Eaton for Giolito Lopez and Dunning

[HalfSmokes]

That isnt what we're talking about here. We're talking about a fluke injury.

Do the nats get spotted a couple of wins, maybe a game in the NLDS because they had an unfair injury and won the trade (seriously, if you ignore results a total win) so they should get some credit?

[Smithian]

Nats are hot so people have to find something to complain about 

At the time of this trade, the Nats had a much better pitching situation and were "going for it". We knew the trade was an exchange for being better in present at risk of hurting in future. We "traded" the future for the present. Adam Eaton getting hurt is a risk you have to be willing to take in any trade.

It is disappointing Nats repeatedly lost in first round, but it isn't Adam Eaton's fault and Giolito nor Lopez were going to have started more than a game either series nor would they have delivered RBIs. Maybe a healthy Eaton would have. Maybe a healthy Eaton will in a future playoff game.

I think it was a bit of an overpay, but I understand the trade and am still fine with them pulling the trigger. I have some frustrations past few seasons, but this isn't one. I am glad they put their cards on the table.

[HalfSmokes]

Nats are hot so people have to find something to complain about 

At the time of this trade, the Nats had a much better pitching situation and were "going for it". We knew the trade was an exchange for being better in present at risk of hurting in future. We "traded" the future for the present. Adam Eaton getting hurt is a risk you have to be willing to take in any trade.

It is disappointing Nats repeatedly lost in first round, but it isn't Adam Eaton's fault and Giolito nor Lopez were going to have started more than a game either series nor would they have delivered RBIs. Maybe a healthy Eaton would have. Maybe a healthy Eaton will in a future playoff game.

I think it was a bit of an overpay, but I understand the trade and am still fine with them pulling the trigger. I have some frustrations past few seasons, but this isn't one. I am glad they put their cards on the table.

The nats gave up future vale for nothing in the present- that’s why it was a bad trade

[Smithian]

The nats gave up future vale for nothing in the present- that’s why it was a bad trade

Nothing in the present?

They traded for an outfielder who averaged 4.5 WAR over the previous three seasons. In 2016, Adam Eaton hit .276/.360/.421 as a leadoff hitter, while the Nationals leadoff hitters were second worst in the NL by OPS. He has a gifted offensive players who filled a huge hole at leadoff. That's a hell of a lot of something.

The Nationals knew they were assuming risk he may get hurt, just like they do in any trade. Yeah, the trade hasn't worked out as a hope in large part due to his injury, but I still understand the logic. And it isn't like Eaton has been terrible. He still had 1.9 WAR last season and is on pace to be around 2 WAR this season. That is a solid MLB player.

[UMDNats]

Last 5 starts for Giolito:

25 IP, 22 H, 16 ER, 16 BB, 31 SO, 5.76 ERA, .824 OPS against.

[imref]

Last 5 starts for Giolito:

25 IP, 22 H, 16 ER, 16 BB, 31 SO, 5.76 ERA, .824 OPS against.

hmmm, maybe a bit too soon to give him the Cy Young and a plaque in Cooperstown?

[UMDNats]

The nats gave up future vale for nothing in the present- that’s why it was a bad trade

What if Eaton finishes this year with an OPS over .800 and around 2.5 WAR? Currently bWAR has Giolito at 3.0 career and Eaton at 2.0 for his Nats career. Not too different despite Eaton missing a ton of time.

[Slateman]

What if Eaton finishes this year with an OPS over .800 and around 2.5 WAR? Currently bWAR has Giolito at 3.0 career and Eaton at 2.0 for his Nats career. Not too different despite Eaton missing a ton of time.

Giolito is cheaper and under team control for much longer

[UMDNats]

Giolito is cheaper and under team control for much longer

Sure, but we needed an outfielder immediately and over the next 2-4 years, of which Eaton was cheaply controlled. We weren't in a spot to keep hoping Giolito put it together. Now if we want to argue the opportunity cost of trading Giolito for Eaton, sure. Maybe we could have gotten more.

Also the White Sox are a crappy team despite Giolito giving them this kind of season, so they aren't even getting anything out of a healthy/productive season. We were strong in 2017 despite an Eaton injury and are strong again this year with Eaton playing every day. Give me a productive position player over a risky pitching prospect every day. I have about 0 faith in pitching prospects panning out for more than a couple years.

I guess I don't see the need to hand-wring over this trade. Maybe Giolito pitches to a Scherzer-level career and wins tons of World Series. Who knows. We got unlucky with Eaton's fluke injury, but overall it looks like he'll have performed at his usual productive level while in DC (while healthy).

[tenken627]

Eaton has yet to provide the nats with even half a stellar season

But Giolito has only been good for half a season in like... ever.

This is the same guy that lead the whole league last year for qualified pitchers in both highest walks per 9 and highest ERA.

And I think at the time of the trade, no one even spoke about the loss of Giolito. It was the loss of Reynaldo that people were upset about.

[GataNats]

Lopez has been awful each season since he’s left.   I’m not sold on Giolito yet. 

[Jeff in Gaithersburg]

Giolito has been great this year but I'm not losing sleep over it. I'll trade pitching prospects for established position players anytime.

If Eaton hadn't gotten randomly injured the first year we probably aren't even concerned about how Giolito was doing.

Eaton has been solid here, he hit .301 last year and I expect he'll finish in the .290s this year. To Slate's point though, Rizzo did give up a lot for a corner singles hitting OF, especially over the winter. We all know teams have to overpay for players in July, but you shouldn't have to in December. You have to keep in mind what Giolito's value was at the time and the fact that he had 7 years of control at the time, plus Rizzo threw in Lopez and Dunning as well. I'm not saying they shouldn't have tried to trade for Eaton, but don't give up an elite level pitching prospect plus 2 other solid pitching prospects for a slap hitting corner OF. And I'm not saying that Rizzo shouldn't have traded Giolito or the others at any point, but if he was going to he should have gotten more in return.

I also get however that Eaton has filled an important need for this team plus the fact that with the team in "win now" mode it would have been hard to give Giolito a spot in the rotation while he tries to figure things out for a few years.

[UMDNats]

Eaton has been solid here, he hit .301 last year and I expect he'll finish in the .290s this year. To Slate's point though, Rizzo did give up a lot for a corner singles hitting OF, especially over the winter. We all know teams have to overpay for players in July, but you shouldn't have to in December. You have to keep in mind what Giolito's value was at the time and the fact that he had 7 years of control at the time, plus Rizzo threw in Lopez and Dunning as well. I'm not saying they shouldn't have tried to trade for Eaton, but don't give up an elite level pitching prospect plus 2 other solid pitching prospects for a slap hitting corner OF. And I'm not saying that Rizzo shouldn't have traded Giolito or the others at any point, but if he was going to he should have gotten more in return.

I also get however that Eaton has filled an important need for this team plus the fact that with the team in "win now" mode it would have been hard to give Giolito a spot in the rotation while he tries to figure things out for a few years.

Right, I think arguing the cost of Eaton was too high, or that we should have used those assets to get someone better, is a fine argument. To be fair, though, Eaton was coming off three straight 4+ WAR seasons and was expected to be a very good defender who could cover for Harper in RF. If you told me we'd trade Giolito + Dunning and Lopez for a guy who was under team control and had just put up 5, 4 and 6 WAR seasons I'd say fine.

I think the defensive scouting was a miss by Rizzo, though maybe the ACL tear had an impact on that. He's now a light-hitting corner outfielder when he should have been a doubles machine, great CF defender.

[Smithian]

Eaton leads all NL outfielders in OBP since June 1.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Wow is that obscure!

[tenken627]

Eaton leads all NL outfielders in OBP since June 1.

Probably deserves to be leading off right now.

[Elvir Ovcina]

Lopez has been awful each season since he’s left.   I’m not sold on Giolito yet.

Uh, Lopez had a 3.91 ERA in 32 starts and almost 190 innings last year.  That's not world-beating, but it works out to 3.1 WAR - which would have been 5th on last year's entire Nats team (not just the pitchers).

He's sucked this year but still has 2.6 WAR overall for the Sox, which is half a win more than Eaton has produced for the Nats.

[Smithian]

Wow is that obscure!

There are 45 starting outfield spots in the National League. How is best of 45 obscure?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

There are 45 starting outfield spots in the National League. How is best of 45 obscure?

I guess slicing the time frame that finely for a small sample and then citing it is a bit selective if it isn't obscure, but we do that all the time.  Yes, it is nice he's been good at getting on base while we've been winning. Top of the order stuff.  Hope he can keep it up.  He's capable of hanging in the .380 OBP ranging for long stretches.

[Slateman]

It also disregards that he's a corner OFer and generally you need some power. If you go by OPS, Eaton has a .818, which is 19th in the NL among OFers.

Also, since June 1 (through July 13), he's not first in OBP in the NL amongst OFer.  Christian Yelich, Brian Reynolds, and Juan Soto all have higher OBPs.

[NJ Ave]

The trade was always supposed to look better in years one and two than in the out years. The problem was not cashing in on anything in the first two years (that's basically the problem with a lot of our trades, unfortunately).

[UMDNats]

Adam Eaton proves that while "clutch" may not be a thing, "anti-clutch" is definitely a thing. Davey needs to pinch-hit for him in late-game situations when we need a run IMO. He almost always has a piss-poor at-bat and not only doesn't score the run, but usually does negative damage.

[Slateman]

The trade was always supposed to look better in years one and two than in the out years. The problem was not cashing in on anything in the first two years (that's basically the problem with a lot of our trades, unfortunately).

wat

[NJ Ave]

wat

Did I stutter??

Gee I'm shocked that 3 years later it doesn't look as good to have a 31-year old OF instead of two 25-year old pitchers.

[NJ Ave]

Why did we ever trade Felipe Vazquez away? He's on a team-friendly contract and what's Melancon doing to help us?