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The Washington Nationals are looking to trade both Jonathan Papelbon and Drew Storen, according to ESPN.com.
The Nationals acquired Papelbon by the trade deadline from the Philadelphia Phillies and made him the team’s closer. They removed Storen from the closer role and made him the set-up man. Storen bombed in the role while Papelbon was not nearly as good as was in Philly after making the All-Star team this season. Washington didn’t live up to expectations as the heavy favorite in the NL East and did not make the postseason. It is trying to quickly rebuild parts of its team, which could include the departures of both arms.
Aroldis Chapman has come up as a potential name to become the team’s new closer while the Nats also try to pursue free agent reliever Darren O’Day. While trying to acquire these two big bullpen names, they’ve reached out to at least three teams in order to move Papelbon and Storen. The Detroit Tigers were interested in both pitchers but traded for Francisco Rodriguez last week to be the team’s new closer.
I’ve now heard from 3 teams in the last few days that Nationals want to deal both Papelbon & Storen, while chasing O'Day, Chapman & others
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) November 23, 2015
Papelbon is owed $11 million next season before he becomes a free agent. He turned 35 on Monday and will try to earn another contract with a great 2016. The right-hander has made six All-Star teams between the Boston Red Sox and Phillies while racking up 349 career saves and won a World Series. He can still pitch at a high level. Since he only has one year left on his contract, the Nats might not get back in return for what Papelbon’s true worth really is. He still was able to pitch to a 2.13 ERA with 24 saves between one really bad team and one team that fell short of expectations. During the last week of the season, he got into an altercation with NL MVP Byrce Harper. This could be reason enough for the team to trade Papelbon. They could simply want to keep their star happy.
Storen was doing well as the Washington closer this season until the team decided to go after Papelbon and change his role. The 28-year-old had converted 29 saves before the trade. After the trade, his ERA plummeted to 3.44 although his K/BB ratio improved to 67/16 after a 46/11 performance in 2014. The right-hander has shown he could close games throughout his six-year career. Storen had a season when he tallied off 43 saves in 2011. He was moved to a set-up role after that year for two seasons before eventually picking up the closers role again in 2014 in what was his best MLB season. He is under club control for one more season.
