Did Nationals Get Enough Back for Sending Two Relievers to Angels?
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The Washington Nationals have had a pretty brutal 2025 campaign all-around, and despite having young talents to build around in the coming years, they still are not quite competitive yet.
This has led to the team selling off some of their veteran assets to try and land other pieces to add to their core of the future.
After sending Amed Rosario the New York Yankees, the Nationals made their second notable trade of the deadline by shipping Andrew Chafin and Luis García to the Los Angeles Angels.
More News: Nationals Trade Relievers Luis Garcia, Andrew Chafin to Angels
Both veterans are expiring contracts, so they are definitively rentals.
Chafin has been quite impressive in 2025, posting a 2.70 ERA and 1.600 WHIP across 20 appearances with 18 strikeouts and 12 walks. As for García, he has been outstanding in his 10 appearances with Washington since joining from the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier in the year. He has a 0.90 ERA in that span, with a 0.700 WHIP and seven strikeouts to two walks.
This pair has been some of the lone bright spots in a bullpen that has struggled throughout the season.
So did the Nationals get back a good enough return in this deal or did they do a poor job?
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The two players Washington got back in exchange for those two relievers are first baseman Sam Brown and relief pitcher Jake Eder.
Brown is a bit of an intriguing prospect.
At 23 years old, he is working his way up to the MLB, currently playing in Double-A. In 2025, he has slashed .244/.350/.358 with 40 RBI, 36 runs, five home runs and four triples. As a primary first baseman, he has played 591.1 innings there in the field throughout 2025, picking up only two errors compared to 490 putouts and 35 assists to go along with a .996 fielding rate.
Overall, he is a pretty strong prospect in the field, but his batting leaves a little bit to be desired.
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As for Eder, he has already hit the MLB level a few times, playing nine total games between his tenures with the Angels and Chicago White Sox.
This season, he has put together a 4.91 ERA, 1.309 WHIP, 15 strikeouts, nine walks and an 88 ERA+. The sample size for him is rather small, but at 26 years old, he has plenty of baseball ahead of him.
This was a deal where the Nationals focused on landing younger players for their veteran assets, hoping they can develop them into being contributors at the big league level.
While it may seem lackluster at first, this return was solid given they would have lost both veterans in free agency after the season anyway.
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Jeremy Trottier started his writing journey with WBLZ Media, and has worked through multiple publications with 247Sports, USA Today, Fansided, SBNation and others. He is an avid fan of motorsports and most sports in general, and has completed a degree in sports management to further understand the sports industry. During his time with sports media, he has been credentialed for coverage of Boston College sports, and can often be found attending their football and basketball games as well as expected coverage of their men’s soccer team in the near future. Sports are a large part of his life and career, as he looks to pursue a full time role within the industry someday.