Of Patrick Corbin! Hey yo!
No not really. Was sick before that. But after vacation so I'll take it. Let's go over the deadline deals!
Hunter Harvey for Cayden Wallace (and a competitive balance pick) :
You guys all know I'm in the tank for Harvey. Swing and miss stuff, doesn't give up homers, that's already a pretty good relief arm and previous years suggest control is possible which would make him great. But the Nats leaned hard on that arm and with a year of control he was a prime target for other teams. And as noted earlier the Nats actually have some relief arms in the minors worth trying out. So he's gone.
Cayden Wallace is decent return for Harvey. FWIW the Royals farm was noted as "notably thin on top-tier talent" He's not likely to be a star. But he's 22/23 (August 7th) and handling AA fairly well. His defense is well thought of. He could be a decent doubles power ok average type player but more likely he's a bench guy. That's also what you'd probably expect from a competitive balance pick. The more of these you get the better. A several year decent bench guy for Harvey would be a reasonable return and maybe you get lucky.
Jesse Winker for Tyler Stuart :
Winker proved he was good when healthy and was healthy with the Nats. He might head into FA healthy and that would (1) be very good for him, and (2) make it really unlikely for him to return to the Nats. He's a win now bat. If you sign him it's with the hope he stays healthy in 2025 first and foremost. The Nats are a win later team, even if later is just 2026.
Tyler Stuart isn't that much of a prospect. He slots in where Jake Bennett, Jackson Rutledge, etc. fall. The good news is that what he does well (no walks, no homers) is what the Nats like. The bad news is he's pretty hittable guy at AA and he's going to turn 25 right after the season. There's also a question of arm durability as he was a reliever in college. It's more org depth than the lottery ticket you hope for.
Lane Thomas for Alex Clemmey, Rafeal Ramirez Jr and Jose Tena :
The Nats grabbed Lane for Jon Lester in what turned out to be a steal. In retrospect, it's clear that the Cardinals, who had a bulk of AAAA type OFs, really didn't know how to evaluate them and in the last couple of years have dealt away several who did fine and kept others that did not. Lane did fine! The first couple months and 2022 were fun because it was a surprise that he was ok as a full-time player. But that also hid the fact he was a bad fielder. He's not the worst option for a 3rd OF for a decent team right now but age curves suggest he soon will be a better 4th OF and its hard to see him as part of the Nats future a few years down the road. Made real sense to deal him.
Jose Tena is an interesting player but probably not good. Swings hard. When he doesn't miss the ball he hits it hard, but mostly at the ground. So there are two things to fix here. At his age maybe you can but it just feels real likely he's going to keep striking out like 40% of the time and that untenable. But as a third throw in, sure!
Rafeal Ramirez Jr is the bad lottery ticket. Super young. Intriguing power. Pretty good eye. Also sort of slow already? That's not a good sign. Misses a ton of pitches in A ball. A total project. Not really the lottery ticket you want. But as a second throw in, sure!
Alex Clemmey though is the interesting piece. Big swing and miss stuff. Hard to hit. Wild. Just turned 19. This is the lottery ticket you want. He's a "#1 #2 starter" scratch off. Sure you probably lose but in these types of trades this is what you want to get back.
Dylan Floro for Andres Chaparo :
Dylan Floro did well for the Nats and is exactly the type of pick-up and trade guy you want to get. Shame they didn't make him a closer to inflate that value a bit. With no bad peripherals since 2017, he's the type of guy the Nats will need next year but as an upcoming FA if the Nats want him they can try to sign him.
Andres Chaparo is just a guy. He's hitting pretty well in the hit heavy PCL so should get a shot at some point but is a crappy fielder so he'd have to do more than just hit ok in the majors. Org depth mostly.
I'd say not a bad haul for what they dealt. Yes the chance of a star really only falls on Alex Clemmey, but that chance plus likely a decent bench player is probably fair for a what was going out. The Nats weren't going to get a sure fire major leaguer out of it.