Morning Rundown: Jesus Luzardo traded to the Phillies, Nationals trade for Nathaniel Lowe
NL East teams make trades on Sunday
The Philadelphia Phillies landed another starter to help fortify their rotation. They sent two prospects (Starlyn Caba and Emaarion Boyd) to the Miami Marlins in exchange for left-handed pitcher Jesus Luzardo.
Acquiring Luzardo helps further fortify one of the better rotations in all of baseball, although they will be banking on a bounceback season from him.
In 66.2 innings pitched this past season, Luzardo posted a 5.00 ERA (4.23 xFIP) while striking out 58 batters and walking 22.
In 2023, Luzardo struck out 208 batters in 178.2 innings pitched, with a 3.58 ERA and a 10-10 record.
Caba, 19, played in the FCL and Single-A this past season. While in the Complex, he hit .254/.427/.335 with two home runs and 37 stolen bases. He also walked (51) more than he struck out (34).
Boyd, 21, hit .239/.316/.330 with three home runs and 27 stolen bases in 400 plate appearances with High-A Jersey Shore this past season.
The Marlins and Phillies weren’t the only NL East teams to make moves on Sunday. The Washington Nationals acquired Nathaniel Lowe in exchange for left-handed pitcher Robert Garcia.
Lowe hit .265/.361/.401 with 16 home runs and 69 RBI this past year for the Texas Rangers. He’s been worth at least 2.0 fWAR in each of the last four seasons while playing first base.
The trade helps the Rangers’ bullpen with Garcia, who posted a 4.22 ERA (2.77 xFIP) while striking out 75 batters in 59.2 innings pitched. They also acquired Jake Burger earlier in the offseason.
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Pirates reached deal with Cutch.
Horwitz, McCutchen, Naylor, and Santana all posted expected wOBAs between .330 and .337 last year.
The Pirates ended up with the youngest, least expensive, and greatest controlled pair of the four.
I just can't lose sleep over not paying for 39 yo first base defense and one year of a dude who's only hit more than 20 homers once in his career.
They crashed and burned last year with Tellez and Joe and yet are still better off than if they gave Rhys Hoskins $30m.
Save your bullets for positions that matter more than 1B and DH.