Two years ago today, the Nationals made a surprise acquisition that created a busier Christmas Eve than we were expecting in the D.C. area. General manager Mike Rizzo was able to send two minor league pitchers to the Pirates for All-Star first baseman Josh Bell.

While the timing was surprising, the acquisition itself was not. The Nationals had made the first baseman a potential trade target for a while, with the expectation at the time being he would get a majority of the starts at first while Ryan Zimmerman would be the backup if he returned for his 17th campaign after sitting out the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Rizzo won praise for the early Christmas present to Nats fans in acquiring a power bat to provide protection for Juan Soto and Trea Turner in the lineup with two years left of team control and without giving up any top prospects. At the time, the Nats’ most coveted prospects were Cade Cavalli, Jackson Rutledge, Carter Kieboom and Yasel Antuna.

Only Wil Crowe and Eddy Yean were required to bring Bell to Washington. At the time, Crowe was 26 years old and the Nats’ No. 4 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, and Yean was 19 and the club’s No. 6 prospect.

Crowe had made his major league debut that summer, posting an 11.88 ERA and 2.640 WHIP in 8 ⅓ innings over his three starts. A second-round pick in 2017 out of South Carolina, the right-hander was expected to compete as a rotation depth piece the following spring.

In searching for the big bat his club was missing this season and he had openly identified as his No. 1 goal of this offseason, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo had no shortage of options to consider. He could've gone big in the free agent market and tried to sign one of the pre-eminent (but pricey) players available. He could've gone after a second-tier (and thus less expensive) free agent and hoped that would be enough. Or he could've explored trade possibilities, recognizing that type...

The initial reaction to the Josh Bell trade was overwhelmingly positive. A Nationals club that desperately needed to acquire a big bat did so without spending gobs of money and without dealing away top prospects. What's not to like about that? Well, as with all trades, it's best not to jump to any conclusions just yet. Let's see how this plays out. There's a good chance Bell proves to be everything the Nationals need him to be, and that neither Wil Crowe nor Eddy Yean amounts to much with...

General manager Mike Rizzo found a much-desired big bat to stuff into the Nationals' stocking just hours before the sun sets on Christmas Eve: Josh Bell. The Nats have acquired Bell, an All-Star first baseman in 2019, from the Pirates in exchange for pitching prospects Wil Crowe and Eddy Yean in a rare (but not unprecedented) Dec. 24 move announced by the club this afternoon. The switch-hitting Bell, 28, clubbed 37 homers and drove in 116 runs while posting a .936 OPS and earning his first...

We next take an inside look at some of the notable prospects that played for the Nationals on their Rookie-level Dominican Summer League team in 2019. Nationals vice president and assistant general manager of international operations Johnny DiPuglia said he has been impressed with right-hander Eddy Yean. The 18-year-old is ranked as the Nats No. 6 prospect on the MLBPipeline.com top 30 for 2020. "We signed him a couple of years ago for, I think, $100,000," DiPuglia said. "He's a...

The Nationals continue to do a very good job of fortifying their roster with quality prospects who started out at their Dominican baseball academy. It is one main reason why MLBPipeline.com has ranked the Nationals' international prospects in their top 10 in Major League Baseball. In a recent ranking, the Nats overall system was rated No. 5 in the top 10 of the 2010's. Being in the right place at the right time for Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg had a lot to do with that, but so did the...

Nationals minor league pitching coordinator Brad Holman has insight on a couple of younger prospects who have reached the top 10 in the Nationals top 30 prospect list according to MLBPipeline.com, pitchers Andry Lara and Eddy Yean. Lara is only 17 and demonstrated the raw talent that the Nationals respect from instructional league in October to this spring training in February and March. Lara is 6-foot-4 and 180 lbs. out of Coro, Venezuela. The right-hander was the top-rated (No. 16) signing...