Do the Washington Nationals Win the World Series With Chris Sale?
The Washington Nationals could’ve traded for Chris Sale before the 2017 Season.
The Major League Baseball Winter Meetings took place in Washington, DC in December of 2016. During the meetings, it was rumored that the Washington Nationals were interested in trading for Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale.
Sources: Legitimate chance of Sale trade to #Nationals. Robles, Giolito would go to #WhiteSox. Teams haggling over final pieces in deal.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 6, 2016
At the time, the trade made a lot of sense, but I can understand the hesitancy of trading Victor Robles at that time. Looking at that potential starting rotation with Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, AND Chris Sale would’ve been fun to watch. How many three-game sweeps would the Nats have gotten if they pitched Scherzer, Strasburg, and Sale in the same series?
Unfortunately, the Nationals didn’t end up trading for Chris Sale but made another trade with the Chicago White Sox. Washington ended up trading Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, and Dane Dunning for outfielder Adam Eaton. At the time, I wasn’t happy with the deal as it seemed one-sided. It didn’t seem like the Nationals got enough in return for those top-pitching prospects in the organization.
Let’s compare the numbers from all players involved in the Nationals/White Sox trade. Lucas Giolito only pitched in seven games for the White Sox his record was 3-3 with a 2.38 earned run average. Reynaldo Lopez spent time between the White Sox minor league team, the Charlotte Knights, but when pitching for the White Sox, he went 3-3 with a 4.72 earned run average. Dane Dunning was drafted by the Nationals in the 1st round in the 2016 draft so Dunning didn’t make it to the White Sox until the 2020 season.
Adam Eaton’s 2017 season started off really good and it looked like the Nationals made a great deal, but Eaton’s season was cut short early due to tearing his ACL. Before tearing his ACL, Eaton was hitting .297 with two home runs, 13 runs batted in, with a .393 on-base percentage.
In the end, Adam Eaton helped bring the World Series to the Washington Nationals so the trade was a success. The next question is, do the Nationals ever win a World Series if they were successful in trading for Chris Sale? I don’t think they do, but we will never know. From 2017 to 2019, Sale had 17, 12, and six wins while striking out 308, 237, and 218 batters in a season. Like I said earlier, the rotation with Scherzer, Strasburg, and Sale would’ve been lethal, but still not sure the Nationals would’ve won the World Series with him.
Adam Eaton had some clutch hits in the 2019 postseason, especially in the World Series. I guess you could say that Sale could’ve been Patrick Corbin and given the Nats some clutch relief innings in the postseason if he struggled, but I don’t think Sale would’ve struggled in the playoffs as Corbin did as a starter.