After keeping fans hitting refresh on their keyboards for the entire Winter Meetings, Thursday afternoon the Washington Nationals traded LHP Ross Detwiler to the Texas Rangers for prospects Chris Bostick and Abel De Los Santos. This trade represents the first significant move of the offseason for Washington, as they attempt to reshape their bullpen, save some payroll, and improve their minor league depth.

Detwiler, the Nationals 1st round pick in the 2007 draft, has struggled through an up-and-down career while in Washington, suffering through injuries and a difficult demotion to the bullpen while providing the Nationals with an outstanding 2012 season and gutsy performance in Game 4 of the 2012 NLDS. Detwiler took the mound down 2 games to 1 and pitched six innings, allowing only 1 unearned run before giving way to the bullpen.

Last season Detwiler struggled with the adjustment to the bullpen, posting a 4.00 ERA and 1.413 WHIP in 63 innings pitched. For his 7-year major league career, Detwiler possesses a 3.82 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 1.374 WHIP, 5.4 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 ratio across 471 innings pitched. The Rangers have been seeking pitching depth all offseason and at a projected salary of $3.25 million in his final year of arbitration, he provides a versatile arm for the Rangers’ staff in 2015.  Detwiler will turn 29 just prior to opening day and with fewer than 500 career major league innings, offers the Rangers some upside potential with the change of scenery.

Chris Bostick is a name to remember as an infielder in the #Rangers system for Detwiler.

— Ryan Sullivan (@NatsGMdotcom) December 11, 2014

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Bostick, 21-years-old, was drafted originally by the Oakland Athletics in the 44th round of the 2011 MLB Draft and traded him last winter, along with Michael Choice, to Texas for Craig Gentry and Josh Lindblom. Bostick spent 2014 at High-A Myrtle Beach, batting .251/.322/.412 with 50 extra base hits and 24 stolen bases. For his minor league career, Bostick is a .270/.341/.427 hitter with 29 home runs, 78 doubles, and 65 stolen bases in 343 games played.

I was fortunate to watch Bostick this season and I came away extremely impressed with his right-handed bat, above-average speed, and absurd level of want. Bostick is a well-built, near physically maxed 5-11 185lbs with a short, compact swing, quick loose wrists, and average or better bat speed. He suffers from a high number of strikeouts, 116 in 495 at-bats in 2014, but counteracts these whiffs with legitimate power as evidence by those 31 doubles and 11 home runs this season as a 21-years-old.

Defensively Bostick was drafted as a shortstop but quickly shifted to the keystone due to his lack of elite athleticism or a cannon-like arm. Although he has above-average speed, it does not translate to the agility typically associated with major league shortstops. That said Bostick has more than enough athleticism and arm strength to play a solid-average second base, though he will never be confused with a gold glove defender.

In addition the Nationals receive De Los Santos, a 22-year-old right-handed relief pitcher who posted a notable 1.92 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 56.1 innings pitched this season between Low- and High-A. Signed as an international free agent by Texas in May 2010, De Los Santos has a career 3.38 ERA, 1.142 WHIP, 7.6 H/9, 9.15 K/9, and 2.64 BB/9 ratio.  Furthermore, he has flourished since his move to the bullpen in 2013 with a 2.58 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 6.36 H/9, 2.86 BB/9 and 10.41 K/9 numbers.

As many times as I watched Myrtle Beach this season, I do not have scouting notes on De Los Santos, so I called upon my friend and Baseball Prospectus prospect expert C.J. Wittmann to provide NatsGM with an exclusive scouting report: “De Los Santos is an average sized right-hander with a loose arm and he can generate mid-90s velocity. The looseness of the arm causes him to get offline and the command varies. If he straightens out the command issues then we could looking at a MLB reliever profile.”

Additionally, C.J. provided some thoughts on Bostick: “Bostick is a really athletic kid who has role 5; MLB regular upside. After seeing a few games of Bostick, I really liked his approach and plan at the plate and contact skills. He projects to hit in the average to solid average range and has sneaky gap-to-gap power. At 2B, his glove and arm work well enough to where he could play average defense there at the big league level. I think this is a really nice trade for the Nationals, getting potentially two big league caliber players.”

This trade is difficult from a fan perspective, as Detwiler will forever hold a unique place in Nationals’ team history. However his opportunity was limited in Washington and with one season remaining before free agency, Detwiler deserves the opportunity to maximize his value, which is as a starting pitcher. The Nationals did right by Detwiler in this deal and simultaneously made a shrewd baseball trade.

Bostick possesses the ceiling of a league average, offensive-minded second baseman, with his likeliest outcome being he develops into a valuable reserve capable of playing multiple positions. He could potentially reach the major leagues sometime late in 2016. Additionally De Los Santos stands a reasonable chance of carving out a major league career as a reliever, also perhaps in 2016. In a baseball sense, this is a rather equitable return for one season of Ross Detwiler. Texas and Washington both did well in this swap, receiving something more valuable to them than the spare parts they gave away.

NatsGM Overall Grade -> B to B+