Following the loss of Adam Eaton for what could be the remainder of the season, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan touched on the possibility of a Royals/Nationals trade in his latest Ten Degrees column. The Nationals, according to Passan, expressed interest in Lorenzo Cain this offseason before they acquired Eaton in the first place. While the two sides obviously didn’t line up on a deal at the time, Passan notes that the combination of Cain and closer Kelvin Herrera, whom FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tied to the Nationals over the weekend, could present the Nats with the ability to fill two needs with one trade. While multiple reports have suggested that the Royals aren’t yet ready to sell, Passan notes that Kansas City’s 7-15 record and -37 run differential are both the worst marks in baseball, which means that even a strong performance in May might not be enough to turn their season around entirely.
Nationals Rumors
Adam Eaton Hoping To Return In 2017
Even though he’s facing a six- to nine-month recovery from his torn left ACL, Nationals center fielder Adam Eaton isn’t abandoning hope on playing again this season. “I’m going to work my butt off and give myself the best-case scenario to play,” Eaton told reporters, including Jamal Collier of MLB.com. “This year would be great, and if that is the case, that means we are playing in October, that is for sure.” Cubs left fielder/catcher Kyle Schwarber suffered multiple torn knee ligaments last April but was able to suit up again in late October for the World Series, of course, so it’s not impossible to imagine Eaton returning if the Nats get that far. However, Schwarber got hurt in early April, giving him a three-week head start on Eaton; further, unlike Eaton’s game, Schwarber’s isn’t predicated largely on either speed or defense. It’s also worth noting that Schwarber was not healthy enough to play the field during the Fall Classic, instead serving as a pinch-hitter in Chicago and a designated hitter in Cleveland.
Even though he’s facing a six- to nine-month recovery from his torn left ACL, Nationals center fielder Adam Eaton isn’t abandoning hope on playing again this season. “I’m going to work my butt off and give myself the best-case scenario to play,” Eaton told reporters, including Jamal Collier of MLB.com. “This year would be great, and if that is the case, that means we are playing in October, that is for sure.” Cubs left fielder/catcher Kyle Schwarber suffered multiple torn knee ligaments last April but was able to suit up again in late October for the World Series, of course, so it’s not impossible to imagine Eaton returning if the Nats get that far. However, Schwarber got hurt in early April, giving him a three-week head start on Eaton; further, unlike Eaton’s game, Schwarber’s isn’t predicated largely on either speed or defense. It’s also worth noting that Schwarber was not healthy enough to play the field during the Fall Classic, instead serving as a pinch-hitter in Chicago and a designated hitter in Cleveland.
When announcing Eaton’s injury Sunday, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo mentioned that he’s confident in the team’s in-house center field options. Right fielder Bryce Harper and shortstop Trea Turner, both of whom have center field experience, are not among the possibilities to grab the reins from Eaton, according to manager Dusty Baker. When asked Sunday if he’d consider using either Harper or Turner in center, Baker responded (via Eddie Matz of ESPN.com): “No. Leave my team alone.”
Adam Eaton Suffers Torn ACL, Meniscus
SUNDAY: Rizzo confirmed Eaton’s ACL tear on Sunday, adding that he also suffered a torn meniscus and a high ankle sprain. Eaton will face a six- to nine-month recovery period after he undergoes surgery, which the Nats haven’t scheduled yet (Twitter links via Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post). For at least the time being, Rizzo expects to replace Eaton from within, noting that center field is one of the organization’s deepest positions.
SATURDAY: Nationals center fielder Adam Eaton suffered a torn ACL in his left knee on Friday and will miss the rest of the season, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). The injury occurred when Eaton beat out an infield single in the ninth inning of a 7-5 loss to the Mets. Eaton stepped on first base awkwardly and was then unable to put any weight on his left leg, forcing him to exit the game (video via MLB.com).
Entering Saturday, Eaton had been among the red-hot Nationals’ best players in his first month as a member of the club. The top-of-the-order hitter slashed an impressive .297/.393/.462 with two home runs and three steals across 107 plate appearances. In the process, the 28-year-old may have quelled some doubts about the Nationals’ decision to trade a significant haul to the White Sox for him over the winter.
Washington gave up three well-regarded pitching prospects, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning, for Eaton, leading to widespread criticism of Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo. However, Eaton had been a terrific offensive player in Chicago over the previous three years, and he drew great marks for his defense in both the 2014 and ’16 campaigns. Further, Eaton carries an appealing contract, one that could max out at an eminently reasonable $38.4MM through the 2021 season.
It’s fair to say Rizzo’s plan for Eaton was to serve as a key cog for a potential championship contender as early as this season, and at 16-8, first-place Washington has looked the part thus far. But the loss of Eaton is undoubtedly a major blow to their roster, and it’s now unclear who will man center field going forward. For now, it’s Michael Taylor, though he has never resembled a big league regular over 814 career PAs. Both the Nationals’ best player, right fielder Bryce Harper, and shortstop Trea Turner have experience in center, but moving either from his current spot would lead to more questions. Other 40-man options to help fill Eaton’s void include Brian Goodwin and Rafael Bautista, the latter of whom the Nats promoted when they placed Eaton on the disabled list early Saturday. The club also has an elite center field prospect in Victor Robles, but he’s only 19 and has never played above the High-A level.
In the event Washington is unsatisfied with its own center fielders, it could go outside the organization for help. Pickings in free agency are slim, though, with the potentially retired Angel Pagan representing the best of a deeply flawed class of unsigned players. Notably, the Nationals aggressively pursued Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen via trade prior to landing Eaton, and the five-time All-Star could hit the block again this year if the Bucs don’t contend. However, the Nationals found the Pirates’ asking price for McCutchen to be prohibitive in the offseason. If the Nationals don’t look again to McCutchen, Kansas City’s Lorenzo Cain could be a possibility, as the scuffling Royals are on track to sell off veterans this summer. The Nats already have interest in the Royals’ closer, Kelvin Herrera, and could perhaps attempt to reel in him and Cain in a package. That’s merely speculation, of course, and having already surrendered a prospect bounty for Eaton a few months ago, Rizzo might be reluctant to part with more high-end youngsters for another outfielder.
Nationals Interested In Kelvin Herrera
Barring a turnaround over the next couple months, the 7-15 Royals will be prime candidates to sell several veterans prior to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. One of those players could be closer Kelvin Herrera, who’s already drawing the Nationals’ interest, reports FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (video link).
The Nationals were connected to multiple high-profile closers in the offseason, including Kenley Jansen in free agency and David Robertson via the trade route, but elected to begin the year with in-house options. That hasn’t gone swimmingly thus far for Washington, which has seen Opening Day closer Blake Treinen, current closer Shawn Kelley and fellow late-game option Koda Glover post disappointing results. The best of three has been Glover, but the hard-throwing rookie landed on the disabled list with a hip impingement earlier this week after allowing four earned runs on seven hits and a walk, with six strikeouts, in 8 2/3 innings. Meanwhile, in 19 combined frames, Treinen and Kelley have yielded 16 earned runs on 10 walks and 25 hits, with 21 strikeouts, and have blown two of eight save chances. What’s more, given Kelley’s history as a two-time Tommy John surgery recipient, the Nats are wary of using the 33-year-old on consecutive days, having done so just once this season.
At 16-8, Washington doesn’t look like a team with many weaknesses (though center fielder Adam Eaton’s knee injury is troubling), but its bullpen has been a glaring issue in April. The unit’s 6.08 ERA and 5.09 FIP rank toward the bottom of the majors, so it would behoove the Nationals to bolster their relief corps if its performance doesn’t improve in the coming months. Herrera would theoretically help the Nats do that, as he has typically been a premier reliever since debuting in 2012.
In eight innings this season, the 27-year-old Herrera has only allowed two earned runs on three hits and a walk, albeit with just five strikeouts. His velocity is at its usual level, though, and both his hard-throwing ways and history of positive results mean he should bring back a quality return for the Royals in a trade. Rosenthal contends that the Nationals have enough well-regarded position player prospects to swing a deal for Herrera, who’s controllable via arbitration through next season, citing three outfielders – the newly promoted Rafael Bautista, Juan Soto and Andrew Stevenson – as potential trade chips. Both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline place the 18-year-old Soto and Stevenson, 22, among the Nats’ five best prospects.
Nationals Place Adam Eaton On 10-Day DL
SATURDAY 9:13am: The Nationals have announced that they’ve placed Eaton on the DL and promoted Bautista, as anticipated. Eaton’s injury has officially been listed as a left knee strain.
8:21am: The Nats will promote outfielder Rafael Bautista to the big leagues, MASN’s Byron Kerr writes. That news would seem to indicate Eaton is headed to the DL. The 24-year-old Bautista is batting a modest .291/.325/.354 in 83 plate appearances with Triple-A Syracuse, a line roughly in keeping with the offensive skill set he’s demonstrated throughout his minor-league career — he hits well for contact and posts reasonable on-base percentages but lacks power. Bautista swiped 56 bases for Double-A Harrisburg in 2016 while only being caught ten times, indicating outstanding speed, and Kerr notes that his range is very good. MLB.com ranks Bautista 13th among Nationals prospects.
FRIDAY 9:47pm: Skipper Dusty Baker was only able to say that the club will know more after Eaton undergoes an MRI tomorrow, as Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com tweets.
9:38pm: Nationals center fielder Adam Eaton was removed from tonight’s game after suffering an apparent lower-leg injury suffered while crossing first base. There are no details yet from the club, of course, but Eaton had to be helped off without placing any weight on his left leg.
The image of Eaton grimacing in pain while being removed from the field is just about the last thing the Nationals hoped to see this evening. The 28-year-old has functioned as a key cog in a productive Nats lineup since coming over in a somewhat controversial winter trade.
Over his 102 trips to plate entering tonight’s action, Eaton carried a .291/.392/.465 batting line with a pair of long balls and three stolen bases. Though defensive metrics haven’t loved his work in center field, the jury is still out given the meager sample to date.
We’ll need to wait for further word, clearly, before leaping to any conclusions. But given the degree of pain clearly being experienced by the gritty Eaton, and the fact he wasn’t able to bear any weight on his leg, it seems at a minimum that the organization will need to expect some kind of DL placement. For the time being, the club could utilize Michael Taylor in center while also playing Bryce Harper there at times, though obviously that’s not the optimal alignment.
No Structural Damage For Sammy Solis
- While the Nationals are holding their breath over a new and potentially serious injury issue tonight, the team did get a bit of positive news earlier. An MRI came back clean for southpaw Sammy Solis, as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com tweets. While there’s some inflammation present in his balky elbow, there’s no ligament issue.
Nationals Place Koda Glover On 10-Day DL
The Nationals announced today that right-hander Koda Glover has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to an impingement in his right hip. As Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post writes, the move is somewhat precautionary. “We are going to need Koda for the long run because he’s never pitched a potential seven months of the season. So just trying to keep an eye on these things,” said manager Dusty Baker. “Cold weather probably didn’t help last night. He didn’t want to go on the DL. We think it’s best for him and what’s best for him is also what’s best for us.” Glover missed the final month of the 2016 season with a partially torn labrum in that same hip, Janes notes, and he elected to undergo physical therapy instead of offseason surgery. The 23-year-old righty is “extremely confident” that he’ll be ready to go in 10 days, Janes adds. Left-hander Matt Grace will take Glover’s spot in the bullpen for now.
Jacob Turner To Make Spot Start For Nats
- Nationals manager Dusty Baker confirmed that the team will give Jacob Turner a spot start tonight while Stephen Strasburg is out on paternity leave, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post writes. While Turner’s track record in the Majors isn’t impressive, Baker suggested that the team wasn’t comfortable bringing someone up to make their first Major League start at Coors Field. “We thought about other guys, but we didn’t really want their first start in the big leagues to be in Colorado,” Baker said of that potentially daunting task. “He has big league experience and Stras is having a second child. If not, it would’ve been Stras out there.”
Latest On The Nationals’ Bullpen Needs
The Nationals’ bullpen is off to a dismal start to the season, with a collective 4.86 ERA through the season’s first three weeks. Blake Treinen has already been removed from the closer’s role, albeit with a relatively quick hook (he’s thrown just seven innings this year). Koda Glover and Shawn Kelley are presently sharing ninth-inning work, and they’re two of just three Nats relievers that have ERAs south of 5.00 to begin the year. (Matt Albers has not allowed a run in four innings.)
In light of those struggles, Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM reports that the Nats have “touched base” with multiple teams on their closers. Specifically, he cites a pair of names that are no stranger to trade rumors: David Robertson of the White Sox and Alex Colome of the Rays. However, Bowden adds that the Nats “aren’t even in the same ballpark” when it comes to the asking price on those players.
Robertson, 32, has allowed just one run through his first 6 2/3 innings this season and logged an impressive 12-to-3 K/BB ratio along the way. He’s earning $12MM this season (of which about $10.6MM remains) and will earn $13MM next year in the final season of a four-year, $46MM contract. The 28-year-old Colome, meanwhile, has yet to allow a run this year, though he’s curiously punched out just four hitters through nine innings after posting a gaudy 11.3 K/9 rate in a breakout 2016 campaign. He’s not yet arbitration eligible and can be controlled through the 2020 season, so it’s hardly surprising to hear that Tampa Bay’s asking price may be quite lofty.
As alternative options, Bowden lists Brandon Kintzler of the Twins, Brandon Maurer of the Padres and any of the Athletics’ late-inning arms, which include Sean Doolittle, Ryan Madson and Santiago Casilla. It should be noted, though, that there’s no specific mention of trade talks with any of those clubs, so the suggestions seem fairly speculative in nature.
Furthermore, each of those names comes with a caveat. Kintzler’s experience as a closer is highly limited, and a year ago at this time he was in Triple-A after signing a minor league deal with Minnesota. As a free agent at season’s end, though, he’s a natural trade candidate. Maurer is controllable through 2019, which could create a significant asking price, and he hasn’t exactly established a track record of dominance himself. And when it comes to the A’s, Doolittle is on a terrific contract, while Madson’s three-year, $22MM looks to be an overpay. Casilla, meanwhile, can’t even be traded without his consent until June 15 given the fact that he only signed with Oakland as a free agent this past offseason (a two-year, $11MM deal).
The Nationals, according to Bowden, believe that the 24-year-old Glover can be their closer of the future, but there’s some question in the organization about whether it’s too early in his career to hand him the job. Glover has just 27 1/3 MLB innings under his belt and has been solid but not overpowering in that time; the former eighth-rounder has a 4.28 ERA, a 22-to-8 K/BB ratio and a 42 percent ground-ball rate in his young career.
Nationals To Place Stephen Strasburg On Paternity List
- The Nationals will place righty Stephen Strasburg on the paternity leave list Monday, meaning he’ll miss his scheduled start Tuesday in Colorado, reports Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. Washington is likely to recall Jacob Turner to fill Strasburg’s void for a start, while the latter will return in time to take the mound either Friday or Saturday.
