Nationals complete trade involving SS prospect Trea Turner
The Washington Nationalsofficially acquired shortstop Trea Turner from the San Diego Padres on Sunday, completing a three-team trade that was first agreed upon Dec. 18, 2014.
That trade involved 11 players and was built around outfielder Wil Myers, who was traded from the Tampa Bay Rays to San Diego. The Nationals acquired pitching prospect Joe Ross and a player to be named later. That player was known to be Turner, MLB.com’s No. 54 minor-league prospect and the Padres’ No. 2 prospect to begin the season.
MLB rules, however, prohibit teams from trading players until they have spent at least one year with the team that drafted them. The Padres drafted Turner with the 13th pick in the 2014 draft out of N.C. State.
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He began his minor-league career with stints at short-season Class A Eugene and Class A Fort Wayne, batting .323 with five home runs, 24 RBIs, 45 runs scored, 23 stolen bases and an .854 OPS over 69 games in 2014.
At Double A San Antonio this season, Turner batted .322 with five home runs, 35 RBIs, 31 runs scored and 11 stolen bases over 58 games.
“We’re happy to complete this trade and add an exceptional talent to our fold,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said in a release. “From the outset, this was a complex deal, but we thought it was one that would better our organization for the present as well as the long term. That’s always our goal. We look forward to getting Trea into our Minor League system.”
In exchange for Ross and Turner, the Nationals sent outfielder Steven Souza, Jr., and lefthander Travis Ott to the Rays.
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- Mike Fiammetta
