Day 4 – Time to shed the spare pieces
No rest for the wicked as Washington Nationals GM these days, my work isn’t done by any means. I decide to switch things up a little bit and see if we can bring in something for some players left without a clear role.
As soon as we completed the Bryce Harper contract, Cleveland Indians GM Mike Chernoff had been texting me non-stop, like the ex who just never got over you. His outfield situation is still iffy, and he would love to bring Adam Eaton back to the AL Central.
We take a look at the Indians roster, but after addressing the rotation the only players I’m interested in won’t have a spot with us. So we look for prospects, and anyone who knows me knows how much I love my prospects.
There’s one, in particular, I have my eye on in this deal, Nolan Jones. The third baseman is only in High-A but had a huge year in 2018 with 19 home runs and an OPS of .871 across two levels.
We also get Nick Sandlin in the deal, an electric reliever down in Double-A as we look to build a bullpen of the future. It’s not close to the package the Nats gave up for Eaton, but it’s certainly a useful pair of prospects for the Nats for essentially their fourth outfielder.
Trade Completed: Cleveland Indians receive Adam Eaton. Washington Nationals receive Nolan Jones and Nick Sandlin
However, we’re not done dealing outfielders there. After a poor season in 2018, it’s probably time to let Michael A. Taylor loose and hand over the backup outfield job to Andrew Stevenson who impressed in his pinch-hitting appearances late in the season.
Unfortunately, after trading away Eaton, teams know that we’re just looking to shed the dead weight and there aren’t many takers. We’re just about to give up hope until the Giants called. Clearly, they weren’t too bitter about losing out on Bryce Harper after thinking they had a legitimate shot because he posted something about the bay area on Instagram back in 2015.
At first, they only offer up international bonus pool money. Please, that stuff went out of fashion a few days ago after Victor Victor Mesa signed with the Marlins. Thankfully, again, my sad prospect side comes out.
Delving into the Giants farm system, I identify an outfielder called Aaron Bond whose batting stats look similar to Taylor, with 14 homers and 11 steals in 73 games in 2018 down in Short Season A Ball. We also ask for Garrett Cave, a pitcher drafted in 2017 who flashed some upside with more than a strikeout per inning last year, but Bond is the big piece in this deal.
Trade Completed: San Francisco Giants receive Michael A. Taylor. Washington Nationals get Aaron Bond and Garrett Cave.