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Nationals Acquire Brandon Kintzler From Twins

By charliewilmoth | July 31, 2017 at 3:34pm CDT

The Nationals have announced that they’ve acquired Twins closer Brandon Kintzler. The Twins will receive lefty Tyler Watson and the rights to international bonus spending in return ($500K worth, via a tweet from MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand). In a corresponding move, the Nationals have announced that they’ve designated righty Jimmy Cordero for assignment.

Jul 11, 2017; Miami, FL, USA;Minnesota Twins pitcher Brandon Kintzler (27) throws a pitch during the 2017 MLB All-Star Game at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Kintzler could take over ninth-inning duties for a Nationals bullpen that has endured late struggles in recent seasons, though GM Mike Rizzo said today the precise bullpen alignment will be sorted out over the coming months. The veteran righty will become the third reliever to make his way to Washington this month, with Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle having arrived previously from Oakland two weeks ago.

The 32-year-old Kintzler isn’t a prototypical closer, with strikeout rates of just 5.8 K/9 and 5.4 K/9 in the last two seasons. Nonetheless, he’s enjoyed success in the role those last two seasons, with a 2.98 ERA, a strong 1.7 BB/9 and 45 saves in that span. He throws his fastball in the 94-MPH range and gets good sink, leading to an excellent 57.8 career GB%. He’s making $2,925,000 this season and is eligible for free agency in the fall, making him a pure rental for the Nats.

The 20-year-old Watson earned a $400K bonus after the Nationals selected him in the 34th round of the draft in 2015. He was in the midst of a strong season with Class A Hagerstown, with a 4.35 ERA but with 9.5 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 93 innings. MLB.com rated him the Nationals’ 17th-best prospect, noting that he rarely throws harder than 90 MPH but locates well, throws on a downhill plane and could add velocity as he matures.

Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reported that the Nationals had acquired Kintzler. FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweeted that Watson was included in the deal.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Brandon Kintzler Minnesota Twins Newsstand Transactions Washington Nationals

Dodgers Acquire Tony Watson From Pirates
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49 comments
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Comments

  1. causality

    3 years ago

    FAKE NEWS

    Like
    Reply
    • JD396

      3 years ago

      You’re fake news

      1 Like
      Reply
    • Fanni Matloff

      3 years ago

      fgdfgdfgdfgdfg

      Like
      Reply
  2. fellersjohn6

    3 years ago

    Probably Drew Ward and Voth

    Like
    Reply
  3. Phantomofdb

    3 years ago

    Kintzler is a good piece. Hopefully the Twins got something of value back.

    1 Like
    Reply
    • Strauss

      3 years ago

      He sucks. He won’t be there next year

      2 Like
      Reply
  4. Jamespfunk

    3 years ago

    Knew the Nats would add a piece but hope it didn’t cost much

    Like
    Reply
  5. chetmanley

    3 years ago

    Tyler Watson is the return, per Rosenthal.

    1 Like
    Reply
  6. mike.gordon34

    3 years ago

    This is our closing savior? Great looks like we will be watching the WS from home again.

    2 Like
    Reply
    • mike.gordon34

      3 years ago

      Robles and Soto better be joint MVP’s when they come up. Probably could have gotten osuna for one of them and some other prospects

      1 Like
      Reply
    • majorflaw

      3 years ago

      If you understand how overrated the closer role is you would not be concerned by the absence of a ‘certified closer.’ There is no reason Madison, Doolittle, Kintzler and Glover, should he return, can’t close the Nats to a championship. No need for a savior, just everyone they’ve got staying healthy.

      4 Like
      Reply
      • majorflaw

        3 years ago

        Madson, of course. Bleeping autocorrect.

        Like
        Reply
        • mike.gordon34

          3 years ago

          The back end of the bullpen has to be shutdown. While 2 of the 3 have had success, the newest addition is sporting numbers that are not his norm. The imploding bullpen does not need more help in this area. Overvaluing an unproven commodity is just as bad if not worse than as you state over valuing a closer. Pretty sure cubs reproved that last year. Soto or Robles could have gotten say Osuna as the AL clubs swear by their hitting prospects. That would have been a far better idea

          1 Like
          Reply
        • majorflaw

          3 years ago

          “The back end of the bullpen has to be shutdown.”

          Can you provide some evidence in support of that statement. Sounds good but there’s little which supports it.

          “The imploding bullpen . . .”

          WTF are you talking about? Are we watching the same games?

          “Overvaluing an unproven commodity . . .”

          Um, that’s what scouting and player development is all about. *Everyone* was an unproven commodity at some point.

          ” . . . cubs reproved that last year.”

          Um, no, they did not. With arguably the most shutdown reliever in baseball in Chapman they barely beat a Cleveland team whose best reliever was not their closer. Got any actual analysis to go with your declarations?

          “Soto or Robles could have gotten say Osuna . . .”

          I assume either one would have been sufficient, yes. And Osuna is a fine pitcher. Glad to add him at the right price.

          “That would have been a far better idea.”

          In theory, if trading for Osuna guaranteed the Nats a championship it might have made sense to give up one of the two. But the Nationals are a forward looking organization. Werth is gone next year. Harper may be gone after next year. MAT is 27 and never gonna be a star. The only bona fide starting outfielder the Nats are guaranteed to have on opening day, 2019, is Eaton.

          If Rizzo, who retains his excellent eye for talent, still expects that Soto and Robles are future starting OFers he’d be foolish to trade that for someone who will, at best, pitch 50-70 innings a year, even though they may be high leverage innings. It’s a lot easier to find relievers, even very good ones, than it is stud OFers. The activity at the trading deadline appears to confirm this. How many closers changed teams vs. how many starting OFers?

          IOW, The difference between the results you’ll get from their BP as it is constituted after this trade and what you’d get with an Osuna doesn’t justify the cost. But thanks for an intelligent, calm challenge. I sincerely appreciate it.

          1 Like
          Reply
        • kleppy12

          3 years ago

          are you talking about Kintzler’s numbers being outside his norm? His career numbers vs his number this year are ERA 3.24 (career) / 2.78 (2017), K/BB% – 6.29 / 5.36, GB% – 57.8 / 53.9, WHIP – 1.25 / 1.15, SIERA 4.05 / 3.29. If anything his number this year are worse than his career numbers, now he’s doesn’t have that many innings so you could say he’s an unknown but to say his numbers are outside his norms is just factually wrong.

          2 Like
          Reply
        • lgrunner34

          3 years ago

          He means the Cubs acquired Chapman and Cleveland acquired Miller who could have been the closer and would have been on many teams with the same lineup. Arguing that a trade deadline acquisition of a shutdown reliever making a team much better in the short term has a number of examples.

          1 Like
          Reply
    • takeyourbase

      3 years ago

      Didn’t they just add Madson and Doolittle too? Geez.

      1 Like
      Reply
  7. clutchcutch22

    3 years ago

    And once again, the site is crashing as everyone feverishly clicks the refresh button to see what their team did at the last second!

    1 Like
    Reply
  8. Zack35

    3 years ago

    Tyler Watson

    Like
    Reply
  9. ivynora

    3 years ago

    Joe Blanton should be packing.

    Like
    Reply
    • thebare

      3 years ago

      He is not bad just over worked And priced

      Like
      Reply
      • drazthegr8

        3 years ago

        No he’s been really bad. A little better lately though.

        Like
        Reply
  10. speill

    3 years ago

    Who closes there. Dolittle?

    Like
    Reply
    • mike.gordon34

      3 years ago

      No one, not even the ownership

      4 Like
      Reply
    • majorflaw

      3 years ago

      That’s what the next two months are about. Figgering out who they want to use in that role. Which may end up being a bit of a BP by committee. Really, they have the time for this. Twelve game leads in August can do that for a team.

      1 Like
      Reply
  11. Connorsoxfan

    3 years ago

    Ken rosenthal reporting Darvish has been traded

    1 Like
    Reply
  12. raef715

    3 years ago

    tony watson, decent A ball lefty they drafted out of high school a couple years ago, per ken rosenthal.

    Like
    Reply
    • hodorhodor

      3 years ago

      *Tyler. Tony was never Nats’ property to begin with.

      1 Like
      Reply
  13. Mike M

    3 years ago

    who is the Twins closer???

    Like
    Reply
    • hodorhodor

      3 years ago

      Matt Belisle. I know. Sad state of affairs in the BP there.

      2 Like
      Reply
    • wjf010

      3 years ago

      They don’t need one. They aren’t a contender.

      1 Like
      Reply
  14. NerdFerguson

    3 years ago

    The Twins deemed Kintzler tradeable after management decided it was in the team’s best interest to not hold leads late in games for the rest of the year. If it does strangely happen, the plan is to let Chris Gimenez pitch the ninth.

    Like
    Reply
    • Phantomofdb

      3 years ago

      What difference does holding a late lead make when you are destined for 3rd place? A closer can only save a game if you have a lead to begin with. The Twins are fading quickly and the Indians AND royals are scorching.

      2 Like
      Reply
  15. speill

    3 years ago

    Closer Monkey says still Dolittle for now

    1 Like
    Reply
  16. dsteig

    3 years ago

    Thanks for throwing in the towel Twins front office

    Like
    Reply
    • buffalonichols

      3 years ago

      9 percent chance of making playoffs. There was no real towel to throw.

      2 Like
      Reply
  17. outinleftfieldoutinleftfield

    3 years ago

    He is not a dominant closer, so the Nationals will once again be out of the playoffs before the WS. Once again they failed to go all in and that half hearted effort will once again pay the same dividends they have seen in the past when it counts.
    Looks like this will be the Dodgers year.

    1 Like
    Reply
    • LADreamin

      3 years ago

      Playoffs aren’t won on paper, cheer up. We get to watch power house teams go head to head. It’ll be great.

      2 Like
      Reply
      • majorflaw

        3 years ago

        Exactly. Enjoy the games. That’s what baseball should be about. Too many front runners who are only concerned with winning (a certain GMS III comes to mind).

        Looking forward to Nats v. Dodgers and or Cubs this fall. While I’d like the Nats to win, not gonna lose interest in baseball if they don’t.

        Like
        Reply
    • beard

      3 years ago

      who is the dominant closer they should have gone all in on?

      Like
      Reply
      • jimmyz

        3 years ago

        Kenley Jansen, this past offseason.

        2 Like
        Reply
        • natsgm

          3 years ago

          Its almost like players get to decide where they play and dont just go to the highest bidder… Just like Jansen

          Like
          Reply
    • joe

      3 years ago

      teams dont need a closer they need high leverage guys and kintzler is a ground ball expert that has been one of the best high leverage guys in the league this year

      Like
      Reply
  18. mp9

    3 years ago

    Whoo!? better be some quality innings out of the pen eitherwise Twins just give up Kintzler for free

    Like
    Reply
    • buffalonichols

      3 years ago

      I think they got a pretty good return for a rental reliever who doesn’t really miss bats.

      2 Like
      Reply
  19. Twinboy

    3 years ago

    Who will close for the Twins now ?

    Like
    Reply
    • buffalonichols

      3 years ago

      Two words: Big. Sexy.

      Like
      Reply
  20. jcraft21

    3 years ago

    It doesn’t matter who’s in the bullpen. Dusty has no idea how to handle one. Everywhere he goes he’s had a great team and finds a way to blow it. I watched it in Cincinnati for five years

    1 Like
    Reply
    • natsgm

      3 years ago

      Thats great. Good for you

      Like
      Reply

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