The Nationals traded All-Star pitcher Foster Griffin to the Cleveland Guardians on Monday night in the final minutes before the MLB’s annual trade deadline.
Washington added a quartet of players in the deal: reliever Will Dion, starting pitcher Josh Hartle, reliever Kendeglys Virguez and outfielder Nick Mitchell.
Dion, 26, is the only major leaguer of the bunch. He’s posted a 4.58 ERA in 12 games with Cleveland this year. The 23-year-old Hartle, 22-year-old Virguez and 22-year-old Mitchell were most recently rostered with Double-A Akron. None of them ranked among the top 30 prospects in the Guardians’ farm system, according to MLB.com.
Griffin, a 31-year-old rookie, was unheralded when he signed a one-year deal with the Nationals this offseason after spending the last three years playing in Japan.
He was named an All-Star last month. The Florida native ranks second in the NL with 12 wins through 22 starts, posting an impressive 3.06 ERA with 1.075 walks and hits per inning pitched.
Washington entered the deadline with a 55-58 record, 4 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the NL’s final wild-card spot. But instead of adding more substantial pitching help to prepare for a potential postseason push, the Nationals cashed in on Griffin’s breakout rookie season.
Paul Toboni, Nationals president of Baseball Operations, took a flyer on Griffin in the offseason, signing him to a one-year deal worth $5.5 million.
“What we’re trying to do is thread the needle … to figure out a way to create this stable foundation over the long run while giving ourselves a chance to win this year,” he said. “It’s inherently tough to find those opportunities.”
The southpaw, a former first-round pick of the Kansas City Royals, had failed to stick on a major-league roster during short stints with the Royals and Toronto Blue Jays.
Griffin is slated to become a free agent this offseason. Toboni said he and Griffin had discussed a potential extension to keep the starter in Washington long-term, but they were not able to reach a deal before the trade deadline.
“There was this emotional pull to want him to be here for an extended period of time. We had to balance it with what trade returns looked like,” Toboni noted on Monday night. “You can’t just always get it done. … What we ended up doing was the best move for the organization.”
Griffin is the third surging National to be traded in less than a month. Toboni traded corner infielders Curtis Mead and Luis Garcia Jr. to the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, respectively, amid their career-best years.
“It’s tough to replace those guys. They’ve been two of the best players in the major leagues this year,” Toboni said. “Having said that, a huge reason why our offense has been very good to date is that it’s been a huge team effort.”
But Washington held onto what might be its brightest star: shortstop C.J. Abrams. The 25-year-old’s name appeared in countless rumors for contenders looking for a left-handed bat. Abrams, who was named the NL Player of the Month on Monday, leads the league with 85 RBIs and has already clobbered a personal-best 28 home runs this season.
The Nationals did not receive a strong enough offer to trade the slugger, who has become a fan favorite.
“If we wanted to trade C.J., we surely could’ve traded C.J.,” Toboni said, noting that he told the shortstop before the current road trip that there was a 10% chance he’d be traded. “He’s such an awesome player, there were a lot of people really wanting him. We’re just going to hold a really high bar for him, not just because of the player he is but what he means to the organization, to this city.”
Washington also sent Triple-A outfielder Christian Franklin to Baltimore in a smaller-scale deal. The Nationals acquired reliever Joe Glassey, a 25-year-old currently in Double-A, in the exchange.
While Washington held onto its biggest star, Baltimore hosted a fire sale.
The Orioles, led by general manager Mike Elias, chose a more drastic route. Baltimore shipped Adley Rutschman, a three-time All-Star, to the Boston Red Sox, traded Taylor Ward to the Seattle Mariners and dealt Tyler Wells to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Rutschman, 28, was the top pick in the 2019 draft and was widely considered the face of Baltimore’s rebuild. But, amid a 54-58 campaign and with free agency looming after the 2027 season, the Orioles decided to shift their focus to a new crop of youngsters.
The Orioles landed three Red Sox prospects ranked in the top five of Boston’s farm system by Baseball America: 21-year-old right-handed pitchers Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon and 19-year-old outfielder Enddy Azocar. Catcher Carlos Narvaez, a 27-year-old who has posted a .187 average across 62 games with the Red Sox this season, will also join the Orioles.
Ward landed a more modest return: big-league reliever Alex Hoppe will join the Orioles along with minor league pitchers Brock Moore and Harrison Krelling. Neither of the prospects ranked in the top-30 of Seattle’s farm system, according to MLB.com.
Monday’s trade deadline sparked a flurry of moves across the MLB landscape.
The San Diego Padres acquired Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize. The Philadelphia Phillies landed second baseman Luis Arraez, a three-time batting champ, in a deal with the San Francisco Giants. Elsewhere in the NL East, the New York Mets became sellers as they dished starting pitcher Clay Holmes to the Chicago Cubs and sent reliever Luke Weaver to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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