Washington Nationals: trade the farm for Kevin Gausman, in simulation city

In the 2020 Simulated Season the Washington Nationals just pushed all their chips into the pile, in late April, with a headline grabbing trade.

When I decided to follow the 2020 MLB Simulated Season on Baseball-Reference.com I thought I would just be following the Washington Nationals wins, losses, and a few statistics. I was gravely mistaken.

Is this where the game of baseball is headed? Are these the simulated games which are driven by analytics and the money ball concept? Are there fictitious managers coded into the system who make gut decisions on which reliever to bring in.? Are there algorithms which accommodate human error, or is everything just based on predetermined code?

The simulated season is just a month old, yet Gio Gonzales, Pablo Sandoval, and Brian Dozier have already been designated for assignment. New York Mets pitcher Steven Matz has signed a simulated three year/$24.3M contract extension. Rule V picks have been returned, guys have been signed to minor league contracts, and trades have been made.

When I pulled up the boxscore for today’s Nationals game, a 12-2 whitewashing of the Milwaukee Brewers, I noticed Kevin Gausman tossed eight innings to get the win. Wait, where did Kevin Gausman come from?

A quick scroll down the transactions page and the Nationals and San Francisco Giants worked out a trade. In return for a seven-year journeyman who has a career record of 47-63 with a 4.30 earned run average, the Nationals parted ways with four minor leaguers.

Luis Garcia headlined the group as the 19-year old second baseman who ranks 2nd on the Nationals Top Prospect list. Maximo Acosta, Matt Cronin, and Jacob Rhinesmith are the other three guys in the deal. Cronin ranks 10th on the list and at 21 years of age had a 0.82 earned run average in 17 games last year in Single-A. Acosta is ranked 6th on the Texas Rangers Top Prospect list. I can’t see anywhere in the transaction log where he went from the Rangers to the Nationals.

Three top 10 prospects and another young guy for a pitcher who averages less than a strikeout an inning and has a career WAR of 10 in 7 seasons. In a trade made after 29 games? Are these simulators even trying here? In the real world, this trade never takes place. In the simulation world, it took place, and it is already paying dividends for the Washington Nationals.

Simulations may be the closest thing we have to baseball until the real boys of summer are allowed back on the field. Follow all of the simulated action here.