Strong Up the Middle

The Nationals added Adam Eaton to and the White Sox gained another good pitching prospect as the teams complete a trade that makes Washington very strong up the middle.

The Nationals traded right-handers Lucaas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning for Eaton, 28. Giolito, rated as the top right-handed pitching prospect in baseball at times last season, and Lopez, who cracked the playoff roster with high-90s stuff, showed they were close to major league ready last season. For Dunning, taken No. 29 overall out of the University of Florida, last year was his first of professional ball.

Eaton’s arrival all but ends the Nationals pursuit of McCutchen, whose price was believed to be even steeper than Eaton’s. It also pushes Trea Turner back to shortstop, his natural position.

With the earlier acquisition of Derek Norris, the Nationals are looking strong up the middle. For some reason, Norris’s offense fell apart with the Padres, but a better hitting team might take some pressure off Norris, and a group of selective hitters might influence him positively as well. He’ll play 2017 as a 28-year-old, so he’s still early in his prime.

So the Nationals have Norris catching, Turner at short, Daniel Murphy at second, and Eaton in center. Eaton brings a fine OBP to the team and should work well as a lead-off or number two hitter. I can see an Eaton, Turner, Murphy, Bryce Harper top of the order doing a lot of damage. Plus, with strength up the middle and a good hitter in Anthony Rendon at third, the Nats won’t need to spend much if they need to replace Jayson Werth or Ryan Zimmerman at the corners.

The White Sox are building a very nice, young pitching staff themselves. Giolito has excellent K numbers in the minors, although they did not translate to the majors in his age 21 season. Lopez showed excellent control in the minors which didn’t translate to his rookie season. Dunning was old for his minor league level, but at least he blew batters away. In two years they could be the middle of the White Sox rotation.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2gcCC3t