Nats acquire Gomes for Rodriguez, two others (updated)

The Nationals finalized a trade tonight that will bring All-Star catcher Yan Gomes to Washington in exchange for right-hander Jefry Rodriguez, minor league outfielder Daniel Johnson and a player to be named, completing a dramatic, 11-day overhaul of their catching corps.

Having just signed veteran Kurt Suzuki to a two-year, $10 million deal last week, the Nationals went out and acquired another experienced catcher in Gomes, who had been the subject of trade speculation in recent days, though not in connection with the Nats until earlier today.

Though they didn't have to part ways with any top-rated prospects, the Nationals did have to give up a potentially electric young right-hander in Rodriguez and a promising young outfielder in Johnson along with the as-yet-named player in exchange for Gomes, whose value was boosted by the fact he's under club control through 2021.

Gomes is coming off his best offensive season since 2014, having hit .266 with 16 homers, 26 doubles, a .313 on-base percentage and .762 OPS over 435 plate appearances to earn the first All-Star selection of his career. He's a lifetime .248 hitter with a .295 on-base percentage and .719 OPS in seven seasons with the Blue Jays and Indians.

A right-handed hitter, Gomes threw out only 29 percent of basestealers this season but rates well as a pitch-framer, was the majors' 11th-best defensive catcher according to FanGraphs.com and produced 2.6 WAR according to Baseball-Reference.com.

The first Brazilian-born player to reach the big leagues, Gomes moved to the United States when he was 12, playing in high school in Miami and then in college at the University of Tennessee and later at Barry University in Florida. He signed a six-year, $23.5 million extension early in his career with Cleveland, so he's already under contract for $7 million in 2019, with two club options ($9 million in 2020, $11 million in 2021) or $1 million buyouts.

It remains to be seen how the Nationals plan to split up catching duties between Gomes and Suzuki, but collectively they should make for a significant offensive upgrade from this season, when Nats catchers combined to hit .214 with 12 homers, 22 doubles, 55 RBIs, a .304 on-base percentage and .624 OPS that ranked 25th in the majors.

Gomes and Suzuki combined for 823 plate appearances this season, batting a combined .268 with 50 doubles, 28 homers, 98 RBIs, .322 on-base percentage and .769 OPS that would have ranked fourth in the majors.

Having completed this deal, the Nationals can now afford to keep 27-year-old Spencer Kieboom in the minors, available for promotion when the need arose. Pedro Severino, long hoped to develop into the club's long-term answer behind the plate, is out of options and would need to clear waivers before being demoted to the minors.

The organization didn't have much rotation depth as it was, and that depth has now been diminished with the trade of Rodriguez, who was erratic during his rookie season, but flashed plenty of potential with an electric fastball-slider combo. The lanky 25-year-old went 3-3 with a 5.71 ERA in 14 big league games (eight starts) this season, but included in that body of work were four outings in which he allowed zero or one run over at least 4 2/3 innings.

The Nationals weren't sure exactly how Rodriguez was going to fit into their 2019 plans, but he almost certainly would've been given an opportunity to pitch in the majors again, either as a starter or reliever. They'll now have to count more on Joe Ross and Erick Fedde to fill out the back of the rotation or fill in when other starters go down, and that will be the case even if they add another frontline starter this winter, as they prefer.

Johnson, the Nats' 2017 Minor League Player of the Year, is a toolsy outfielder who hit 22 homers and stole 22 bases during that breakthrough season at Single-A Hagerstown and Potomac. The club's fifth-round pick in the 2016 draft, he regressed some this year while also missing time with a broken hamate bone, eventually hitting .269 with seven homers, 22 stolen bases and a .739 OPS in 98 games spent mostly at Double-A Harrisburg.

The Nationals sent the 23-year-old to the Arizona Fall League, where he struggled to a .145 batting average (9-for-62) with six stolen bases and a .438 OPS.