The Nationals are trading Kyle Finnegan to the Tigers for two starting pitching prospects drafted last year, dealing their veteran closer to a contender after passing on comparable opportunities to do so the last two seasons.
The trade sends the 33-year-old reliever to Detroit for right-handers Josh Randall and R.J. Sales, a club source confirmed. The Athletic was first to report news of the trade, with The Washington Post first to report the return.
A much-discussed name the previous two trade deadlines, Finnegan was retained each time by former general manager Mike Rizzo, who didn’t feel the offers made by other clubs were commensurate with his view of the durable, dependable reliever’s true value.
This time around, with Finnegan set to become a free agent at season’s end, there was less reason for interim GM Mike DeBartolo to hold onto his closer for the next two months.
The right-hander’s departure, though, leaves a black hole in an already thin and shaky Nationals bullpen that sent veterans Andrew Chafin and Luis Garcia to the Angels on Wednesday in one of four trades already completed by DeBartolo in advance of today’s 6 p.m. Eastern deadline. Interim manager Miguel Cairo’s closer options now include left-hander Jose A. Ferrer and rookie right-handers Cole Henry and Zach Brzykcy.
Originally signed in 2020 to a major league deal after six seasons spent in the Athletics organization without a promotion, Finnegan debuted for the Nationals that summer and stayed on the big league roster his entire time here. He began closing part-time in August 2021 following the trades of Daniel Hudson and Brad Hand and became the full-time closer in 2023, ultimately racking up 108 saves (only five shy of Chad Cordero’s club record).
Never spending a day on the injured list, Finnegan averaged fewer than one strikeout per inning and thus gave up more contact than most major league closers. But he went on several sustained runs of dominance the last three seasons and from 2021-24 delivered a 3.62 ERA while averaging 66 appearances.
Leery of paying him the $8 million or $9 million he likely would have received via arbitration last winter, the Nationals non-tendered Finnegan, then waited until spring training to re-sign him at the reduced salary of $6 million (with $4 million of that deferred). He opened the season strong and as recently as July 10 sported a 2.36 ERA and 18 saves in 23 opportunities, only to be roughed up three times in a span of four appearances that caused his ERA to balloon to 4.62.
Prior to that slump, though, Finnegan did author back-to-back, 1-2-3 innings to close out victories over the Tigers, giving his new team a good look at the best version of himself. He also bounced back in the last week with scoreless appearances in both Minnesota and Houston, including his final save conversion for the Nationals in Monday’s 2-1 win over the Astros.
In Randall and Sears, the Nats receive two young pitching prospects who come with some promise.
Randall, the Tigers’ third-round pick in the 2024 draft out of the University of San Diego, is a 6-foot-4, 220-pound right-hander who spent most of this season at Single-A Lakeland, going 5-5 with a 4.18 ERA and 1.341 WHIP in 16 starts. He was recently promoted to High-A West Michigan, where he allowed one unearned run with six strikeouts and zero walks in five innings in his debut outing. The 22-year-old was rated Detroit’s 15th-best prospect by MLB Pipeline.
Sales was the Tigers’ 10th-round pick last summer out of UNC-Wilmington, a slender 6-foot, 170-pound righty who didn’t rank among the organization’s top 30 prospects but went 4-3 with a 2.71 ERA and 1.116 WHIP in 16 games (15 starts) for Lakeland in his first professional season.