Early Thursday morning amidst the tremendous snowfall in the DC area, the Washington Nationals traded right-handed pitcher Nathan Karns to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for catcher Jose Lobaton, left-handed pitching prospect Felipe Rivero, and outfield prospect Drew Vettleson. The 29-year-old Lobaton is out of minor league options and was third on Tampa’s depth chart, but immediately finds himself as the backup catcher behind Wilson Ramos in Washington.
Lobaton played in 100 games for Tampa Bay last season, hitting .249/.320/.394 with 7 home runs and 15 doubles in 277 at-bats and has a .228/.311/.343 batting line during his 4-year major league career. In his ten seasons in the minor leagues, the switch-hitting Lobaton flashed some skills with the bat, posting a 256/.346/.406 batting line with 53 home runs. Defensively Lobaton profiles as about average, as he features an above-average arm, good pitch framing skills, and mediocre pitch blocking skills, along with a career 16% caught stealing ratio (29% in the minors). As a super-two arbitration player, Lobaton will make $950,000 this season, and will be under Nationals’ team control through 2017.
In addition to Lobaton, the Nationals also received prospects Felipe Rivero and Drew Vettleson. The 22-year-old Rivero, spent last season pitching in High-A, posting a 9-7 record with a 3.40 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and 92 strikeouts against 52 walks in 127 innings pitched. An undersized pitcher listed at 6-0 160lbs, Rivero possesses an impressive 91-94mph fastball, an above-average curveball with potential, and a developing changeup. Ranked as Tampa’s #17 prospect by Baseball America, Rivero has a solid three-pitch mix with questions about his durability (due to his size) and his below-average command. If he can improve his control, his ceiling is that of a #4/#5 starting pitcher, while his most realistic role is as a quality left-handed relief pitcher.
Vettleson, also 22-years-old, was a supplemental 1st round selection, 42nd overall, for Tampa Bay back in 2010. Unfortunately Vettleson failed to build off his excellent 2012 season (.772 OPS, 15 home runs, 20 SBs) as he was only able to post a .274/.331/.388 batting line with 4 home runs, 29 doubles and 5 steals in 121 games at High-A in 2013. A lean 6-1 185lbs, Vettleson owns a short, compact swing with good bat speed, an above-average to plus throwing arm and average speed. Vettleson profiles as a strong defensive right fielder who should hit for average and steal some bases; if he develops game power as he matures physically, he could reach his ceiling as an average starting corner outfielder.
In return for these three players, the Nationals parted with their 2012 Minor League Pitcher of the Year Nathan Karns, who followed up his outstanding 2012 season with another excellent season in 2013, pitching 132.2 innings in Double-A Harrisburg and providing them with a 3.26 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 155 strikeouts. His brief 12 inning cameo appearance in Washington was not particularly successful, but Karns is a thickly built 6-3 225lbs Texan armed with a powerful 91-96mph fastball, a plus swing-and-miss curveball, and a below-average changeup. Because of his past shoulder issues and his underwhelming changeup, most scouts tend to believe Karns future is in relief, where his plus fastball and curveball could make him a devastating late-inning reliever.
After many months of speculation, on the day pitchers and catchers reported to spring training, Mike Rizzo decided to shore up the biggest weakness on the roster, and likely the last item on his offseason agenda, by acquiring a quality backup catcher for Wilson Ramos. Because of Ramos’ past injury issues and the poor offensive skills of Sandy Leon and Jhonatan Solano, the Nationals were smart to find a solid backup catcher capable of playing every day. While his defense may not compare favorably to Leon or Solano, Lobaton’s power and switch-hitting ability make him an upgrade for the Nationals.
To make this improvement to the roster, the Nationals were forced to part with my #4 ranked prospect in their farm system, Karns, who I believe has a chance to be an impact late-inning reliever. The addition of intriguing prospects Romero and Vettleson makes this a good trade in a vacuum for each team, as the Nationals fill a hole at catcher, and gather addition prospect depth while Tampa adds another near major league ready pitcher.
However, I am hesitant to fully endorse this deal, as I think the Nationals could have signed one of many comparable, free agent backup catchers available this offseason, namely J.P. Arencibia, John Buck, or Geovany Soto, without having to part with Karns. Lobaton is arguably a better option for the franchise than those mentioned above, but I fear the Nationals will regret not having a power reliever like Karns available midseason to bolster their relief corps. While this is not a poor trade by any means, this is one of the first deals in recent memory I do not fully support.
NatsGM Grade -> C