With Matt Capps Traded, Nationals Will Use A Closer By Committee For Foreseeable Future

With Matt Capps no longer a member of the Nationals, there is a huge hole at the closer position for the team. Manager Jim Riggleman doesn’t think any one person in the bullpen is ready to step in to that role full time just yet and will go with the hot hand or a closer by committee for the rest of the season.

Ben Goessling got a quote from Riggleman that explains as much,

“We feel like Drew is the logical guy to take it on, but we don’t want to put all that on him right now,” Riggleman said. “If he is throwing good in the eighth, and decided to leave him out for the ninth, depending on who’s coming up, that’d be good. But if Clippard or Burnett or Peralta throwing good, (we’d do that), or we might let Peralta get the first out, let Burnett face a batter. We’ll have to mix and match.”

I’m not sure if leaving Storen out to get 2 inning saves is a great idea, but I do think the notion of easing him into the closer role sooner rather than later is a solid decision. Using this sort of “who’s hot” and match-ups approach to put their pitchers in positions they can be successful in should only help their confidence while getting them valuable experience in games.

In the long term, this should be good for the Nationals but in the short term, there might be some ugly learning experiences fans will have to sit through.

More On The Cash The Nationals Gave To The Twins

According to Twins writer Kelsie Smith’s twitter feed, the Nationals didn’t have to break the bank to trade away Matt Capps,

#Twins get $500k in cash considerations in the deal. #Nats

Not a bad price to pay to possibly get their catcher of the future. Who says the Lerners are cheap?

Matt Capps Saddened To Not Be A Member Of The Nationals Anymore

Matt Capps talked to the Washington Post’s Adam Kilgore about being traded to the Twins and he expressed nothing but gratitude for the year he’s had with the Nationals. From the Post:

“I’m kind of saddened I’m not going to be around the guys I’ve been around the last four months or so,” Capps said. “I’ve really enjoyed my time here in Washington. I knew it was a possibility. I’m saddened I’m leaving the guys I’m leaving.”
…
“The Washington Nationals organization is a first-class organization. They showed that they believed in me. I tried my damndest not to let them down.”

Its good to know that there’s no sour grapes on his part for being traded away from the team and that he had such a good time here that he is genuinely upset that he is leaving. That sort of endorsement from a player can go a long way in acquiring free agent talent for the Nationals.

Nationals Trade Matt Capps And Cash For Twins Prospects

Washington Nationals have traded All-Star closer Matt Capps and cash to the Minnesota Twins for catcher Wilson Ramos and LHP Joe Testa. 

The 22 year old Ramos happens to be the Twins #2 ranked prospect and #58 overall according to Baseball America's rankings. Here's more on Ramos from Nats Insider's Mark Zuckerman,

A native of Venezuela, he is a career .284 hitter in parts of five minor-league seasons who appeared in eight big-league games earlier this season and went 8-for-27 with three doubles.  

Pitcher Joe Testa has a combined 2-5 with a 5.86 ERA for Class A Fort Myers and Double-A New Britain this year, but has a career ERA of 3.33 across 3 minor league seasons.

This trade seems pretty fair for both teams as the Twins now have a set-up man and closer in former Nationals John Rauch and Matt Capps, while the Nationals might have finally gotten their catcher of the future since Jesus Flores has not proven he can stay healthy throughout his career.

For more discussion on the story, head on over to Federal Baseball.