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Washington Nationals acquire Adam Eaton from White Sox
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- The Washington Nationals acquired outfielder Adam Eaton from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for three pitchers Wednesday.
In return for Eaton, the Nationals sent right-handed pitchers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning to Chicago.
"It's never easy to let go of your prospects," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. "You feel like a proud daddy when they get to the big leagues."
Eaton, who turned 28 years old on Tuesday, hit .284 with 14 home runs, 59 RBIs and an American League-leading nine triples. Eaton has a .284 career batting average with a .357 on-base percentage and a .414 slugging percentage, with 34 homers and 177 RBI in five seasons in the majors. He led the AL in triples in two of the past three seasons.
"He's a high-energy guy," Rizzo said. "There's an edge to him."
Defensively, in his first season playing primarily right field, Eaton accounted for 22 runs saved, second-most in the AL behind Mookie Betts.
"We see the arrow still going up with him," Rizzo said.
A 19th-round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010, has three guaranteed seasons left in a $23.5 million, five-year contract that calls for him to earn $4 million next year, $6 million in 2018 and $8.4 million in 2019. The deal includes a $9.5 million team option for 2020 with a $1.5 million buyout and, if 2020 is exercised, a 2021 team option for $10.5 million with a $1.5 million buyout.
"We discussed (Eaton) and several other players with the White Sox for quite a while now. It did gain momentum after the Sale deal was done," Rizzo said. "It actually came together fairly quickly over the last couple of days."
Predominantly a center fielder before last season, Eaton will likely switch back to center in Washington, a move that would allow young star Trea Turner to return to shortstop, his natural position.
"The only negative I've heard is you have to calm him down a little bit," Nationals manager Dusty Baker said of Eaton. "Because he goes 100 percent all the time, which is not a bad way to play this game. ... He's not afraid to get dirty and grimy, greasy, nasty -- do everything there is to beat you."
As for where Eaton might hit in the lineup -- like Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy, he bats left-handed -- Baker said: "That remains to be seen. We do have options to try to break them up."
In the deal, the Nationals have surrendered two first-round picks. Giolito, the 16th overall selection in 2012, was rated as one of the top prospects in baseball this past summer by both ESPN's Keith Law (No. 2 overall) and Baseball America (No. 4 overall). In six games with Washington last season (four starts), the 6-foot-6 righty was 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA. Dunning, a University of Florida product, was the Nationals' first-round pick last season (29th overall).
Also headed to Chicago is Lopez, a 22-year-old native of the Dominican Republic who was rated as the team's third-best prospect. In 11 games with Washington in 2016, the 6-foot right-hander went 5-3 with a 4.91 ERA.
The 22-year-old Giolito, a first-round pick in the 2012 amateur draft, made his major league debut in June and went 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in six starts for Washington.
Lopez, also 22, was 5-3 with a 4.91 ERA in 11 games, including six starts, for the Nationals in 2016.
The 21-year-old Dunning was the 29th overall pick this year out of the University of Florida.
"We view all three of them, actually, as having the potential to become front-end-of-the-rotation pitchers," White Sox GM Rick Hahn said. "There's still a fair amount of development with each of them."
In return for Eaton, the Nationals sent right-handed pitchers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning to Chicago.
"It's never easy to let go of your prospects," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. "You feel like a proud daddy when they get to the big leagues."
Eaton, who turned 28 years old on Tuesday, hit .284 with 14 home runs, 59 RBIs and an American League-leading nine triples. Eaton has a .284 career batting average with a .357 on-base percentage and a .414 slugging percentage, with 34 homers and 177 RBI in five seasons in the majors. He led the AL in triples in two of the past three seasons.
"He's a high-energy guy," Rizzo said. "There's an edge to him."
Defensively, in his first season playing primarily right field, Eaton accounted for 22 runs saved, second-most in the AL behind Mookie Betts.
"We see the arrow still going up with him," Rizzo said.
A 19th-round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010, has three guaranteed seasons left in a $23.5 million, five-year contract that calls for him to earn $4 million next year, $6 million in 2018 and $8.4 million in 2019. The deal includes a $9.5 million team option for 2020 with a $1.5 million buyout and, if 2020 is exercised, a 2021 team option for $10.5 million with a $1.5 million buyout.
"We discussed (Eaton) and several other players with the White Sox for quite a while now. It did gain momentum after the Sale deal was done," Rizzo said. "It actually came together fairly quickly over the last couple of days."
Predominantly a center fielder before last season, Eaton will likely switch back to center in Washington, a move that would allow young star Trea Turner to return to shortstop, his natural position.
"The only negative I've heard is you have to calm him down a little bit," Nationals manager Dusty Baker said of Eaton. "Because he goes 100 percent all the time, which is not a bad way to play this game. ... He's not afraid to get dirty and grimy, greasy, nasty -- do everything there is to beat you."
As for where Eaton might hit in the lineup -- like Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy, he bats left-handed -- Baker said: "That remains to be seen. We do have options to try to break them up."
In the deal, the Nationals have surrendered two first-round picks. Giolito, the 16th overall selection in 2012, was rated as one of the top prospects in baseball this past summer by both ESPN's Keith Law (No. 2 overall) and Baseball America (No. 4 overall). In six games with Washington last season (four starts), the 6-foot-6 righty was 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA. Dunning, a University of Florida product, was the Nationals' first-round pick last season (29th overall).
Also headed to Chicago is Lopez, a 22-year-old native of the Dominican Republic who was rated as the team's third-best prospect. In 11 games with Washington in 2016, the 6-foot right-hander went 5-3 with a 4.91 ERA.
The 22-year-old Giolito, a first-round pick in the 2012 amateur draft, made his major league debut in June and went 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in six starts for Washington.
Lopez, also 22, was 5-3 with a 4.91 ERA in 11 games, including six starts, for the Nationals in 2016.
The 21-year-old Dunning was the 29th overall pick this year out of the University of Florida.
"We view all three of them, actually, as having the potential to become front-end-of-the-rotation pitchers," White Sox GM Rick Hahn said. "There's still a fair amount of development with each of them."