The Nationals made only two more deals before this evening's trade deadline passed, sending Kyle Finnegan to the Tigers and Alex Call to the Dodgers, ultimately choosing to retain two veterans on expiring contracts and a host of players under club control headlined by MacKenzie Gore.
The 6 p.m. deadline passed with no last-minute moves, according to a club source. The Nats listened to offers for Gore and explored deals for Josh Bell and Paul DeJong but did not find any that met their demands.
Thus was interim general manager Mike DeBartolo more active on the days leading up to July 31 than he was on the actual deadline day. The Nationals dealt four veterans (Amed Rosario, Andrew Chafin, Luis Garcia, Michael Soroka) set to become free agents over the last week. They then wrapped up the late-July feeding frenzy with two moves this afternoon. They received 10 prospects total in return, six of them pitchers.
"I feel excited about what we did the last few days, getting some really exciting young players to bolster our farm system," DeBartolo said. "At a high level, we were just looking at the roster, taking opportunities where whatever was in the long-term best interests of the Nationals, and getting as many young players as we could to get back to where we want to be next year and beyond."
The Nats traded 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.