We've reached the final week of the year, so it's time to look back at the Nationals' most significant stories of 2025. We begin the series today by looking back at an active trade deadline for the Nats, who had an interim general manager in charge of making deals …

Mike DeBartolo had an unexpectedly busy summer. When Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez were relieved of their duties on July 6, the longtime assistant general manager was elevated to the interim GM role in place of Rizzo.

A week later, DeBartolo guided the Nats’ shaken-up front office through the MLB Draft, in which they used the No. 1 overall pick to select high school shortstop Eli Willits.

Then two weeks later, the interim GM had to navigate the trade deadline, one in which the Nats were expected to be very active.

But DeBartolo handled those challenges admirably. He did not shy away from drafting Willits, who some considered the best all-around player in the draft even at 17 years old, for underslot value to load up on other highly-touted prospects in subsequent rounds.

And he surely did not shy away from making moves at the trade deadline.

As expected, the last-place Nationals were very active sellers in the trade market at the end of July. In all, DeBartolo made five trades, acquiring 10 prospects for six major league players. Five of those players shipped out of Washington were on expiring contracts and one was not going to be part of the young outfield’s future.

The Nats traded veteran infielder Amed Rosario to the Yankees for right-hander Clayton Beeter and outfielder Browm Martinez. Beeter made 24 relief appearances for Washington before the end of the season, pitching to a 2.49 ERA, 1.015 WHIP and 13.3 strikeouts per nine innings. He did, however, issue 14 walks over his 21 ⅔ innings.

DeBartolo was then able to flip two in-season signings – left-hander Andrew Chafin and right-hander Luis Garcia – to the Angels for left-hander Jake Eder and first baseman Sam Brown.

Michael Soroka, who had signed a one-year, $9 million deal to join the Nats rotation, missed all of April after one start, but he pitched well enough over the next few months to net shortstop Ronny Cruz and outfielder Christin Franklin from the Cubs.

After years of speculation, the Nats finally moved closer Kyle Finnegan at the deadline. DeBartolo acquired a pair of right-handers in Josh Randall and R.J. Sales from the Tigers for the longtime National, who always garnered interest at the deadline but was never moved by Rizzo.

And finally, DeBartolo shipped Alex Call to the Dodgers for another pair of right-handers in Sean Paul Liñan and Eriq Swan.

Following the trade deadline, six of the 10 prospects DeBartolo got in return debuted in the Nats' updated top 30 prospect rankings per MLB Pipeline:

No. 10 – RHP Sean Paul Liñan (Alex Call)
No. 11 – OF Christian Franklin (Michael Soroka)
No. 12 – RHP Eriq Swan (Alex Call)
No. 13 – SS Ronny Cruz (Michael Soroka)
No. 23 – RHP Josh Randall (Kyle Finnegan)
No. 24 – RHP Clayton Beeter (Amed Rosario)

As of today, four of those players remain in the top 30: Franklin (No. 13), Liñan (No. 15), Cruz (No. 17) and Swan (No. 18).

DeBartolo received praise from evaluators around the league for the work he did at the deadline, especially given the circumstances as an interim GM who had only taken over the job a few weeks prior. His willingness to move expiring contracts and ability to identify high-upside prospects landed him on the biggest hauls of any team this year.

His work at the deadline (and the draft) probably also helped him stay with the organization when many others did not under new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, who named DeBartolo senior vice president and assistant GM after taking over the Nats front office.

Now as a trusted voice, DeBartolo will help guide Toboni at next year’s trade deadline.