MLB Trade Retrospective: Jonathan Papelbon to the Nationals

A look back at the MLB deadline week trade in 2015 when the Washington Nationals traded a young pitcher to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jonathan Papelbon.

Prior to the 2015 season, the Washington Nationals added starting pitcher Max Scherzer to a starting rotation that already had Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez and Doug Fister. The offense looked strong with a young Bryce Harper ready to have a breakout season. They were universally picked to win the NL East. Sports Illustrated projected the Nationals would win 99 games. Fangraphs had them with 94 wins. Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA had them with 92 wins. The Sporting News predicted they would win 95 games.

They were expected to win the NL East by close to 10 games, with the Marlins and Mets lucky to be Wild Card teams. There was a season preview at ESPN.com that included 15 baseball analysts who all picked the Nationals to win the NL East, and six of those 15 picked the Nationals to win the World Series.

The Nationals got off to a slow start, going 10-13 in April. They really got going in May, though, winning 18 of 27 games, and kept it up in June, going 15-12. July was not a good month for the Nationals and the Mets were hanging close, just two games back at the All-Star break. Along the way, the Nationals had lost Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman and Denard Span to the disabled list.

The Nationals still led the NL East by one game on this date last season when the they made a trade to bolster their bullpen. They swapped a AA pitcher, Nick Pivetta, with the Philadelphia Phillies for closer Jonathan Papelbon and cash.

It seemed like a curious move at the time. The Nationals had Drew Storen at closer and he was having a terrific season. He had saved 29 of his first 31 games, with a 1.73 ERA (1.98 FIP), 1.02 WHIP and 44 strikeouts in 36.1 innings. Closer was an area of strength for the Nationals, yet they traded for a guy, Papelbon, who insisted on being the closer. To be fair, Papelbon was having a fine season. He had 17 saves, with no blown saves, and a 1.59 ERA (3.01 FIP).

Next: Nats' Season Goes Down In Flames