Four Most Surprising Nationals That Did Not Get Traded At This Year's MLB Deadline

The Washington Nationals had a fairly busy MLB trade deadline a couple of days ago, but many thought they would have done even more.

Amed Rosario, Andrew Chafin, Luis García, Michael Soroka, Kyle Finnegan and even Alex Call ended up getting moved. The Nationals did a nice job of getting value out of players they took fliers on or maximizing the value of players that could only stand to go down.

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That being said, here are some of the more shocking names that ended up not getting traded:

DH/1B Josh Bell

For the first time since 2021, Bell was not traded at the deadline. Switch-hitting power bats are usually a premium, but that just wasn't the case this time around.

The 32-year-old had been doing a good job of showing some value as of late. Over the past 49 games, he has posted a .297/.381/.471 slash line with seven home runs and 25 RBI. There just didn't seem to be much of a market for him this time around. On the bright side, he should be a nice veteran presence for the rest of the year with the young offense.

1B Nathaniel Lowe

Lowe was acquired this past offseason from the Texas Rangers in a trade that sent over lefty reliever Robert Garcia.

The 30-year-old first baseman hasn't had the best debut campaign in Washington. He has posted a career-worst .223/.291/.381 slash line with 15 home runs and 63 RBI. His walk rate has dropped by over 4% and his strikeout rate has risen by 5%. Not usually a signifier of success.

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It is possible that the Nationals will try to wait and see if his trade value can rise a bit either this offseason or before next year's deadline, as he is under team control for another year.

INF Paul DeJong

Washington took a flier on DeJong, likely hoping for similar results to what the Chicago White Sox did last year. He hit 18 home runs before the trade deadline and was traded for a solid prospect.

DeJong did not do that this year as he battled injuries and has slashed just .231/.283/.374 with two home runs and nine RBI in 27 games.

LHP MacKenzie Gore

It isn't too shocking that Gore survived the trade deadline, but it started to feel like he could get moved once the trade market value for solid pitching was revealed to be as high as it was.

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Rather than ship the ace away for a haul of prospects, Washington will keep him around for at least the rest of the year. He is under team control through 2027 and only looks to be getting better, so the Nationals have plenty of time to make a decision. They will either sign him long term and commit to building a winning team around him, or sell him off and continue the rebuild.

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