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Washington Nationals finally get Trea Turner

By Wayne Cavadi

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The Washington Nationals finally get their shortstop. Trea Turner, the player infamously named immediately to be named later in the Wil Myers trade this offseason, is heading to the Double-A Harrisburg Senators.

Perhaps a quick review for those of you not in the know is required to understand why Trea Turner just left the Padres system and is now one of the top prospects in the Nationals system seemingly overnight.

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The Padres drafted Trea Turner in the first round of last year’s draft, which of course, takes place in June. At the time, MLB rules stated that no player could be traded until after one full year after signing, which for Turner, happened to be June 13th, 2014.

This past December, the Tampa Bay Rays, Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres pulled off the blockbuster that sent Steven Souza, Jr. to the Rays, Wil Myers to the Padres, and a couple of prospects to the Nationals. One of those prospects was Joe Ross, who immediately became a top 5 prospect in their system, and has since looked good in his big league debut. The other prospect was Trea Turner… who by a bizarro world MLB rule, would have to remain in a Padres uniform until June 14, 2015, despite already being traded.

It was a debacle. The MLB already has strict rules in place that have come under scrutiny of late about MLB Draft day. There has always been the rule that draft picks were not allowed to be traded, and that took some fire recently as a rule that needed to be changed. Luckily, the MLB saw the flaw in the Turner situation and on May 1, 2015, changed the rule.

Fangraphs reported on May 1st that the Commissioner’s Office had emailed all 30 teams stating the new rule.

"Please be advised that the Commissioner’s Office and the Players Association have agreed to amend the Major League Rules in advance of this year’s Rule 4 Draft with respect to players-to-be-named-later (“PTBNLs”) under Rule 12(e)(2), and the trading of draft picks under Rule 3(b)(6). …commencing with players eligible for the 2015 Rule 4 Draft, (a) players selected in the Draft may be traded beginning on the day following the conclusion of the World Series, and (b) drafted players cannot be PTBNLs unless they otherwise could be traded pursuant to Rule 3(b)(6), as amended, at the time of the trade."

So, things are fixed, but it is too little too late for the Nationals. Sure, they now have Turner, but there is more to it. Turner — after having a sensational rookie performance in Class A ball last year — skyrocketed to the No. 3 prospect in the Padres system. This season, he has tore it up for the San Antonio Missions, slashing .322/.385/.471 with 5 home runs and 35 RBI.

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That didn’t help the Nationals any until now, and if any team needed a shortstop, it was the Washington Nationals. Ian Desmond’s defense is atrocious. He already has 14 errors, which is 12 more than the next closest person on the Nationals. Anthony Rendon just returned from injury and is getting off to a quiet start.

I know what you’re thinking. How was Turner, a 21-year old prospect who has never played above Double-A, going to help any of that? Simply put, he would have provided an option. Had he been on the Nationals since the day they had traded for him, he would have been fast tracked to the bigs, and may have reached Triple-A by now with the Nationals middle infield woes. He could have made Desmond expendable in a trade. 11 of the Top 20 prospects in baseball have made their big league debuts this season. The idea of Turner, who has shown nothing less than star-power ability in the Minors, providing immediate relief to the Nationals is not as far fetched as it may seem.

But alas, the debate is over and the rule has been changed, so this mess won’t happen again. Now, Nationals fans can sit back and see what the next move is for the strange ride of Trea Turner.

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