Nationals Sacrifice Outfield Depth for Young Pitching in Final Trade Deadline Move

The Nationals offloaded an everyday centerfielder with control.

Jun 25, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; Washington Nationals left fielder Alex Call (17) hits a single during the fifth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

The Washington Nationals appeared as if they were going to have a fire sale, with MacKenzie Gore being a hot name ont he market.

The lefty stayed put, but the Nationals parted ways with six players total at this years deadline.

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The final player dealt was Alex Call, who was sent to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a deal that now appears on his MLB.com page.

Though he is 30 years old, Call received a lot of interest this season. Call was slashing .274/.371/.386 with three home runs and 26 RBIs for a 119 OPS+ before the trade.

His calling card, no pun intended, is both his defense in center and the fact that he does not strike out. In 2023, his first and only season so far with 100+ games played,

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Call had eight outs above average (94th percentile) and only chased 19.8 percent of the time (91st percentile), according to Baseball Savant.

His defense hasn't been as good in 2025, with only one OAA, but his chase rate is in the 97th percentile (18.5 percent).

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In return for Call, the Nationals received Eriq Swan and Sean Paul Linan, two right-handed minor leaguers, according to Andrew Golden of the Washington Post.

Swan is 23 years old and was drafted in the fourth round of the 2023 draft. After making appearances across three levels and struggling in 2024, posting a 5.72 ERA, the right-hander has been in High-A all season.

In 16 appearances and 14 starts, Swan has pitched in 69 innings, posting a 4.43 ERA, 1.377 WHIP and a 10 K/9.

Swan now ranks as the 11th best prospect in the Nationals system according to FanGraphs. As a college pitcher coming out of the draft, he could potentially fly through the minor leagues.

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According to his scouting report on Fangraphs, he has the potential to have two plus pitches in both his slider and changeup. With his fastball rated as a future 55, Swan could have three above average pitches.

Sean Paul Linan has pitched in 18 games and started 14 across three levels from Single-A to Triple-A. Most of his work came at High-A, where he had a 2.65 ERA in 10 appearances.

Overall, the 20-year-old is having a great season. In 74.1 innings, Linan has a 2.78 ERA, 1.090 WHIP and 101 strikeouts which comes to a 12.2 K/9.

He slots in at 26 on the FanGraphs list, sporting below average fastball and slider grades, but has the potential for a plus changeup. That is the profile of a reliever, but he is still young.

With Call gone, the Nationals will have to rely on the depth they have in the outfield to replace him in center, with it likely being Jacob Young. It's also worth noting that Robert Hassell III was called up according to Andrew Golden of the Washington Post on X (formerly Twitter).

The outfield is one of the deeper parts of this roster, so Washington could afford to trade Call.

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