The Washington Nationals kept working the margins ahead of the trade deadline, and one of their quieter moves involved a familiar kind of swap: an outfield prospect out, another arm in.
Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner first reported that Washington sent outfield prospect Christian Franklin to the Baltimore Orioles. Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic later reported that the return was minor league right-handed pitcher Joe Glassey.
That deal came after the Nationals already made their bigger deadline moves, sending Curtis Mead to the Boston Red Sox, Luis Garcia Jr. to the New York Yankees and Foster Griffin to the Cleveland Guardians. Those were the headline transactions. Franklin, by comparison, was part of a deeper cut from the organization’s farm-system surplus.
Washington had been signaling to other teams that it was open to moving from that depth, and Franklin fit the bill. The Nationals acquired him ahead of last year’s trade deadline as part of the Michael Soroka return package, but this time he was the piece headed out.
For president of baseball operations Paul Toboni and his front office, the broader goal was clear: add pitching at the big-league level and across the system. Glassey gives them another arm to work with, and his track record in the minors is eye-catching. He owns a 2.20 career ERA in 48 minor league relief appearances, with 97 strikeouts and 10 walks over 65 1/3 innings.
Glassey, 25, was at Double-A in the Orioles’ system. He spent four years at the University of Illinois and went undrafted in 2024, but he has posted strong results since turning pro and climbing the minor league ladder.
Still, the move carried some risk for Washington. Glassey was not viewed as a top 30 prospect in Baltimore’s system, while Franklin has shown real ability with the bat throughout his pro career. The Nationals simply had enough outfield inventory to make the decision.
James Wood, Daylen Lile, Dylan Crews and Jacob Young are already on the major league roster. Andrew Pinckney, who was a top 30 prospect before Washington brought in a haul from the Yankees, is at Triple-A Rochester. Five more outfielders sit in the top 30 of the organization’s pipeline, including Gavin Fien and Yeremy Cabrera, both of whom came over in the MacKenzie Gore return package.
That kind of crowding made Franklin the odd man out. He has hit .260/.389/.396 for his career, but the Nationals appear to have decided that the better use of his value was turning him into another pitching option.
And if the goal is getting Franklin everyday reps in the majors, Washington wasn’t going to be the place for that. With the outfield logjam and a need for more arms, the Nationals chose the path that opened space and added depth in one move.
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Orioles Deadline Shuffle Signals A Bigger Outfield Plan
The Orioles kept working the edges of their roster picture with a minor league swap that brought in outfielder Christian Franklin from the Nationals and sent right-hander Joe Glassey to Washington. Franklin is expected to land on Baltimores 40-man roster, a sign the club sees him as more than simple extra inventory after a deadline period that left the outfield group worth watching closely.
Franklin arrives as a depth option with a reputation for getting on base, the kind of player Baltimore has shown a willingness to cycle through when it wants flexibility across the roster. Glassey, meanwhile, heads the other way as a young reliever who had just reached Double-A, giving the Nationals another arm to develop while the Orioles continue to look for useful pieces that can fit into a larger outfield plan. [Read more 🡒]
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For an Orioles club trying to sort out the back end of its outfield mix, the timing makes sense. Hinds does not arrive with a long track record in the majors, which keeps the move firmly in the low-risk category, but the organization now has the rest of the season to decide whether he can earn a larger role and provide some late-year help if opportunities open up. [Read more 🡒]