It has been a sad month for Nationals fans. With the MLB trade deadline on July 30th, many last minute moves were made. The Nationals made six trades. Every year, teams usually wait until they’re half way through the season before trades start happening. It’s a waiting game for teams to try and get the best players they can. 

The Nationals lost eight players, including fan favorites Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, and Kyle Shwarber. They gained twelve players, with the overall trade ratings averaging a B+. The Nats have revamped, getting rid of some veteran players and are rebuilding with a young squad, despite just winning the World Series two years ago. They might struggle now, but the future looks good. 

Four of the 2019 World Series champs, Trea Turner, Max Scherzer, Yan Gomes, and Daniel Hudson, were traded away. 

Trea Turner started out in Washington D.C. as a young kid. Many believed wouldn’t be able to hold his own as a major leaguer; he proved those people wrong by becoming an elite player and commanding leader at shortstop. Now with the defending World Series champs, the LA Dodgers, he is finally starting to get more of the recognition he deserves. 

Max Scherzer is also with the LA Dodgers now. He has an impressive resume of stats and was a very key pitcher in the 2019 World Series. Just to list a few stats, he’s been an all star eight times, he’s won the Cy Young Award three times, and tied the mlb record for strikeouts (20) in a single nine-inning game.

Scherzer and Turner were traded for Keibert Ruiz, Josiah Gray, Donovan Casey, and Gerardo Carillo. 

Keibert Ruiz is a stellar catcher/hitter and is The Nationals top prospect right now. Josiah Gray is a young pitcher who has already started contributing in big ways to the team. Donovan Casey is an ex-pitcher turned outfielder, who can hit pretty well, but he has a lot of room to grow. Gerardo Carillo is a 22 year old pitcher who has good pitches to throw, but struggles with consistency. His good game IQ and mentality would make him a good reliever.

Daniel Hudson was another pitcher traded away, now on the San Diego Padres. He was a stellar relief pitcher for the Nationals. He was on the mound and recorded the last out (a strikeout, of course) of the World Series when they won in 2019. He was traded for Mason Thompson and Jordy Barley. 

Mason Thompson was the one the Nat’s sought after in this deal, and is a great relief pitcher. Jordy Barley is young and has speed and some good game tools, but is currently not a big prospect to play in the majors. 

Yan Gomes was the one who caught that game ending pitch. He was very good behind the plate. Yan was traded to the Oakland Athletics alongside Josh Harrison, who was in D.C. for only one and a half seasons. They were traded for Drew Millas, Seth Shuman, and Richard Guasch. 

Drew Millas is a big 23 year old catcher whose glove works very well behind the plate. Seth Shuman and Richard Guasch are decent pitchers, but are not big prospects. 

Kyle Schwarber was only in Washington for a little, but had recently become loved by fans due to the insane amount of homeruns he hit this season. In 76 games played, he had 25 home runs. He is now on the Red Sox, in exchange for Aldo Ramirez. Aldo is a top prospect pitcher for the Nationals, who has proven himself in the minors. 

Two other pitchers were traded away, Brad Hand and Jon Lestor. Jon Lestor is a very decorated pitcher with stats like being a three time world series champion, or five time all star. He was with Washington for one season, but now at age 37 with injury struggles, he wasn’t helping the club as they’d hoped. He was sent to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Lane Thomas. Hand was only with the Nationals for one season, and was sent to the Blue Jays in exchange for Riley Adams. Lane Thomas has been on a hot streak lately, already consistently hitting while in the Major League. He is a strong outfielder and young talent. Riley Adams is a solid man behind the plate.

There’s a lot of young talent on this roster, and they’ll take some time to grow into the majors. With a couple years of experience, the Nationals will be a force to reckon with.