Washington Nationals: Adam Eaton is their Christian Yelich
By Tim Boyle
The Washington Nationals don’t need Christian Yelich because they already have Adam Eaton.
The horribly slow MLB offseason has affected nearly all 30 teams. The Washington Nationals are no exception. Aside from inking Matt Adams to a deal, the defending NL East Champions have kept their mouths shut with notable additions.
Plenty of offseason time has been spent in South Florida discussing where the Miami Marlins will sell their core players. Thus far, Giancarlo Stanton has joined the New York Yankees. Marcell Ozuna has also been shipped to the St. Louis Cardinals. In the most surprising move of all, Dee Gordon will play center field for the Seattle Mariners.
The Marlins have a few other players to trade, including outfielder Christian Yelich. Witnessing his team’s rebuild up close, Yelich has already requested a trade. When it happened, the Nationals became one of the teams with rumored interest.
Talks of a Nationals-Marlins trade have died down in recent weeks. Although catcher J.T. Realmuto is an excellent fit for the Nationals, it’s unlikely to occur. Even less possible is the idea of Yelich playing for the Nationals. That’s because they already have a player just like him on their roster.
Welcome back, Adam Eaton!
Washington Nationals fans need to look back a little further in their memory to realize Christian Yelich already plays for their team. He just has a different name and face.
Remember that guy named Adam Eaton who hit at the top of the order in April? He’s still there. In fact, he’s under contract for a few more seasons.
The man who cost the Nationals several of the franchise’s top pitching prospects should return fully healthy in 2018. When he does, the Nationals have a chance to field one of the best outfields in baseball. Eaton will probably replace Jayson Werth as the team’s primary left fielder with Michael Taylor and Bryce Harper remaining at center field and right field respectively.
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Eaton didn’t receive the same type of fanfare during his Chicago White Sox days as Yelich is this winter with the Marlins. I guess that the White Sox had more significant pieces to trade at the time. The Chris Sale saga overshadowed Eaton’s winter trade value following the 2016 season. When the Nationals did acquire him, it came as somewhat of a surprise.
As Kyle Downing of MLB Trade Rumors notes, Eaton is comparable to Yelich both on the field and on the payroll. Yelich has certainly performed better and has the age advantage. However, the fact that the Marlins are far more desperate to trade Yelich can knock the return down a few pegs.
Yelich would look nice in a Washington Nationals’ uniform, but right now there is no need for an advanced version of Eaton. Rather than pony up other prospects for the Marlins’ outfielder, the Nationals need to assess greater needs ahead. For example, who the heck plays right field in 2019?
Next: How the A’s make the Wild Card
Adam Eaton is not the same player as Christian Yelich. For the reduced price, he can closely resemble him.