Photo by Marideth Sandler/Nats.Talk
These trade deadline deals can certainly get the heart beating, and while there was no hugs goodbye in the Washington Nationals dugout, shortly after the game ended in Atlanta, Luis Garcia Jr. was traded to the New York Yankees for a package of four pitchers. Some names you know, some you may not. Two are on the 40-man roster, and two ha Top-30 prospect status in the Yankees system. What all of that means will take time to put together and evaluate.
Garcia, even though he is a young man, was the longest tenured Nats homegrown player on the team. The lefty made his MLB debut in 2020. He became one of the veteran leaders this season at the ripe age of 26. Garcia became a fan favorite and carried the team on his back for a few wins this year. His departure leaves a hole on this team — not only for his production — but also for his leadership. He was born in New York City, and will return to a city that is poised to win in the Bronx.
All day we’ve heard RHP Jack Cebert from the Yankees Double-A affiliate was being traded for Garcia. Certainly, not a headliner. Then we learned it was Cebert with Jake Bird and Yovanny Cruz. The final name we heard was Ben Grable in the package. If you go by MLB Pipleline, there are no Top-100 names or even Top-200 names in this deal. In fact Bird doesn’t qualify as prospect. Per MLB Pipeline, Cebert ranked 14th in the Yankees system with Grable at 25. You would expect Cruz to immediately be part of the Nats bullpen. The other three would be minor leaguers.
Per the Yankees, Cebert was put on the 7-day IL on July 25th. As per the rules, minor league injuries are not officially disclosed. According to Grant Paulsen, it is just a blister. When Nationals’ President of Baseball Operations, Paul Toboni, speaks to the media, we hopefully will know more about all of the players. Also, Bird will be out of options after this season. So he either makes the 2027 opening day roster or has to be DFA’d. There are no Rule-5 decisions on the other leading into next season.
On Cebert, he had an excellent start to his season in High-A and struggled to begin his Double-A promotion. Credit to him, his past five starts got his ERA to a scant 2.05 in that span where opponents only hit him at a .186 batting average. If he can decrease those walks by just one a game, his numbers will look promising. The other three pitchers in the trade have been mostly working as relievers. Each has potential back of the bullpen stuff.
As we reported, Abimelec Ortiz will essentially take the place of Garcia on the active roster. If Cruz is added directly to the Nats’ MLB bullpen, someone will leave the roster and that will probably be Riley Cornelio. Also, will Zack Littell start tomorrow or will the team call-up Jackson Kent for his MLB debut?
From being a a non-tender candidate to begin the offseason, Garcia wisely didn’t press the team for a larger raise from his $4.5 million last year and took $6,875,000 this year. MLB Trade Rumors had his estimate at $7 million. Hindsight makes Toboni look wise beyond his years. His coaches turned Garcia into an offensive beast and a really good first baseman. He will finish his Nats’ tenure with an .873 OPS this season and the highest slugging percentage in the NL. And it was the smoldering hot streak Garcia was on in his final 45 days that was so impressive.
“If everybody’s going to be sad that I’m leaving that means I’ve been doing things really good.”
— Garcia said about being traded
There will be a void in the dugout and the clubhouse with Garcia gone. His smile, his home run hugs, and sunflower seed showers had organically become a celebration. Simple and not gimmicky. As natural as Garcia was. He turned from a flawed player to a fan favorite in this new Nats system.
The trade deadline expires 24 hours from now at 6 pm on Monday. One of the remaining question marks seems to be what will happen with All-Star starting pitcher Foster Griffin?
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