This past week has seen a lot of moves by the Washington Nationals. The Nationals have traded two players back to their former teams. While it may seem the Nationals are getting the short end of the stick, these moves don’t seem to be detrimental to the team in any way.
The first move they made this week was sending OF David DeJesus to the Tampa Bay Rays. This was just four days after the Nationals picked him up from the Cubs. The Rays will send the Nats either a cash payment or a player in the deal announced today.
DeJesus played in only three games with the Nationals (all on the road). He was not able to get anything going in the three games he played. On the season DeJesus is batting .247, with six home runs and 27 RBIs.
DeJesus’ bat would have been a nice asset for the Nationals’ lineup, but they will be able to go on without him. The player that is tough to let go, however, is Kurt Suzuki.
Suzuki’s positive influence in the clubhouse will be missed
Another player has left the Nats organization to return to their former team. This time it is the catcher Suzuki, who is returning to the Oakland Athletics. The A’s are the only other professional team Suzuki has played for.
In exchange for Suzuki the Nationals receive 22-year-old right handed pitching prospect Dakota Bacus, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle this morning.
Bacus is 9-5 this season, appearing mainly as a starter with a 3.56 ERA. In his first professional season (2012) he primarily appeared in a relief role.
This means there is a void in the Nationals lineup. It is speculated Jhonatan Solano will be called up; Solano is a catcher from Triple-A Syracuse.
The Nats acquired Suzuki last August. In 43 games, Suzuki hit .267 with 10 extra base hits and 25 RBIs. While his bat will be missed, he will mainly be missed from being the great teammate that he was.
Suzuki stepped up big time when starting catcher Wilson Ramos missed more than 50 games with a left hamstring strain. He earned the respect from everyone in the locker room and organization as a whole.
Since Ramos’ return, Suzuki had only appeared in 16 games and started only 12. But Suzuki thanks the fans and native of Washington “for the love and support” he tweeted this morning. “I enjoyed every minute.” He is excited to return to Oakland and will know Washington fans will be cheering him on every step of the way.
It seems like the Nationals are making every move possible to get their team back in the win column. If that means cutting ties with a highly liked player that didn’t see a lot of playing time, so be it. Nationals’ fans just have to hope these new additions to the team will only lead to success.
This article Washington Nationals: Trade results in loss of highly respected player appeared first on isportsweb by Jessica Auburger