Nats acquire first baseman Lowe from Rangers for lefty Garcia

The Nationals have acquired a much-needed first baseman. Not via free agency, but trade.

The club finalized a deal this evening that will bring former Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Award winner Nathaniel Lowe to Washington in exchange for left-hander Robert Garcia, a trade that fills a major hole in the roster but also creates another hole in an already thin bullpen.

Having seen a flurry of top free agent first basemen (Christian Walker, Paul Goldschmidt, Carlos Santana) sign elsewhere in the last 48 hours, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo instead turned to the trade market to fill what arguably was his roster’s biggest hole. He found a willing partner in Rangers GM Chris Young.

Lowe, 29, isn’t as well-known as the aforementioned free agents, but he’s put together a solid career both at the plate and in the field. Over parts of six big league seasons with the Rays and Rangers, he owns a .272/.356/.433 slash line, having averaged 26 doubles, 20 homers and 75 RBIs each over the last four years.

A left-handed batter and right-handed fielder, Lowe’s best season at the plate came in 2022, when he hit 27 homers with a .302 batting average and .851 OPS to win the American League Silver Slugger Award at his position. He followed that up with his best defensive season in 2023, winning the Gold Glove Award for the World Series champions while leading all AL first basemen in putouts, assists, double plays and Fielding Runs Above Average.

A native of Norfolk, Va., Lowe is under club control for two more years, eligible for free agency after the 2026 season. He made $7.5 million this season and figures to earn a raise this winter via the arbitration process.

He may not be the classic slugger the Nationals have been seeking to inject some power into a lineup that ranked last in the National League in home runs, but he does provide more of a proven offensive threat than the team got from a quartet of first basemen this season (Joey Gallo, Joey Meneses, Juan Yepez, Andrés Chaparro) as well as a better glove than all but Gallo.

Lowe shouldn’t need to be used as a platoon player; he actually hit better against lefties this season (.796 OPS) than righties (.751), with career splits that are fairly even on both sides. That could free up Yepez and/or Chaparro for DH duties, at least against left-handers.

The price to acquire a first baseman with two years of control was a left-handed reliever with five years of control.

Garcia, 28, had established himself as Davey Martinez’s most-trusted lefty over the last year and a half, making 72 appearances this season with a 4.22 ERA, 1.190 WHIP and 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings. When Rizzo traded right-handers Hunter Harvey and Dylan Floro in July and non-tendered All-Star Kyle Finnegan in November, the only remaining healthy relievers on the roster with any track record were right-hander Derek Law and lefties Garcia and Jose A. Ferrer.

They already figured to be in the market this winter for a new closer and one or two setup men. Now they’ll also probably look to add an experienced lefty to join the promising Ferrer in a remade bullpen.