Adam Eaton to the Nats?

[David]

Not to mention the Mets literally just had one with more upside, upside that was highly realized, and we saw it blow to smithereens before our eyes.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Not to mention the Mets literally just had one with more upside, upside that was highly realized, and we saw it blow to smithereens before our eyes.

 

The Mets fans didn't see it.

[Tim]

That's a lot.

 

[tweet]

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Holy crap.

 

Great job by the ChiSox so far on the rebuild.

[Tracer Bullet]

In 2018 the WSox could be putting out a rotation of Quintana,Giolito,Lopez,Kopech and Rodon. I don't know if I've ever seen a rotation with that much upside before.

 

The chance that Rodon is just no good, and at least one of Gilotio, Lopez, or Kopech are injured is so high that i'm just planning to delight in their fans' tears.

I mean, did we not just go through with this with the Mets?

 

and were we all not here in 2004 and the years that followed?

[KingCubsFan]

Fowler could probably be a 6 WAR outfielder in RF, and all he would have cost is money. Good to see one of the NL contenders misuse their resources so badly.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

I've spent most of my life being jealous when other teams make good moves, especially the teams I don't like. Now, I don't care. Not even a little. Everyone else is trying to catch up to us. And we are still better and will continue to be better. And we are World Champs. Life is good.

[Cubswin11]

Not to mention the Mets literally just had one with more upside, upside that was highly realized, and we saw it blow to smithereens before our eyes.

 

The Mets fans didn't see it.

They still don't believe it

[imb]

Fowler could probably be a 6 WAR outfielder in RF, and all he would have cost is money. Good to see one of the NL contenders misuse their resources so badly.

 

woah woah woah, the only 6 WAR RF in all of baseball last year were Mookie and Eaton, so I think that's not likely. Also I just learned that Heyward was worth more WAR than Jose Bautista last year.

[Cubswin11]

Doesn't Eaton have a reputation for being quite a bit of a prick? Hopefully the combination of adding him, Dusty's dumbass hanging around and now the FO bitching about his future contract makes Bryce bolt out of there the minute he's a FA.

[Liam Neeson]

Doesn't Eaton have a reputation for being quite a bit of a prick? Hopefully the combination of adding him, Dusty's dumbass hanging around and now the FO bitching about his future contract makes Bryce bolt out of there the minute he's a FA.

 

This is probably Bryce Harper texting him.

[bukie]

Doesn't Eaton have a reputation for being quite a bit of a prick? Hopefully the combination of adding him, Dusty's dumbass hanging around and now the FO bitching about his future contract makes Bryce bolt out of there the minute he's a FA.

 

This is probably Bryce Harper texting him.

Hey, the Cubs could trade a now expendable Hector Rondon for a now expendable Bryce Harper.

[Little Slide Rooter]

In 2018 the WSox could be putting out a rotation of Quintana,Giolito,Lopez,Kopech and Rodon. I don't know if I've ever seen a rotation with that much upside before.

 

Looks good on paper, but if I had a $ for every time I heard by year X Team Y could be putting out a rotation of A, B, C, D, and E, and it ended up happening, my bank balance would look no different than it does now.

[imb]

Doesn't Eaton have a reputation for being quite a bit of a prick? Hopefully the combination of adding him, Dusty's dumbass hanging around and now the FO bitching about his future contract makes Bryce bolt out of there the minute he's a FA.

 

Yeah, Eaton is the guy who said the white sox "lost a leader" when they lost DRAKE LAROCHE LOL

[KrisBryantisaBeast]

We should have offered them Matt Szczur and only had asked for one of those guys back instead.

[davell]

The Nats went into the meetings with the idea they could trade for both Sale and McCutchen.

 

Good job, Nats.

[Sammy Sofa]

And yet you didn't click the tiny heart, you monster.

[Thusly Boned]

Is the plan now to move Turner back to SS and play Eaton in CF? Because Eaton is not good in CF. At all. And a huge part of his value last year was his defense in RF.

 

This just seems like a shocking overpay to me.

[The_Achiever]

As fun as it was to watch the sox continually spin their wheels in mediocrity, I am interested to see how this plays out. HOT horsefeathering STOVE.

 

How about we offer Happ and parts for Q? If they're willing to deal with the Cubs, of course.

[davell]

As fun as it was to watch the sox continually spin their wheels in mediocrity, I am interested to see how this plays out. HOT horsefeathering STOVE.

 

How about we offer Happ and parts for Q? If they're willing to deal with the Cubs, of course.

 

Quintana will bring back as much or more than Eaton just did.

[Thusly Boned]

I am still gobsmacked by this. When I saw the headline earlier, I kept looking for other names the Nats were going to get.

 

The Nats miss out on Sale, so they deal their best young arms for a bat (not a great one, either)?

 

I understand that they wanted to move Turner back to his natural position, but holy hell. I am operating under the assumption they'll play Eaton in CF, which makes this worse. If I were a Nats fan, I'd be livid.

 

And kudos to the Sox for kicking off their rebuild about as well as one could possibly imagine.

[imb]

Yeah if I was a Sox fan I would be freaking thrilled right now. Even given the volatility of pitching prospects, that's a worthy haul for eaton

[toonsterwu]

I'm of two minds on this trade.

 

On the one hand ... I liked the arms the Nationals gave up. Giolito still looks promising, Lopez's ceiling is huge, and Dunning looks like he has a mid-rotation ceiling and might've been a bit underrated in the draft. Adam Eaton wasn't going to be a key member of the next winning White Sox window, so getting a bundle made sense. It's a good return for them, although they have arm depth. They took a gamble on ceiling. Hahn doesn't seem like the type that would rush into a deal, so I presume they either targeted these guys, or this was clearly the best deal (or both).

 

On the other hand ... Reynaldo Lopez fell into that Michael Kopech group for me - arms that I'm not convinced will have the consistency to be a starter quick enough, and with the increase in valuing pens these days, I feel like both those guys may be moved to the pen sooner than later. SOme guys take some more time to figure it out. Dunning's nice, but okay, you give up guys like that to complete big deals. So the key is Giolito. I still like him, but it's interesting that two highly touted arms like Taijuan Walker and Lucas GIolito were moved this offseason when both still held immense promise. Sullivan had the great article that critiqued Giolito on fangraphs - if he's a low-mid 90's average fastball guy, even with a plus curve, it's interesting but not jaw dropping. Nationals supposedly weren't pleased with work ethic and other issues (although talent still matters first and foremost). Mike Rizzo has a very good trade history. I mean, all GM's/FO types make mistakes, but his trade history is pretty good in evaluating what talents of his to give up. Eaton is really good - I had somewhat secretly hoped he might be a sleeper CF option as I think his defense in CF is not 2015 bad - and really cheap and controlled. The Nationals kept their most important prospect - VIctor Robles - a guy who has elite potential. They still have some arms to plug in for depth (Voth/Cole). If Joe Ross develops a 3rd pitch ... the their main need/concern is a closer.

 

Most importantly, the Nats are in a win-now mode as well. Win-now mode clubs make these gambles. With Eaton, that offense should be good next year, and the rotation looks solid. A top 4 of Turner/Eaton/Harper/Murphy is a devastating foursome.

 

Overall, I'm inclined to think that this is a good strategic gamble by Rizzo and a good trade for Hahn. Rizzo knows what he's dealing away in those arms, moreso than any other team does, and while they may pan out, this move makes sense.

[toonsterwu]

I am still gobsmacked by this. When I saw the headline earlier, I kept looking for other names the Nats were going to get.

 

The Nats miss out on Sale, so they deal their best young arms for a bat (not a great one, either)?

 

I understand that they wanted to move Turner back to his natural position, but holy hell. I am operating under the assumption they'll play Eaton in CF, which makes this worse. If I were a Nats fan, I'd be livid.

 

And kudos to the Sox for kicking off their rebuild about as well as one could possibly imagine.

 

The reaction on Nats sites seems to be okay. Eaton is really good - I think we're underrating how good Eaton is, and he was playing hurt in 2015, so I'm not sure he's that bad in CF. Add in the great contract and his age ... that's a very nice package that fills a key need.

 

I still like Giolito, but there are some good reasons as to why the Nats (and the fan base) might've soured on him a bit. Some of it is in that Sullivan article on fangraphs, and there were rumors of bad work ethic and so forth. Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if Lopez was the one they really wanted to hold onto.

 

I think there's a willingness to give Rizzo some leash. He has a superb trade history, and has done a fairly good job in those trades of assessing what his pieces are and what type of value they are worth. This may be a bigger roll of the dice, but they are in win-now mode, with enough rumors percolating that they might've made up their minds on Harper's FA already. Eaton probably isn't in CF for long - Werth is gone next year (I think), and Robles might be ready by 2018.

 

By no means am I saying this is a bad deal for the White Sox. It's a good haul, gambling on ceiling, which they can do because Hahn looks to be tearing down completely, so stashing ceiling in the minors, coupled with a couple bad seasons, should rebuild the talent base quick and give them a chance to perhaps open a window before the end of the decade.

[toonsterwu]

Fowler could probably be a 6 WAR outfielder in RF, and all he would have cost is money. Good to see one of the NL contenders misuse their resources so badly.

 

Fowler also would've cost a ton more money and Rizzo might have some limitations on him. Add in some legitimate concerns on Giolito and Lopez ... this is a good haul for the White Sox, but I think it's actually quite reasonable considering the talent they got (Eaton) that fills a need. Part of it comes down to the fact that I buy into the idea that Eaton was hurt in 2015 which hurt his defensive numbers. I think Eaton is a better RF than CF, but I think he should be solid in CF.

[davell]

The problem with this trade is that the Nats could have signed Dex for just money and used those prospects and Robles to add Archer(and maybe Colome too)

 

As it is, they've got a CF, evidently aren't getting an ace, and are trying to find a closer without prospect inventory now.