Washington Nationals announced on Tuesday that they have traded All-Star second baseman Daniel Murphy to Chicago Cubs and left fielder Matt Adams to St. Louis Cardinals. Cubs sent minor league infielder Andruw Monasterio alongside a player to be named later or cash in exchange for Murphy, while Adams came to Cardinals for cash considerations.
Nationals refused to trade the duo three weeks ago at the nonwaiver trade deadline but now decided to take whatever they can for them.
“These moves allow us financial flexibility going into the 2019 season, to allocate our resources in that direction,” – said Nationals’ general manager Mike Rizzo. “These are tough decisions. To trade an ultimate professional like Daniel Murphy and Matt Adams is never easy. We feel that this was the best way to facilitate what we’re trying to do not only in 2018 and beyond. We always have the one-, three-, five-year plan in place, and this helps expedite those plans.“
Although the return for Daniel Murphy and Matt Adams doesn’t seem like much, Washington Nationals were facing the possibility of losing both players in free agency. The idea behind keeping them past nonwaiver trade deadline was to give their talented roster a chance to compete for the postseason. But Nationals instead continued with their losing ways, and now find themselves third in NL East, 7.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves on the first position.
Daniel Murphy joined the Nationals in 2015 and went on to have two consecutive All-Star seasons in 2016 and 2017. Murphy also received two Silver Slugger Awards during his time in Washington.
Matt Adams, who started his MLB career with the St. Louis Cardinals, joined Nationals in December 2017. He played 94 games this year, having .257 batting average, 48 RBI, and eight home runs.
