Breaking: Nationals trade Jesse Winker to the New York Mets for RHP Tyler Stuart

During Saturday night's rain-delayed 14-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, the Washington Nationals made their second deal of July, sending veteran outfielder Jesse Winker to the division rival New York Mets, who appear set on adding to their current team that is currently in the Wild Card chase.

The veteran Winker started the game for the Nats as the DH and was 2/3 with an RBI single before being pinch-hit for by Harold Ramirez in the 6th inning, who promptly doubled with the bases loaded and drove in a pair. In the moment, it appeared as if it could have been Davey Martinez trying to play the matchup and get a right-handed bat in there against Cardinals lefty Matthew Liberatore, but now we are finding out that it was likely to preserve his health for the sake of the impending deal.

Winker, who signed with the Nats on February 12th, came into this season with little to no expectations. In fact, many people, myself included, didn't even predict he would make the Opening Day roster, much less turn into arguably one of the team's biggest trade assets just 5 short months later. In 2023 with the Brewers, he batted just .199 with a .567 OPS and 1 homer in 61 games, and the 2021 All-Star was likely on his final chance in the majors with the Nats.

To his credit, he made the absolute most of it, churning out a line of .257/.374/.419 line for a .793 OPS along with 11 homers, 45 RBIs, a career-high 14 stolen bases in 18 tries, and provided decent defense in left field. Additionally, by all accounts Winker was a favorite in the clubhouse, and was seen as a veteran leader for a team seemingly getting younger every week. Similar to Jeimer Candelario last year, he had become a fan favorite in such a short time, and a guy I will certainly miss and root for throughout the remainder of his career.

As for the return, it took awhile for it to be announced, but the Nationals have acquired RHP Tyler Stuart for Winker. In Stuart, the Nats are getting the Mets' 17th ranked prospect, and the 24-year-old stands at an imposing 6'9" and 250 pounds. A sixth-round draft pick of the Mets in 2022 out of Southern Mississippi, where he worked primarily as a reliever, the Mets transitioned him to a starter upon being drafted and he has made it up to AA Binghamton this season. As for his arsenal, he features a 55-grade fastball, 55-grade slider, and 40-grade changeup with a 45-grade overall. This season, he has posted a 3-7 record with a 3.96 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in 17 starts.

I expect Stuart to report to AA Harrisburg in the near future, and there is a chance he could compete to make a bid to rejoin the Nats as soon as next season, seeing as he is already at the toughest stage of the minor leagues. With Winker gone and Dylan Crews moving up to AAA Rochester recently and performing quite well, there was speculation that he could be coming up to the majors soon, but as of right now, we will have to wait, as Alex Call has been announced as the replacement for Winker on the active roster. However, I would say that the chance that Crews is brought up will be quite high should the Nats deal Lane Thomas here in the next few days as well.

For taking a chance on Jesse Winker in the offseason and now being able to flip him for the 17th-ranked prospect of the Mets, this can be declared a victory for Mike Rizzo in terms of the fix and flip strategy that has become a staple of the organization over the course of the rebuild. I wish Jesse Winker nothing but success in his next chapter with the Mets, and who knows? Maybe there's a chance he ends up back in DC at some point? We will find out this offseason.

What do you think about the trade for Tyler Stuart? Do you think it was a solid return for Jesse Winker? How will the Nats go about replacing his production in the big leagues? As always, please let me know your thoughts on X @DCBerk.

All stats in this article were provided by ESPN.com and Baseball Reference.