The Washington Nationals 2018 season officially came to an end on Tuesday, with news of the team’s trades of second baseman Daniel Murphy and first baseman/outfielder Matt Adams.
Murphy will go to the Chicago Cubs for a Single-A infielder and a player to be named later; Adams is going back to St. Louis for cash considerations.
So, basically nothing, other than getting out of the remainder of their 2018 contracts.
Both Murphy and Adams are free agents after this season.
Murph had come around after a slow start to his 2018 season that got going late after offseason surgery, putting up a .300/.341/.442 slash line with six homers and 29 RBI in 56 games.
Adams was a key utility player for the Nats this season as the team dealt with injuries to the likes of Murphy, Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Eaton. Adams had a .257/.332/.510 slash line for the Nats in 2018 with 18 homers and 48 RBI.
The moves mean more playing time for second baseman Wilmer Difo (.240/.299/.342, 3 HR, 29 RBI in 2018), Zimmerman (.251/.324/.492, 10 HR, 36 RBI), who had been splitting time with Adams at first, and outfielder Michael A. Taylor (.235/.298/.373, 6 HR, 27 RBI, 24 SB).
Also getting more at-bats will be Mark Reynolds (.257/.339/.500, 11 HR, 30 RBI), whose playing time had been curtailed of late with the returns of Murphy, Zimmerman and Eaton.
All of this on the eve of a three-game home series with Philadelphia, and the Nats still just seven and a half back of Atlanta in the NL East and six and a half out of the wild card.
Somehow, Davey Martinez and Mike Rizzo still have jobs, and shouldn’t, when the string is finally played out in September.
Reporting by Chris Graham
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