Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports that the Washington Nationals have sent Matt Adams to the St. Louis Cardinals, while Craig Mish of Sirius XM reports that the Nats are also sending former Met Daniel Murphy to the Chicago Cubs.
The Nationals placed Murphy on waivers, and after getting claimed by Chicago, a deal has been worked out which will send prospect Andruw Monasterio and either cash or a player to be named later to Washington according to Jon Heyman of FanCred. Teams that passed on Murph include the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks, two teams that seemingly could have used his bat.
After missing most of the season due to knee surgery, the 33-year-old has hit .300/.341/.442 with six home runs and 29 RBIs in 56 games. He is playing the worst defense of his career due to diminished range with -10 DRS and a -3.9 UZR and -24.1 UZR/150 this season. Despite his defensive struggles, he has hit as well as anyone since the All Star Break, slashing .340/.370/.534 in that span.
The Cubs experienced first hand was Murphy can do in the postseason, as he had a huge part to play for the Mets in the 2015 NLCS sweep over Chicago. In that series he hit .529/.556/1.294 with four home runs and six RBIs, earning MVP honors. Now, they hope that he can produce similarly for them in October.
Meanwhile, Matt Adams is headed to the Cardinals. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that it was a straight pick-up off waivers and no players will be sent to Washington in return.
Adams, who will turn 30 on August 31, has hit .257/.332/.510 with 18 home runs and 48 RBIs in 277 plate appearances across 94 games. He returns to St. Louis where he hit the first 56 home runs of his career, slashing .271/.315/.453 from 2012-2016.
The Nationals’ fire sale has begun! While Jon Heyman reports that waivers have expired on Bryce Harper and he will be staying in Washington, there are still many names to keep an eye on in the coming week. In order to be eligible for a spot on the postseason roster of the acquiring team, a player must be traded before the August 31 deadline. Keep an eye on Matt Wieters, Gio Gonzalez, Kelvin Herrera, Ryan Madson, and Mark Reynolds to name a few.
