outfielder Ian Desmond to a five-year, $70 million deal, per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.
Desmond had a solid year for the Texas Rangers in 2016 and earned a significant raise in salary. Desmond was a possible option for the Nationals, but they now have Eaton.