Headlines

  • Kelvin Herrera Announces Retirement
  • Braves Extend Brian Snitker
  • Giants, Scott Kazmir Agree To Minor League Deal
  • Yankees Sign Justin Wilson
  • Braves Sign Jake Lamb
  • Athletics Sign Mitch Moreland
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Indians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • Last 100 Comments
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Nationals Among Teams With Interest In Pat Neshek

By Steve Adams | June 22, 2017 at 9:50pm CDT

The Nationals have shown interest in Phillies righty Pat Neshek, reports FOX’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). Other clubs are interested in the veteran setup man as well, he notes, which comes as little surprise given Neshek’s affordable salary and strong work thus far in 2017.

Indeed, the 36-year-old Neshek has been nothing short of exceptional for the Phillies since being acquired in an offseason swap with Houston. Through 28 innings out of manager Pete Mackanin’s bullpen, the side-armer has worked to a minuscule 0.64 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 1.3 BB/9 and a 36.8 percent ground-ball rate. Though he’s had issues against left-handed batters in recent years, Neshek has held them to a mere .163/.205/.244 slash through an admittedly small sample of 45 batters faced in 2017. He’s had some good fortune on balls in play against lefties, but he’s also significantly dipped his walk rate against hitters that hold the platoon advantage.

Neshek is earning $6.5MM in 2017, and he’s still owed roughly $3.6MM of that sum through season’s end. While trades between division rivals aren’t especially common and are often trickier to work out, Neshek’s status as a rental likely makes it a bit easier for the two sides to align. And, it should of course be noted that the Nats and Phillies have lined up on trades in the past, with Philadelphia recently trading Jonathan Papelbon to Washington in a 2015 swap that netted the Phils right-hander Nick Pivetta.

Much of the focus on the Nationals has been on their need for an established closer, but in reality the team could benefit simply from adding multiple quality relievers. While names like David Robertson, Alex Colome and AJ Ramos may well be kicked around in connection with Washington, the Nats have seen what were perhaps projected as their top four arms — Blake Treinen, Koda Glover, Shawn Kelley and Joe Blanton — each post an ERA north of 5.00 this season. Deepening the relief corps as a whole, and not merely fortifying the ninth inning, figures to be the priority for the Nationals over the summer.

Share 0 Retweet 12 Send via email0

Pat Neshek Philadelphia Phillies Washington Nationals

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/22/17
Main
Royals To Sign Neftali Feliz
21 comments
newest oldest

Comments

  1. JDGoat

    4 years ago

    I know a lot of people thought their bullpen would be bad, but I thought it had a chance to be at least decent. I am shocked that all of their main four guys has struggled so much. You’d think at least one would’ve been able to step up and be a shut down guy.

    Like
    Reply
    • ReverieDays

      4 years ago

      That’s how fickle relief pitchers can be from season to season.

      1 Like
      Reply
    • manilavanilla66

      4 years ago

      Why would it have been bad?

      Like
      Reply
      • Brixton

        4 years ago

        A rookie with 20 mediocre innings and Joe Blanton were 2 of their 4 best options. That doesnt exactly scream amazing

        Like
        Reply
        • manilavanilla66

          4 years ago

          Was Blanton bad last year?

          Like
          Reply
        • tylerall5

          4 years ago

          He wasn’t bad but he wasn’t great either.

          Like
          Reply
        • chubias

          4 years ago

          Joe Blanton was a quality reliever for the Dodgers the last two years. Shawn Kelley was among the best set-up mean in baseball in 2016. Kahnle and Knebel were no more established than Glover. Blake Trienen had two fairly decent, mediocre years prior to 2017. So, no it doesn’t sound amazing, but you were looking at more like mediocre than terrible.

          Like
          Reply
        • manilavanilla66

          4 years ago

          How was Treinen’s 2016 mediocre? And Blanton only pitched in relief for LA one year, 2016. He started for them several years before that.

          Like
          Reply
        • wadlez

          4 years ago

          Wrong… Blanton was solid out of the pen for two years in LA

          Like
          Reply
        • manilavanilla66

          4 years ago

          2.5 ERA and 55 hits in 80 innings sounds better than mediocre.. I think you could make an argument that without Blanton, LA doesn’t win the division. After Blanton and Kenley, who else was reliable and healthy?

          Like
          Reply
        • manilavanilla66

          4 years ago

          Which years?

          baseball-reference.com/players/b/blantjo01.shtml

          Like
          Reply
        • chubias

          4 years ago

          Blanton threw 57 innings of relief in 2015. He was mostly terrible in 18 innings as a starter that year. He was also a reliever in 2016.

          Like
          Reply
        • chubias

          4 years ago

          Treinen’s 2016 was mediocre in the sense that his numbers strongly suggested that his ERA was not sustainable, but rather fairly dependent on luck. While Treinen may have a skill for dialing up the double play, his K rate was too low to support the his comparatively high walk rate.

          Like
          Reply
        • manilavanilla66

          4 years ago

          He didn’t pitch for LA in 2015. He pitched for Kansas City and the Pirates.

          Like
          Reply
        • manilavanilla66

          4 years ago

          It may have not been sustainable but that’s irrelevant. The only thing that matters is what he did in 2016, not what he was likely to have done in 2017 based on his 2016 numbers. I agree that it would have been unwise to expect more of the same but his 2016 was exceptional, in no way mediocre.

          Like
          Reply
    • dodgerfan711

      4 years ago

      I told you shawn kelley would not last as a closer

      Like
      Reply
      • JDGoat

        4 years ago

        If he had one of his normal seasons he would’ve

        Like
        Reply
  2. Brixton

    4 years ago

    Neshek for Tyler Watson and Grant Borne

    Like
    Reply
  3. julyn82001

    4 years ago

    Pat is a tremendous reliever… I enjoyed watching him pitched while with the A’s…

    Like
    Reply
  4. afenton530

    4 years ago

    Could the nationals be the mystery team looking at sonny gray as a closer?

    Like
    Reply
  5. JD396

    4 years ago

    Back to the Twins…

    Like
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Kelvin Herrera Announces Retirement

    Braves Extend Brian Snitker

    Giants, Scott Kazmir Agree To Minor League Deal

    Yankees Sign Justin Wilson

    Braves Sign Jake Lamb

    Athletics Sign Mitch Moreland

    Yankees Re-Sign Brett Gardner

    Giants To Sign Jake McGee

    Mariners CEO Kevin Mather Resigns

    Athletics Sign Trevor Rosenthal

    Recent

    MLBTR Poll: Shortstop Extension Candidates

    Chicago Notes: Baez, Pederson, Kopech

    Health Notes: Yordan, E-Rod, Bailey, Nottingham, Parra

    Giants Claim Jordan Humphreys

    Minor MLB Transactions: 2/26/21

    Braves Outright Phil Pfeifer

    Angels To Sign Jesse Chavez

    Kelvin Herrera Announces Retirement

    Braves Sign Terrance Gore To Minor League Deal

    Diamondbacks Designate Travis Bergen, Keury Mella For Assignment

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Kris Bryant Rumors
    • Jackie Bradley Jr. Rumors
    • Jake Odorizzi Rumors
    • Taijuan Walker Rumors
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Indians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version