The Nationals have acquired David DeJesus from the Cubs in exchange for a player to be named later, the team has announced via press release. The Nationals reportedly claimed DeJesus off waivers before working out a trade with Chicago. In order to clear roster space for their newest acquisition, the Nationals released fellow outfielder Roger Bernadina.
The 33-year-old DeJesus is hitting .250/.330/.401 in 84 games (318 plate appearances) for the Cubs this season. While his overall batting line is solid, he's developed a significant platoon split in recent years and is hitting just .156/.224/.178 against lefties in a small sample of 45 plate appearances this season. DeJesus can play all three outfield positions, though The Fielding Bible isn't a fan of his work in center field, and Ultimate Zone Rating has considered his glove in center to be merely average over the course of his career. Both metrics praise his work at the outfield corners.
DeJesus has roughly $975K of his $4.25MM salary remaining this season and is under control via a $6.5MM club option for 2014. That option carries a $1.5MM buyout, so the Nationals will essentially have a $5MM decision on their hands in the offseason regarding DeJesus. Barring a significant injury, it seems likely that they'll exercise that option.
DeJesus originally signed a two-year, $10MM contract with the Cubs prior to the 2012 season. In 232 games with Chicago, he batted .258/.343/.403. Fangraphs pegs his value as a Cub at 3.1 wins above replacement, suggesting that despite his injuries, he was well worth the money the Cubs invested.
DeJesus is the second outfielder that the Nationals have acquired from the Cubs this summer, as Washington has already dealt for Scott Hairston. Chicago GM Jed Hoyer and president Theo Epstein have also moved Matt Garza, Alfonso Soriano, Scott Feldman, Steve Clevenger, Carlos Marmol and minor leaguer Ronald Torreyes in trades this summer.
Danny Knobler of CBS Sports was the first to report the trade (via his colleague Jon Heyman on Twitter). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweeted that the trade came after Washington had claimed DeJesus on waivers.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
