With the trade deadline a day away, the Nationals look like a club headed toward seller mode, even if there may still be one move that brings a controllable bullpen arm back the other way. That’s the read here after the latest stretch of losses, and the rest of the picture is pretty straightforward: Washington could move pieces, but it is not expected to swing big on a player like CJ Abrams.
One deal projected to get done sends Luis Garcia Jr. to the Diamondbacks. The fit has been buzzing for a while, and Bob Nightengale even reported that Arizona would “love” to have Garcia. The match makes sense on paper because the Diamondbacks need a first baseman, and they have prospects to deal.
In that kind of swap, the return is expected to be pitching-heavy. The mock package centers on Patrick Forbes and Brian Curley.
Forbes, the 29th pick in the 2025 draft, brings a fastball-slider mix and the kind of frame that points to mid-rotation upside. He has missed much of the season with injury, but he is healthy now.
Curley is a different kind of arm, and maybe the more eye-catching one. At 5’10, he does not fit the usual pitching mold, but his heater can get into the upper 90’s and touch 100.
This season he has punched out 102 batters against 23 walks in 84.2 innings, though opponents have still hit him hard with a .292 average against. Even with that flaw, he remains the sort of pitcher who could grow into a bullpen weapon or a back-end starter.
Another Nationals arm predicted to move is Foster Griffin, with the Rays pegged as the landing spot. The return in that mock deal is built around Michael Forret and Andreimi Antunez. Forret’s value comes from his deep mix and his feel for pitching, traits that make him look like a sturdy candidate to become a No. 4 starter.
Antunez is the lottery-ticket part of the deal. The 19-year-old infielder posted an .829 OPS in the FCL with more walks than strikeouts, then moved up to Low-A.
He’s described as a prospect with plenty of helium, and his profile is the kind Washington seems to like because he can do a little bit of everything. Since Griffin is a rental, that return is viewed as a fair one.
The one name that is not expected to be on the move is Abrams. Toboni is expected to listen if teams call, and Boston could get close, but the prediction here is that he stays put.
Abrams is seen as too important to the team and the city, and unless an offer becomes impossible to ignore, there will not be a deal. The sense is that Toboni is still waiting for that godfather offer, and it never arrives.
There is also a belief that the two sides should keep the conversation going on an extension, even if a trade could come up again in the offseason. With CBA changes looming, extensions may become easier to pull off in the next baseball landscape. Add in the fact that the Nationals are not years away, and that makes holding Abrams the more likely path.
The one buy-side move projected for Washington is a bullpen addition, and it comes with less confidence than the seller deals. The Nats are forecast to land Sam Bachman from the Angels in exchange for Luke Dickerson and Yeremy Cabrera.
Bachman has not fully put it all together, but the upside is obvious. The former top 10 pick works with a 99 MPH sinker, leans even more on a filthy slider, and rounds out his mix with a changeup that can miss bats against left-handed hitters. He is still unfinished, but the ingredients for a high-leverage reliever are there, and he comes with 4.5 years of control.
Dickerson and Cabrera are both upside plays in return. Cabrera came over as a smaller piece in the MacKenzie Gore trade, and after plenty of success in Low-A, High-A has been a tougher test.
Dickerson has major offensive upside, though his climb has been slow since a huge second-round bonus. Cabrera is also Rule 5 eligible this offseason, which adds another wrinkle to his value.
The package is framed as the kind of offer that could interest the Angels for a reliever with promise but uneven results, and it is also viewed as one the Nationals would not feel all that much.
Overall, the expectation is for an active deadline. With Skubal going to LA last night, the market is already moving, and the sense is that more deals are coming before the clock runs out.
In Other News...
Nationals Just Made A Rebuild Bet Fans Will Want To See
The Nationals kept working the margins of their rebuild by dealing first baseman Luis Garca Jr. to the Yankees, parting with a player who had put together a power breakout this season and still would have remained under team control through 2027. For a club still sorting through its long-term core, it is the kind of move that signals Washington is willing to convert short-term value into a broader pitching haul.
In return, the Nationals are adding right-handers Ben Grable, Yovanny Cruz, Jack Cebert and Jacob Bird, a mix that blends major-league relief depth with lower-level upside. The question now is how much of that group can help beyond just adding depth, and whether this is one of those deals that looks ordinary on the day it happens before a clearer payoff emerges later. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Eye One More Deadline Move To Fix A Lingering Problem
The Nationals have already done business with Boston twice in the past nine months, sending pitcher Jake Bennett and infielder Curtis Mead to the Red Sox as the clubs kept finding common ground. Now the two sides could be circling each other again, with Boston still looking to patch a lingering issue as the deadline approaches and Washington owning one of the more intriguing infield pieces on the market.
Luis Garcia Jr. is drawing attention because of the season he has put together, and the Red Sox appear to be one of the teams monitoring that fit. Any conversation would likely be shaped by the kind of names Boston would have to part with, with Jarren Duran or Patrick Sandoval among the possibilities mentioned in reports, but nothing has been finalized and the next move remains unresolved. [Read more 🡒]