Hometown Nationals find deal in White Sox sell-off

The unofficial hosts of the winter meetings, the Washington Nationals, finally struck a deal to address a key need after missing out on left-hander Chris Sale and a closer and passing on center fielder Ian Desmond.

The Nationals acquired center fielder Adam Eaton from the Chicago White Sox for right-hander Lucas Giolito, Washington’s top prospect, and two other minor leaguers. Giolito was dangled as one of the players in the Nationals’ offer to the White Sox for Sale before he was sent to the Boston Red Sox.

The trade leaves the Pittsburgh Pirates still attempting to trade former National League MVP Andrew McCutchen. The Texas Rangers had only minimal recent contact with the Pirates before re-signing Carlos Gomez to be their center fielder.

Eaton comes with five years of club control and is coming off a season in which he posted a 6.2 WAR.

Houston is trying to take part in the White Sox’s fire sale by acquiring left-hander Jose Quintana, a 2016 All-Star who has never had an ERA above 3.76 and has tossed 200 innings in each of his first four full seasons.

Sluggers Jose Abreu and Todd Frazier are also thought to be available, as is closer David Robertson.

Rangers: Many of the club’s young players, including outfielder Nomar Mazara and corner infielder Joey Gallo, will be in Arlington next week for a midwinter checkup in which they will work out at Globe Life Park and take place in holiday-related community events.

Rick Schroeder was honored Wednesday as the Scout of the Year for the Western U.S. The award recognizes a career of at least 25 years of scouting excellence at all levels of the profession.

Cubs: The reigning world champions traded outfielder Jorge Soler to Kansas City for Wade Davis, who will replace free agent Aroldis Chapman as closer. Davis has a 1.18 ERA the past three seasons and saved 27 games in 2016 despite missing time with an injury.

Diamondbacks: Arizona took a flier on right-hander Fernando Rodney to be its closer, signing him to an incentive-rich one-year contract worth $2.75 million that could max out at $5 million, mlb.com reporter and former Star-Telegram reporter Jesse Sanchez said.

Mariners: Seattle filled out its 2017 rotation by acquiring right-hander Chris Heston from San Francisco for a player to be named.

Marlins: Catcher A.J. Ellis will be reunited for Don Mattingly, who managed him with the Los Angeles Dodgers, after agreeing to a one-year deal with $2.5 million, according to reports.

Rays: Wilson Ramos, who won’t be ready to catch until June after recovering from knee surgery, signed a two-year deal that could be worth $18.25 million. Tampa Bay believes he could be used at designated hitter in May.

This story was originally published December 7, 2016 at 8:40 PM with the headline "Hometown Nationals find deal in White Sox sell-off."