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Reds Place Joey Votto On Disabled List

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The Reds announced this afternoon that they’ve placed first baseman Joey Votto on the 10-day disabled list due to a right knee contusion. Votto, of course, was hit near that knee by Ryan Madson last week in what many believed to be an intentional plunking. A pair of Nationals hitters, including Bryce Harper, had been hit prior to Votto, who was clipped in the leg with two outs in the inning of a game the Reds trailed 6-2. Harper, who was also hit in the knee, had left the game.

Votto was visibly upset as he limped to first base and yelled some choice words at Madson upon reaching (video link), though he declined to speak much on the incident the following day and would not directly say that he felt Madson had acted with intent (second video link, via the Cincinnati Enquirer). Today’s announcement from the Reds made note of the fact that Votto was hit by Madson last week.

It’ll be the first trip to the DL for Votto since 2014, as he appeared in 158, 158 and 162 games from the 2015-17 seasons, respectively, and had played in 118 games prior to this injury. Votto’s batting average is down a bit and his power numbers are down substantially, but he remains one of the game’s premier on-base threats, as evidenced in his .284/.422/.419 batting line.

The DL placement for Votto comes just one day after the league suspended Marlins right-hander Jose Urena for six games due to what was deemed a clearly intentional plunking of scorching Braves star Ronald Acuna, who had led off three consecutive games against the Marlins with home runs. While Acuna has been able to avoid the disabled list, Votto won’t be as fortunate. It’s probably too late for there to be any disciplinary action taken against Madson, who is on actually now on the disabled list himself, but the juxtaposition of those two events could further fuel the conversation about the possibility of offseason measures to increase penalization for pitchers who have been deemed to intentionally hit a batter.

In Votto’s place, the Reds have recalled outfielder Aristides Aquino from Double-A Pensacola. It’ll be the big league debut for the 24-year-old Aquino, who is batting .249/.313/.452 with 18 homers, 19 doubles and a pair of triples in 416 plate appearances in his second go-around at the Double-A level. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com rank Aquino 16th among Reds prospects, touting his plus-plus arm in right field, strong defense and above-average power. There are concerns about Aquino’s hit tool, though he’s cut his strikeout rate from 28.7 percent in 2017 to 24.7 percent in 2018.

Nationals Place Ryan Madson On DL, Select Tim Collins

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The Nationals shuffled their bullpen mix Tuesday, announcing that they’ve recalled righty Trevor Gott and selected the contract of lefty Tim Collins from Triple-A Syracuse. Right-hander Ryan Madson has been placed on the 10-day disabled list in one corresponding move, while southpaw Sammy Solis is headed to Syracuse to open a second spot on the 25-man roster. In order to create room for Collins on the 40-man roster, the Nats moved right-hander Erick Fedde from the 10-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list.

Madson has been dealing with back discomfort, and the official diagnosis on his injury is “lumbar nerve irritation,” manager Dave Martinez told reporters (Twitter link via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com). With both Madson and Sean Doolittle on the shelf, the Nats will turn to young Koda Glover as their interim closer, tweets Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. Glover, though, is unavailable tonight, so Justin Miller would likely receive a save opportunity, should it arise.

As for the 28-year-old Collins, this’ll be his second stint with the Nats this season. The two-time Tommy John surgery victim pitched to a 2.77 ERA in 13 innings with the Nats earlier this season, prompting some frustration from Washington fans when he was designated for assignment. However, Collins posted a less impressive 8-to-6 K/BB ratio in that time, and he ultimately stuck with the organization after clearing waivers and being outrighted to Triple-A. The former Royals setup man has a 3.94 ERA and a 32-to-15 K/BB ratio in 30 Triple-A innings so far in 2018.

Nats Fielding Offers On Rental Relievers, Also Still Involved In Realmuto Negotiations

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3:24pm: Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that the Nationals are indeed taking offers on impending free-agent relievers such as Herrera, Madson and Kelley. However, Rosenthal adds that Washington is trying to pry more away from rival teams than it gave up to acquire Herrera in the first place, seeking top-tier prospects in return.

Passan, meanwhile, tweets that he’s heard even further since writing this morning’s column that the Nationals’ clubhouse is a growing problem, and organizational confidence in Martinez has faded. Nationals ownership has been notoriously fickle with its managerial preferences, and the reported discord between Martinez and higher-ups is merely the latest data point in that bizarre trend.

Beyond all that, Janes now reports (via Twitter) that the Nationals and Marlins have held “extensive” negotiations regarding Realmuto in recent days, but Washington still deems the price tag to be too high. At the same time, they’re also listening to offers on rental players whose subtraction would help to reduce payroll, she adds.

1:27pm: The 52-53 Nationals have emerged as one of the most interesting teams to watch with just under 26 hours remaining before the non-waiver trade deadline. The presumptive NL East favorites sit six games back in a divisional race that has seen them outplayed by the upstart Phillies and Braves to this point in the season.

It was reported late last week that the Nats were preparing for the possibility of selling some veteran pieces in the event that their four-game set against the Marlins didn’t go well. Washington took the first two games of that series, only to see Miami rally and salvage a 2-2 split. The Nats have actually made up a game in the standings since the time of that report, but the talk of a potential sale persists.

For instance, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan kicks off his weekly 10 Degrees column with a lengthy, fascinating exploration of the apparent disarray in the clubhouse of a Nationals team that has underperformed in a transitional year both in terms of on-field management (where rookie skipper Dave Martinez replaced veteran Dusty Baker) and in terms of ownership (after owner Ted Lerner ceded control of the organization to his son, Mark). One source bluntly told Passan that the Nats’ clubhouse “is a mess,” and three others backed that sentiment. The details are well worth a full read-through for anyone, though Nats fans in particular should take a look.

Broadly speaking, Passan goes on to suggest that the Nationals had hoped to win three of four games in the series they split with Miami this weekend, and though the one-game difference may not prove to be pivotal, ownership will be involved as the club weighs potential trades of short-term veterans. There’ll be a substantial swath of names for decision-makers to consider, with Kelvin Herrera, Ryan Madson, Shawn Kelley, Gio Gonzalez, Mark Reynolds, Matt Adams, Daniel Murphy, Brandon Kintzler and Jeremy Hellickson all serving as potential free agents.

The Nationals have not, to this point, given any real consideration to trading Bryce Harper, Passan adds, which aligns with last week’s comments from Mike Rizzo to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman, in which the general manager suggested that it’d take “something extreme” in order to consider trading Harper. Heyman, meanwhile, tweets that rival teams believe there’s virtually no chance the Nats will consider moving Harper, whom they hope to retain long-term.

Heyman adds, though, that other clubs expect the Nats to “investigate” possible trades of Herrera, Madson, Kelley and  Of course, with so many relievers available on the market, it’s worth wondering just how much the Nationals could even extract for the majority of those bullpen rentals.

Given the sheer volume of rental players the Nationals could potentially peddle to other clubs, it’s also unlikely that there’d even be time to orchestrate an all-out sale. To that end, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweeted even after yesterday’s loss that she’d still be “stunned to see a major fire sale.” USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that other teams expect the Nationals to largely stay the course, perhaps preferring to try to pass some players through waivers next month. It’s possible that some smaller-scale moves will come together, but it hardly seems that the Washington front office is prepared for any type of significant tear-down.

In fact, it seems it’s not yet entirely out of the question that the Nats would make a significant addition. Heyman tweets that they haven’t completely closed the door on a late push for Marlins star J.T. Realmuto. More interestingly, he suggests that the Nationals would at least consider parting with prized outfield prospect Victor Robles or top shortstop prospect Carter Kieboom, but the Marlins have been pushing for both to be included in a deal (as MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reported Saturday). Whatever talks have taken place have not been serious enough that anything has been brought to Marlins ownership, tweets Craig Mish of SiriusXM.

Though this isn’t any real indication that a Realmuto deal has a legitimate chance of coming to fruition, Josh Norris of Baseball America tweeted last night that Miami had vice president of player development and scouting Gary Denbo in Durham, where Robles and the rest of the Nationals’ Triple-A club squared off against the Rays’ top affiliate. As ever, it’s probably best not to read too much into one specific scouting assignment, but the timing of the two reports is of at least some note.

Suffice it to say, the Nats seem to have a number of avenues they can explore. While trading short-term veterans and acquiring a big-name player such as Realmuto would seemingly run counter to one another, the two ideas could coexist. Adding Realmuto would give the Nationals a boost for two years beyond the current season, as he’s controllable through 2020. Trading some veteran rentals, meanwhile, would modestly supplement the farm while saving some money that could be put toward adding to a core of Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, Juan Soto, Adam Eaton, etc. this coming offseason. With just over a day to make so many crucial decisions, the Nats will be at the center of much of the intrigue surrounding the 2018 deadline.

Nationals Preparing For Possibility Of Selling At Deadline

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The Nationals are engaging in discussions with rival organizations regarding the possibility of moving several veteran players, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic hears similarly, writing in a subscription post that ownership is increasingly inclined to cut its losses (including the financial ones) to the extent possible.

Notably, the Nats have not yet committed to any particular direction at the deadline. But they appear to be getting the process started in case they decide to move rental pieces. According to the report, the D.C. organization has indicated it will set its course by the end of the weekend — at which point we’ll be just two days away from the trade deadline.

While the Nats are one game under .500, there is still a glimmer of hope. Neither of the two leading teams in the division — the Phillies and Braves — have run away with things, or (to this point) made any significant deadline improvements. Projections still tend to see it as a closer race, as they presume the Nationals will receive enhanced production from some key players down the stretch.

Of course, the long-awaited spark has yet to occur for the Nats. And the team just received another gut punch today with the news that Stephen Strasburg is headed back to the DL. It doesn’t help that the Wild Card race includes quite a few contestants, meaning it isn’t an obviously better path into the postseason.

It would certainly be difficult for the Nationals to give up on the current season — and not just because that’d be a bitter pill to swallow for a club that entered the season as a clear division favorite that hoped finally to advance through the postseason. The team would also face a less-than-clear situation in deciding what assets to move.

Passan suggests that the focus would likely be on rental relievers. Ryan Madson ($7.5MM salary), Kelvin Herrera ($7.9375MM), and Shawn Kelley ($5.5MM) are all potential chips who’d be of interest to other organizations, perhaps bringing back some prospects and trimming some salary obligations. But whether it makes sense to stop there would make for a tough question.

For his part, Rosenthal says expressly what Passan more or less implies: the Nats aren’t much interested in moving star outfielder Bryce Harper even if they part with other pieces. President of baseball operations/GM Mike Rizzo has indicated that a move on Harper would only be considered in an “extreme” scenario, though presumably that’s much the same situation that would justify the parting with relief assets.

Bidding adieu to Harper now might be difficult, but it’d also be the best possible way for the club to begin a new era without him on good footing. Of course, if the Nats intend to make a full run at bringing him back from the open market, they may well prefer not to set him free now. And it’s also fair to wonder whether the return will be all that great given Harper’s struggles and hefty ($21.625MM) salary.

Harper really isn’t the only established non-reliever who could conceivably be viewed as a trade chip if things head in that direction. For instance, starter Gio Gonzalez and infielder Daniel Murphy are also slated to reach free agency at season’s end, though certainly neither is in top form. Slugger Matt Adams has been excellent and would seem to be an interesting target for some clubs, particularly those in the American League. Other players are nearing the end of their arb years, though there’s no indication at all that the club is thinking of blowing up its near-future core.

All told, it’s clearly an undesirable situation for the Nationals organization. Perhaps the club won’t need to face these difficult questions if it can reel off a few wins in quick succession and its division rivals stumble a bit. Even if the Nats give up on the present season, they hold the promise of bouncing back next year. But it now seems realistic that the team could end up largely giving up on the race in 2018, an outcome that was hard to imagine at the start of the campaign.

Nationals Place Ryan Madson On 10-Day DL

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The Nationals announced that right-hander Ryan Madson has been placed on the 10-day DL with a pectoral muscle strain.  The placement is retroactive to May 17.  Nats manager Davey Martinez told reporters (including Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post) that Madson was feeling “a little bit better” after missing Saturday and Sunday’s games and the placement was “just to be safe,” so it’s possible the reliever could miss only a minimal amount of time.

Madson has a 4.19 ERA over 19 1/3 innings this season, though ERA predictors (2.16 FIP, 3.67 xFIP, 3.42 SIERA) paint a more favorable view of his performance.  Madson has yet to allow a home run this season, and has owns a 9.3 K/9, 3.33 K/BB rate, and a 43.9% grounder rate.  Late-game situations have been a strength for the Nats this season, between Madson and Brandon Kintzler’s solid set-up work and Sean Doolittle’s spectacular early numbers.  As Janes notes, Tim Collins looks to be the likeliest candidate to be called up to fill Madson’s spot in the bullpen; while Madson isn’t truly replaceable, Collins at least provides the Nats with an extra left-hander.

Madson’s absence represents yet another DL setback for the Nats, who are already without Daniel Murphy, Adam Eaton, Howie Kendrick, Ryan Zimmerman, Joaquin Benoit, Matt Wieters, Koda Glover, Jhonatan Solano, Brian Goodwin, and Matt Grace.  (Anthony Rendon also missed significant time earlier this season.)  Despite this hard bite from the injury bug, the Nationals are still 24-21 and staying afloat in the crowded NL East and wild card races.

NL East Notes: Zimmerman, Madson, Acuna, Conforto

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The Marlins’ victory over the Padres last night put them at 64-63 on the season, the first time Miami has been over the .500 mark since April 26.  The Marlins have now won 22 of their last 34 games and have quietly moved to just 4.5 games back of the Rockies for the last NL wild card slot.  Miami’s surge has been fueled by hot streaks from several hitters, though Giancarlo Stanton is setting the pace with an extraordinary .368/.455/.977 slash line and 16 homers over his last 101 PA.  As surprising as it would be to see a team that has been in seller mode all summer suddenly become buyers, it wouldn’t be out of the question to see the Marlins make a low-level trade addition before August is over if the Fish feel they have a legitimate postseason shot.  Here’s the latest from around the NL East…

  • Ryan Zimmerman missed Friday’s game due to a shoulder injury, and Nationals manager Dusty Baker told MLB.com’s Jamal Collier and other reporters that Zimmerman also isn’t expected to be in today’s lineup.  Baker did express hope that the first baseman would be back on Sunday, so it doesn’t yet appear that this could another significant DL absence for the injury-riddled Nats.  Zimmerman hurt his shoulder on a slide into home plate during Thursday’s game.
  • The right index finger injury that sent Ryan Madson to the DL last week could’ve been caused by his increased usage of the curveball this season, a source theorizes to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post.  Madson has received treatment to calm the inflammation of the tendon sheath that runs through his index finger’s knuckle, and he recently visited a hand specialist.  The big-picture news is that while Madson’s DL stint will likely extend beyond the minimum 10 days, the Nationals expect him to be back in action before the postseason.
  • Ronald Acuna’s tear through the Braves’ farm system probably won’t result in a September callup, Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes.  The 19-year-old outfielder began the season in high-A ball and been promoted up to Triple-A, raking all the while — Acuna has a combined .325/.376/.533 slash line, 20 homers and 41 steals over 558 combined plate appearances at three minor league levels.  This performance had firmly placed Acuna near the top of several midseason prospects rankings (MLB.com rates him the eighth-best prospect in the game, Baseball America 10th and Baseball Prospectus 11th).  While the Braves have been aggressive in promoting their top prospects, Bradley feels there isn’t any need to rush Acuna to the big leagues quite so soon, though Acuna may well be in line for regular duty for Atlanta as early as Opening Day 2018.
  • Michael Conforto’s posterior capsule tear in his left shoulder will be re-evaluated on Monday, though Newsday’s Marc Carig and Mike Puma of the New York Post hear from medical professionals that Conforto could be sidelined for several months if he undergoes surgery.  It’s important to note that neither of the doctors cited by Carig and Puma have personally examined Conforto and are basing their opinions simply on prior knowledge of similar injuries.  That said, both doctors commented on the unusual nature of Conforto’s injury, which came after swinging and missing a pitch.  “The problem in this case is that this player dislocated his shoulder without any major trauma,” Dr. Armin Tehrany of Manhattan Orthopedic Care told Carig. “It was his non-dominant arm. He was just swinging a bat. And that alone led to the dislocation, which means that the likelihood that it happens again after he heals is very high.”  Dr. Tehrany believes Conforto could face a four-to-six month rehab process if he opts for surgery, while Dr. Umer Dasti of the Ridgewood Orthopedic Group tells Puma that a six-to-12 month timeline could be necessary.  The latter projection, as Puma notes, would have a significant impact on the Mets’ offseason plans, as the team would likely have to check into acquiring another notable bat if Conforto is sidelined for a good chunk of 2018.

Nationals Activate Shawn Kelley, Place Ryan Madson On 10-Day DL

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The Nationals have swapped out right-handed relievers, per a club announcement. Shawn Kelley has returned from a long run on the disabled list, replacing Ryan Madson on the active roster. Madson is headed for his own DL stint.

Kelley has been out since the middle of June with a trap strain. Before that, though, it was already clear something wasn’t right. Through his first 18 innings on the year, Kelley posted a 7.00 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and an uncharacteristic 4.5 BB/9. He also allowed nine long balls — averaging one in every other inning of work.

Curiously, those pronounced struggles went on even as Kelly maintained not only a fairly typical average fastball velocity (92.7 mph), but also a typically outstanding swinging-strike (15.0%). That seemingly gives cause for some optimism that Kelley can rediscover his usual form down the stretch. At this point, though, he’ll have to earn back his place among the team’s late-inning options.

The hope is that Madson won’t require nearly so lengthy a layoff. Madson has been diagnosed with a sprained right finger, per the organization. But manager Dusty Baker suggested that it may only require the minimum ten days (via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com, on Twitter). Surely, the Nats will be focused on ensuring Madson is healthy come October.

Madson, acquired along with lefty Sean Doolittle back in July, was turning in quality results in Oakland but has been utterly dominant since. In nine scoreless frames since coming to D.C., Madson has allowed just five hits and a walk while racking up 13 strikeouts.

Injury Notes: Tanaka, Angels, Diekman, Wahl, Lugo, Nats

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Masahiro Tanaka is on the disabled list due to some inflammation in his shoulder, but he could be back with the Yankees as soon as next week, per WFAN’s Sweeny Murti (Twitter link). Murti also notes that lefty CC Sabathia is slated to come off the DL on Saturday. Tanaka will throw a bullpen session tomorrow, and if that goes well, he’ll return to the rotation next week against the Tigers. Demonstrating that this is a minor issue will be key for Tanaka and the Yankees; Tanaka has pitched quite well over his past nine starts and been solid dating back to late May, perhaps positioning him to opt out of the remaining three years on his contract. And the Yankees, of course, are currently in possession of an AL Wild Card spot and are also 4.5 games back of the Red Sox in the AL East.

A few more injury updates of note from around the league…

  • The Angels have received some good news on the rotation front, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. Left-hander Andrew Heaney will return to the mound on Friday in Baltimore — his first big league appearance in roughly 16 months. Heaney underwent Tommy John surgery last year — one of many blows to what had looked on paper to be a promising Angels pitching staff. Now 26 years of age, Heaney turned in 105 2/3 innings of 3.49 ERA ball with 6.6 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in his first season with the Halos back in 2015. A healthy Heaney would be a boost to a surging Angels club that now finds itself in the thick of the AL Wild Card race. Fletcher also tweeted yesterday that, per manager Mike Scioscia, right-hander Garrett Richards will face hitters later this week, though it’s not yet clear when Richards could return to a big league mound.
  • Left-hander Jake Diekman is getting closer to returning to the Rangers’ bullpen. Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets that Diekman will begin a rehab assignment with the Rangers’ Double-A affiliate on Thursday, during which he’s slated to throw 15 pitches. The 30-year-old southpaw was a key piece of the Texas bullpen in 2015-16 after coming over from the Phillies alongside Cole Hamels, but he’s yet to pitch this season due to a trio of surgeries he’s undergone to combat ulcerative colitis.
  • The Athletics announced yesterday that right-hander Bobby Wahl’s season is over after he underwent surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome. TOS surgery has become increasingly popular in recent seasons, though the success rate on it doesn’t appear to be as high as other common surgeries for pitchers. The 25-year-old Wahl posted terrific numbers in Double-A and Triple-A last season, and he made his big league debut with Oakland earlier in 2017. In 7 2/3 frames, he allowed four runs on eight hits and four walks with eight strikeouts.
  • The Mets placed right-hander Seth Lugo on the 10-day DL yesterday with an impingement in his right shoulder, and Lugo emphasized today that he doesn’t feel surgery is required for either his previously injured elbow or his shoulder, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes. Lugo is hopeful of missing just one or two starts with his current issue. “The doctors said this is an inoperable situation,” said Lugo. “…Surgery’s not even a though.” Lugo missed the first two months of the season after being diagnosed with a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.
  • Nationals manager Dusty Baker gave some quick updates on a number of ailing players, writes Byron Kerr of MASNsports.com. Outfielder Jayson Werth is still going through a running program and isn’t yet ready for a rehab assignment, per Baker. Werth will need to play consecutive nine-inning games before being activated. Baker also revealed that while he initially thought right-hander Ryan Madson was dealing with a blister issue on his finger, it appears that is not the case. Madson has “something in his finger” that the Nats are currently analyzing. Bryce Harper, meanwhile, is traveling with the team as he gets treatment on his injured left knee.

Quick Hits: Miller, Freeman, Nationals

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Differences between the levels of media attention in various markets can affect players as they change teams,writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Andrew Miller (who has played for teams like the Indians and Marlins with relatively small media contingents, as well as teams like the Red Sox and Yankees with large ones) says he prefers bigger media markets (although Cafardo also notes that Miller has enjoyed his time in Cleveland). “For me, the best thing that ever happened was coming to Boston,” says Miller. “I loved the big crowds and all of the attention paid to the team. I loved the adrenaline it gave me. But I know guys who prefer to just play baseball and not have to worry about outside things. Everybody is a little different.” Here are more quick notes from around the league.

  • Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman is pleased with how his organization’s rebuild is going, writes Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. “It’s nice to see things starting to form into a team and not just form a minor league system,” says Freeman. “It’s been a tough two years; I don’t think anybody’s gonna sugarcoat that around here. We had a team where most teams said, ‘Oh, good, we’re playing the Braves.’ But I don’t think most teams say that anymore. Last year, we’d be 30 games under .500 at this point. It’s been so much better.” Kepner notes that Freeman has earned plaudits from teammates for his willingness to try third base recently to accommodate the team’s changing roster, even though Freeman himself is a veteran in the midst of an outstanding season. Freeman played 16 games at third, although he’s been back at first base recently, with Matt Adams in the outfield and Brandon Phillips at the hot corner.
  • Lefty Sean Doolittle was initially distraught by the recent trade that sent him from the Athletics to the Nationals, but he says being dealt along with fellow reliever Ryan Madson helped, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Madson had already been part of five organizations before heading to the Nationals, whereas Doolittle had only ever been with the Athletics. “It was awesome for me having (Madson) here because he kept me really centered,” says Doolittle. “My emotions were all over the place, and he has such a calming presence about him. That really helped me.” Nats manager Dusty Baker chose Doolittle to close ahead of Madson or another new acquisition, Brandon Kintzler, even though all three have been closers before. Baker cites Doolittle’s experience as a deciding factor, although it’s worth noting he has the fewest career saves of the three. Perhaps that’s missing the point, though — Baker seems to view his new relief trio as three essentially interchangeable hurlers who are all capable of pitching the late innings.

Nationals To Designate Jacob Turner

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The Nationals will designate Jacob Turner for assignment, according to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (via Twitter). His roster spot will be needed for the ascension of Edwin Jackson to take a start today.

Washington also needed to clear active roster space for just-acquired relievers Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson. That’ll be accomplished by optioning Austin Adams and Trevor Gott, each of whom had come up briefly while the club nailed down that trade.

Turner, 26, has played much the same role the Nats will now ask Jackson to occupy, with one major difference: now, there’s an open rotation spot. Jackson will have the first crack after allowing just one earned run on nine hits in his 20 1/3 innings at Triple-A Syracuse. Assuming he clears waivers and accepts an assignment, Turner will likely remain a major league option as well.

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