Washington Nationals are lucky Jonathan Lucroy signed with the A’s
Jonathan Lucroy will suit up for the Oakland Athletics in 2018. Thanks to a good relationship with the Washington Nationals when it comes to trades, he could make his way to D.C.
Even though he won’t start the year with the Washington Nationals, there’s a chance Jonathan Lucroy could end 2018 catching a pennant-winning strikeout from Sean Doolittle.
The veteran backstop has signed a one-year deal with the Oakland Athletics after a rather unfortunate offseason. Following a poor year at the plate, Lucroy suffered with many other free agents this winter, ultimately accepting a much shorter deal than anticipated with a non-contending squad.
Lucroy does have a chance to play regularly in Oakland, which is good news for him. The one-year contract allows him to rejoin the free agent frenzy next winter where he’ll again hope to earn some suitors. Since it’s a deal already in the “lame duck” phase, there’s a great chance the Athletics trade him this summer.
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When they do shop Lucroy, we should fully expect the Nationals as one team to come calling. After all, they have a great working relationship with the Athletics.
Last year, the Nationals acquired Doolittle and Ryan Madson from the Athletics in a trade that completely turned their bullpen fortunes around. Back in 2011, they cut a deal with the Athletics to land Gio Gonzalez. In early 2013, the reacquired A.J. Cole who had originally been sent to Oakland in the Gonzalez deal.
Furthermore, current catcher Matt Wieters almost went to the Athletics instead of Lucroy. We don’t know for sure why they went with Lucroy instead. My guess is Wieters’ 2017 statistics helped them move on.
There’s a great chance the Nationals open this year with two-fifths of their rotation having been acquired in a trade with the Athletics. Barring injury, they are guaranteed to have two players at the back part of their bullpen who came to D.C. via that same journey.
How Jonathan Lucroy joins the Washington Nationals
Until Matt Wieters starts hitting in the regular season, rumors will swirl about the Washington Nationals and their search for catching help. Jonathan Lucroy might be one of the better options out there. Likely obtainable at a relatively cheap price, I could see the Nationals landing him for a mid-level prospect.
If the Nationals were able to land Howie Kendrick last summer from the Philadelphia Phillies for McKenzie Mills, what’s to stop them from accomplishing something similar with Lucroy? They do have a plethora of talented outfielders. The two names that should pique interest from sellers at the trade deadline are Blake Perkins and Daniel Johnson. Each had fabulous 2017 seasons. If they repeat this year, expect their names to enter Jon Heyman’s Twitter feed.
A few things will need to happen for the Nationals and Athletics to make another deal this summer. Lucroy will first need to hit. The Nationals will also need to come to terms with the fact that they lost out with signing Wieters. Once they do, it’s time to go out and get Lucroy.
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There is an argument against teams trading for a catcher midseason because of how unfamiliar they are with the team’s pitchers. As Lucroy showed in 2016, that’s not an issue. He thrived during his time with the Texas Rangers following a trade from the Milwaukee Brewers. Why couldn’t he repeat again with the Nationals?