MLB trade rumors: Nationals reportedly willing to include Giolito in deal for Miller

Ryan Fagan

MLB trade rumors: Nationals reportedly willing to include Giolito in deal for Miller image

The Twitter reaction to Jon Morosi’s tweet was pretty universal: “Oh, really?” 

We’ve all heard rumors about New York’s sky-high asking price for left-handed relief star Andrew Miller for months now, and we all saw the haul the Yankees got for their other left-handed relief star, Aroldis Chapman, in their recent trade with the Cubs

Still, this was a bit surprising. 

Lucas Giolito, you probably know, is the Nationals’ top prospect. Both Baseball America and MLB.com says he’s the No. 4 prospect in all of baseball. 

Yeah. The Nationals have long resisted attempts by other teams to pry Giolito away. They took a chance on him when they selected the hard-throwing right-hander with the 16th overall pick in the 2012 draft, knowing he’d probably need Tommy John surgery. He did, and the Nationals have been very careful with his development process, even though he’s succeeded every step of the way.

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In 69 career minor-league games (67 starts), Giolito has a 2.74 ERA and is averaging 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings. There’s a reason he’s ranked so highly. It’s the same reason the Nationals have been so hesitant to include him in any deal.

And, of course, let’s again mention that this report doesn’t mean the deal is done. But if Morosi (who's pretty plugged in) is right, and the Nationals really are willing to include Giolito, some type of deal might actually be done soon. Though his tweet said the Nationals would want a straight-up deal, that's still probably not enough for the Yankees (but it is a necessary start). 

It’s easy to see how Washington has reached the breaking point.

Led by an outstanding rotation, the Nationals have the talent to win the World Series. Closer Jonathan Papelbon, though, isn’t the ninth-inning stopper he once was. And lately, he’s been just awful. 

Another thing to keep in mind, of course, is the infamous Stephen Strasburg shutdown from 2012. The Nationals, of course, opted to side with caution and shut down their hard-throwing youngster late in the season, in his first year back from Tommy John surgery, because they figured they'd have lots of chances at winning a World Series with that group. 

That season, though, they lost in the division series to the Cardinals (and missed the playoffs completely in 2013 and 2015). Would they have won the 2012 World Series with Strasburg, who had a 3.16 ERA and was averaging 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings when he was shelved? Who knows. That's not the point here. 

If they're really willing to include Giolito, that shows the Nationals are playing for the win this season, right now. Papelbon clearly isn't the answer in the ninth inning. Miller very well could be, and though years of Giolito could be great, still, he's a prospect and lots of prospects fail to live up to expectations. 

And Miller, of course, is still under contract for two more seasons, at a very reasonable salary ($9 million each year). It's a trade that could definitely benefit both teams, though the Nationals would be getting the more sure thing and the much more immediate benefit. 

Ryan Fagan

Ryan Fagan Photo

Ryan Fagan, the national MLB writer for The Sporting News, has been a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2016. He also dabbles in college hoops and other sports. And, yeah, he has way too many junk wax baseball cards.