The Washington Nationals are reportedly still shopping former closer Drew Storen, a move that has been rumored since the Nats acquired Jonathon Papelbon last summer and moved Storen to the setup role.
Storen, 28, struggled, to say the least, after the demotion. He had saved 29 games with a 1.89 ERA before the addition of Papelbon, but saw his ERA balloon to 3.44 by season’s end after a string of high-profile bad outings.
The winter acquisitions of Shawn Kelley and Trevor Gott would seem to make Storen expendable, assuming Washington is keen on keeping Papelbon, 35, who had a 3.04 ERA and seven saves in 22 appearances with the Nats in 2015.
Papelbon is clearly in decline – his strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate in 2015 was a career-low 8.0, and the velocity on his fastball was at an average 91.4 mph, well off the 94.9 average heater he threw in 2008, and 94.8 that he was throwing as recently as 2011.
Storen still has velo – a 94.1 average fastball in 2015, not far off his career-best 95.0 average fastball in 2011 – and he averaged a career-high 11.0 strikeouts per nine innings in 2015.
Moving Papelbon can be troublesome – he has a no-trade clause in his contract, and can basically pick and choose where he goes.
Maybe you get rid of both guys, but if you keep one, it’s got to be Storen, right? The guy who is seven years younger, still has velo, still gets guys to swing and miss.
Oh, and the guy who knows well enough not to choke the MVP.
– Story by Chris Graham
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