A day after the Mets acquired A’s closer Tyler Clippard, the Nationals countered with a move of their own, acquiring Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon in exchange for Double-A righty Nick Pivetta.
Papelbon, 34, has saved 17 games for the MLB-worst Phillies this season, recording a 1.59 ERA along the way. After seven strong seasons in Boston, most of them as the closer for the Red Sox, Papelbon signed a four-year, $50 million deal with Philadelphia. Since then, he has recorded 123 saves and posted a 2.31 ERA. Over that span, he has also posted excellent strikeout (9.5 K/9) and walk (2.0 BB/9) rates.
In exchange for Papelbon waiving his no-trade clause, the Nationals made some concessions on his contract. While Papelbon agreed to reduce his 2016 vesting option from $13 million to $11 million, the Nationals agreed to immediately exercise it, meaning Papelbon will be in a Nationals uniform through next season.
The Nationals, like the Mets, now have multiple back-end bullpen options with closing experience, which will likely make for some tight contests in the nine games the two teams have against each other the rest of the way, including a three-game set to end the season.
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In other news, the Angels made two separate, simultaneous trades this evening that effectively takes them out of the market for outfielders.
Los Angeles acquired David Murphy from the Indians in exchange for Double-A shortstop Eric Stamets. Minutes later, it was reported that they
would also acquire outfielder David DeJesus from the Rays in exchange for right-handed pitcher Eduar Lopez, currently pitching for the Rays’ rookie ball affiliate in Orem, Utah.
These two deals come just a day after the Angels traded for Red Sox outfielder Shane Victorino. DeJesus will likely platoon in left field with Victorino.
The important consequence of this is that the Angels are now most likely out of the market for an outfielder. The Mets and Angels have both been linked to just about every big outfielder on the market. Now that the Angels have chosen to upgrade through platoon players however, this means one less team is in competition with the Mets for the likes of Carlos Gomez, Gerardo Parra, and Justin Upton. Perhaps this opens the door for the Mets to make a move or pay a slightly lower price for someone.
