The Washington Nationals entered the 2026 season looking like obvious sellers, then spent most of the year flipping that script.
Their offense kept them in the playoff race and, for a while, pointed the front office toward adding help. But a late stumble before Aug. 3 changed the equation, and Washington shifted from trying to bolster a postseason push to cashing in trade pieces for the future.
Even then, the Nationals weren’t nearly as active as many expected. CJ Abrams stayed in place, a move that could be a good sign for any long-term deal talks between the two sides.
In the end, Washington made four trades before the 2026 deadline.
The first came on July 25, when the Nationals sent Curtis Mead to the Boston Red Sox for left-handed pitcher Connelly Early. At the time, president of baseball operations Paul Toboni said the deal did not mean the club was going all-in as sellers, but it clearly set the tone for what was coming next.
On paper, Washington did well here. Early is 23 and has a career 3.24 ERA in 21 MLB starts, and once he returns from the injured list, he should be able to help both now and down the line as part of the rotation.
Mead’s time in Boston got off to a brutal start, with a broken wrist after he was hit by a pitch. Even before that injury, though, the Nationals had already come out ahead by turning a former top prospect - one who wasn’t even on the roster at the start of the season and was in the middle of a breakout year - into a controllable starting pitcher with real upside.
Washington’s biggest swing came on Aug. 2, when it sent Luis Garcia Jr. to the New York Yankees for four right-handed pitchers, including two who ranked among the Yankees’ top 30 prospects. Outside of Abrams, Garcia had become the Nationals’ best trade chip, and a previous report had said the team was no longer taking calls on the breakout slugger. A five-game losing streak before the deadline apparently changed that thinking.
The return gave Washington a little of everything it needed. Jake Bird brings MLB experience as a reliever, Yovanny Cruz arrives as a hard-throwing, major league-ready bullpen arm, and Jack Cebert and Ben Grable both come with intriguing stuff. One trade, and a clear attempt to address a major bullpen need.
Deadline day brought another pair of moves. Christian Franklin, who was involved in a deadline-day deal with Washington for the second year in a row, this time went to the Baltimore Orioles for minor league right-hander Joe Glassey.
Glassey was an undrafted free agent and wasn’t ranked among Baltimore’s top 30 prospects, so the ceiling isn’t obvious. But he has posted a 2.20 ERA in 48 minor league bullpen appearances, with 97 strikeouts and 10 walks in 65 1/3 innings, which at least gives Washington something to work with.
With the outfield crowded, the Nationals decided to take the gamble.
The final headline move sent Foster Griffin to the Cleveland Guardians in a deal that brought back four players: pitchers Will Dion, Josh Hartle and Kendeglys Virguez, plus outfielder Nick Mitchell.
Hartle was the only one of the four ranked in Cleveland’s top 30. The right-hander has a 3.24 ERA in 44 minor league outings, 43 of them starts, along with 197 strikeouts and 77 walks over 208 1/3 innings. He was at Double-A before the trade, and that is likely where Washington will place him.
Dion has spent the last three seasons in Triple-A and has a 3.62 ERA in 21 relief appearances this year. His 52 strikeouts and seven walks in 37 1/3 innings are the best strikeout-to-walk numbers of his career.
Virguez is a 22-year-old right-hander who was also at Double-A with Cleveland. He has mostly worked as a reliever, though how Washington uses him remains to be seen. Mitchell, meanwhile, is coming off a rough year at Double-A, where he hit .240/.358/.360 with five home runs and 39 RBIs in 75 games, though he did reach base at a strong clip.
In Other News...
Nationals Fans Have Every Right To Debate The Foster Griffin Return
The Nationals decision to move Foster Griffin to Cleveland for a four-prospect package immediately invites debate, because this is not the sort of deal fans usually shrug off. Griffin had been a steadying presence in Washingtons rotation, going 12-3 with a 3.06 ERA this season and giving the club the kind of dependable left-handed arm that is hard to replace, especially when the season is already asking a lot from the pitching staff.
What Washington brought back is a mix of arms and a position player in Josh Hartle, Kendeglys Virguez, Will Dion and Nick Mitchell, which gives the front office quantity and some developmental upside. The question, though, is whether the ceiling in that group is high enough to justify parting with a pitcher who was doing so much of the heavy lifting, and that is where the conversation around this deal gets uncomfortable for Nationals fans. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Paid A Real Price To Strengthen Their Rotation
The Nationals moved Foster Griffin to Cleveland in a deal that says plenty about how much the Guardians wanted to fortify their rotation. Griffin, a left-hander who had been one of the more dependable arms on the market, is headed to a staff that already had real depth, making the fit easy to understand from Clevelands side and the return all the more notable for Washington.
For the Nationals, the trade brings back four prospects, a sign they were willing to cash in a proven major league pitcher for volume and upside. Griffin had been an All-Star and had put together a 2.77 ERA, which is exactly why the Guardians had to pay up, and why this deal could end up shaping both clubs pitching plans for a while. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Deadline Left One Big Question About Their New Direction
The Nationals used the trade deadline to keep reshaping the roster around their young core, and the overall direction was clear enough: add pitching, avoid a full teardown, and hold on to cornerstone talent like CJ Abrams. Washington came away with several arms, including Connelly Early and Cade Cavalli, while also dealing Foster Griffin and Luis Garca Jr. as part of a broader effort to stock the organization with more pitching depth.
Even with those moves, the deadline felt more like a cautious step forward than a bold reset. The club did add bodies to a system that needed them, but it also passed on chances to land premium prospects in return, leaving a familiar question hanging over the front offices new approach: how aggressive is it willing to be when the time comes to turn this collection of pieces into a real contender? [Read more 🡒]