The Washington Nationals continued their wheeling and dealing ways on Thursday afternoon, this time completing a trade with the reigning champions to bolster their chances at repeating. For a trade deadline season that has already seen the Nationals part ways with multiple assets, this one has the potential to be one of the most valuable for the team they traded with.
Earlier today, reports had begun to surface that Alex Call was an under-the-radar trade candidate that the team had begun to take calls on. Now, with just under an hour to go until the deadline hits and everyone still waiting on potential MacKenzie Gore trade news, the Nationals have sent their outfielder out west to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
While the Nationals had sent a pair of relievers in Luis Garcia and Andrew Chafin to the crosstown Angels yesterday, the Nationals were not done sending players to sunny Los Angeles, and Call will now likely slot in as a useful player for a Dodgers team that hasn't looked as fearsome as expected recently.
Call has been a very useful player for the Nationals since being claimed off waivers back in 2022 from the Cleveland Guardians, slashing .243/.342/.369 in 265 games with the team over parts of 3 seasons. He has always been great at getting on-base, and his plate discipline was a welcome presence in a lineup that has struggled with that same issue.
In return for Call's services, the Nationals received a pair of pitching prospects in righties Eriq Swan and Sean Paul Linan, who are both ranked within the Dodgers' Top 30 prospects on MLB Pipeline's rankings.
Swan, the 16th-ranked prospect for the Dodgers, is a towering 6'6" 240-pounder who features a 70-grade fastball and 60-grade slider from the right side. The 23-year-old was the 137th pick in the 2023 draft, and has posted a 4-3 record, 4.43 ERA, and 1.38 WHIP in 16 games with 14 starts for the Dodgers' High-A affiliate. He has struck out 77 batters in 69.0 innings, and should have a really good chance to remain a potential rotation option if he can continue to develop his secondary pitches.
Linan, the Dodgers' 20th-ranked prospect, is a 20-year-old righty with a great pitch mix that features a 65-grade changeup. He has pitched primarily in A-ball this season, posting a 1.21 ERA in 6 games for the Dodgers' Low-A affiliate and a 2.65 ERA in 10 games for their High-A affiliate. He has a 2.78 ERA in 18 games with 14 starts overall, and a 1.09 WHIP to go along with 101 strikeouts in just 74.1 innings.
Overall, this is a great return for a solid ballplayer in Call who did not fit the long-term profile with this club. For a team who has a logjam of young outfielders, having Call on the roster was only going to make things more complicated.
What do you think of the Alex Call return? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.