Washington Nationals news & notes: Leftover Trade Deadline talk; Lane Thomas love + more

LEFTOVER TRADE DEADLINE BITS:

Davey Martinez was in his second year on the bench when Washington won it all in 2019, but since then (or since 2021/2022, really), he’s overseen the reboot/rebuild in D.C., guiding the Nationals through an at-times difficult process as they traded away players on expiring deals who helped in ‘19, and some others with a few years of control remaining (Trea Turner & Juan Soto) who were part of that team.

Again this year, the club made moves which make sense in context of trying to build up the next championship-caliber club in the nation’s capital, but it hasn’t really made it any easier to watch all the talent departing, even if they’ve turned those players into a stockpile of real high-end prospects, and, in addition to what they’ve added in the draft, they have what they think is the core of the next contender.

“Those were really tough,” he said of the past four deadlines, but especially the first few when members of the ‘19 team were traded. “But that group of guys, we did something really special. We won a championship together. My hope is that with the guys we got in here, the core kids we got in here, and some added help, we can do something again like that.

“I really think that the direction we’re going in we’ll have a chance to win another World Series.”

The possibility of the club buying at next year’s trade deadline after all the selling, has both the manager and GM and President of Baseball Operations Mike Rizzo excited about what the future holds.

“Yeah it will be amazing, it really will,” the seventh-year manager said after this year’s deadline passed. “The key is if we start doing that [buying vs selling], it means at the end of the year we’re really going to play for something. I don’t really feel like right now we’re out of anything by any means, we’re close…”

“It’s more fun,” Rizzo said of eventually being buyers again. “I know that much.

“It’s way more fun grabbing All-Star players than it is giving away All-Star players, so in that regard it will be a lot more fun, but this is challenging, and this is a tough time for players, and we recognize that, and we think it’s a necessary time, and I think that this organization, this front office did a remarkable job and has always done a remarkable job at the trade deadline, and I think this year was no different.”

Closer Kyle Finnegan was the subject of plenty of rumors going into the trade deadline, but he wasn’t dealt in the end, and he said he was happy to stay, having joined the club back in 2020 and carved out a role for himself during the reboot years.

He said he hopes he’s here for the good times too.

“Just like seeing this thing through. You can see it starting to come together, and the young talent that we have is exciting to watch every night,” Finnegan said.

“And to be out there pitching in front of these guys and have them behind you, it’s special.

“Just to have a jersey in this league is something that I don’t take for granted.”

ALL-AMERICAN BOY:

As he explained it, a day after he traded Lane Thomas to the Cleveland Guardians in return for a prospect package which included lefty Alex Clemmey, 19, infielder José Tena, 23, and 19-year-old infielder Rafael Ramirez Jr., Nationals’ GM (and President of Baseball Ops) Mike Rizzo told reporters he made the deal because Washington got what they thought was fair market value for the 28-year-old outfielder.

“That was the reason we pulled the trigger,” Rizzo said. “When you can headline it with the upside 19-year-old Clemme, and Tena, and Ramirez, [Jr.], I think that was — the surplus value of those guys and the impact that they could have, and the upside that they all have, I thought was a good return for a really good player in Lane Thomas.”

A day after the deadline, Rizzo talked with 106.7 the FAN in D.C.’s Sports Junkies about their decision to trade Thomas, with a year and a half of team control remaining, after helping to build him up after acquiring him at the deadline in 2021 (straight up for Jon Lester).

“Lane’s a terrific player for us,” Rizzo told the Junkies. “Last year he was All-Star quality for us, and probably should have made the team. This year, dominating lefties again, and playing good outfield. He’s got a cannon for an arm, he’s stealing bases. A leader in the clubhouse and he’s just an all-around American boy, he’s just a great kid. And did a lot of good things for the organization and we’ll miss him.”

“He’s one of my quiet leaders out there. It’s tough. We have a good relationship. Players love him,” manager Davey Martinez said after losing his right fielder.

“He’s really good player. Cleveland’s going to get a really good player. I wish him all the best.”

Moving on without Thomas, Martinez said, would be a little weird, especially for the young players on the club, for whom Thomas was a mentor.

“It’s going to be a little — I won’t say difficult, but weird without him, because he was that veteran guy for those guys.”

Rizzo and Co. in the Nationals’ front office saw an opportunity to deal Thomas at his peak value, addressing what they saw as organizational needs in the process.

“When you think about the trade deadline, you think about what you have at the big league level, where your deficiencies are in the minor league level, and what you need to do to become a championship-caliber club,” the GM explained.

“And we saw Lane probably being at his apex of his trade value,” Rizzo continued.

“More trade value this year for Lane Thomas than there was last year for some reason, even with there being more control last year.

“We had a market value in our minds for what we would do Lane for and bounced around a lot of teams and there was a lot of interest and lot of action with him with the contenders. And you package in the fact that we’ve got some outfielders that are close to the big leagues that will impact the team in the very near future we thought that it was a deal that we couldn’t pass up at this time.”

LAST NIGHT’S GAME HIGHLIGHTS – BREWERS 8; NATIONALS 3: