Nationals Deal Top Prospects to White Sox for Adam Eaton

Numerous reliable sources were reporting late this afternoon that the Washington Nationals had finally struck at baseball’s Winter Meetings. The deal has since been confirmed by the two teams.

All the previous rumors here had the Nats going after a starting pitcher. It turns out that they instead have apparently dealt away the future of their rotation for a hitter.

The Nationals have obtained outfielder Adam Eaton from the Chicago White Sox. In exchange, Washington is sending three of their top prospects to the Chisox.

Heading to the South Side of Chicago are Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, and Dane Dunning. Giolito is listed by most prospect evaluation resources as the Nationals top prospect.

“An important part of the process we are pursuing is acquiring quality pitching talent. We feel like we’ve done that today—and yesterday—en masse,” White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said in a statement per Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser. “Giolito and Lopez rank among the top prospects in baseball, while Dunning is another young prospect who possesses front-of-the-rotation potential.”

White Sox 2016 POY: Adam Eaton

The Chicago White Sox entered the 2016 season with hopes of reaching the postseason. The club bolted out to an 8-2 start, and reached 23-10 in early May when they held a six game lead in the AL Central Division.

But over the next six weeks the Chisox collapsed, going 10-26 and failing to win three games in a row again until mid-June.

In the end, the South Siders finished at 78-84 and in fourth place in the division, a distant 16.5 games in back of the eventual AL pennant-winning Cleveland Indians.

To make matters worse, they have effectively ceded the hearts of much of the city to their crosstown rivals over on the North Side, the World Series champion Chicago Cubs.

The White Sox received a strong power season from new third baseman Todd Frazier. The trade acquisition from the Cincinnati Reds switched leagues and banged a team-high 40 homers. He also drove in 98 runs, scored 89, and stole 15 bags.

First baseman Jose Abreu hit for .293/.353/.468 with 25 homers and 100 RBI. Left fielder Melky Cabrera hit for a .296 average with 86 RBI.

On the mound, ace lefty Chris Sale is the subject of numerous trade rumors. He went 17-10 with a 3.34 ERA and 1.037 WHIP. Sale produced a 233/45 K:BB ratio while allowing just 190 hits in 226.2 innings over 32 starts. He was an AL All-Star for a fifth time.