Nationals trade Luis García Jr. to Yankees in exchange for 4 pitchers
Luis García Jr. of the Washington Nationals celebrates after hitting a home run (Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - The Washington Nationals have traded Luis García Jr. to the New York Yankees in exchange for four players, the team announced on Sunday.
Luis García Jr. traded
What we know:
In exhange for García, the Nationals will get four pitchers, including three of the Yankees' top 25 prospects. Right-handers Jake Bird, Jack Cebert, Yovanny Cruz and Ben Grable are all headed for the District.
Bird is a veteran reliever who the Yankees acquired from the Colorado Rockies last season. Bird, 30, is 12-12 with a 4.90 ERA for his career.
Cebert, Cruz and Grable are the Yankees' No. 11, No. 24 and No. 19 prospects, respectively. Cruz is the only one among them who's made the Big Leagues yet, pitching in just four games so far this season. Cebert and Grable have both split time this season between High A and Double-A.
Big picture view:
In García, the Nationals are giving up the National League leader in slugging percentage this season.
On the season, the Yankees are second in Major League Baseball in slugging at .411. But over the last month, without reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge, the Yankees have struggled at the plate, slugging just .374 — fourth-worst in baseball.
García has spent all seven years of his MLB career with the Nationals, debuting on Aug. 14, 2020, against the Baltimore Orioles.
What's next:
The MLB trade deadline is Monday, Aug. 3 at 6 p.m. ET. It's not clear if the Nationals will be making any other moves before the deadline.
The Source: Information in this story is from the Washington Nationals, Baseball Reference and Major League Baseball.