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.
In Other News...
Nationals Deadline Plan Could Turn On Two Core Infield Decisions
The Nationals approach to the trade deadline may hinge less on the standings than on how they sort out the middle infield. Washington has been weighing what to do with several movable pieces, and the picture that has emerged points to a roster that could be trimmed in a few spots while still keeping some of its young core intact. Foster Griffin has also come up in the mix as a possible trade candidate, part of the kind of deadline maneuvering teams use when they are trying to balance short-term needs with long-term value.
At the center of it all is the infield conversation, where the clubs decisions could shape both the deadline return and the opening they create elsewhere on the roster. There is already plenty of speculation around potential additions, including a reliever such as Sam Bachman, but the bigger question for Washington is which familiar names it is willing to move and which ones it decides are too important to part with. [Read more 🡒]
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 🡒]