Rumors swirled ahead of Tuesday’s MLB trade deadline that the Washington Nationals were among multiple teams interested in former first-round pick Dylan Carlson. Before the clock hit 6:00 pm, the St. Louis Cardinals traded Carlson but not to Washington. Instead, his new team is the Tampa Bay Rays.
All it took for Carlson was struggling 33-year-old reliever Shawn Armstrong, a small price to pay for a once highly-touted prospect. However, the Nationals’ rumored interest may not have been as high as reported.
According to Andrew Golden of the Washington Post, the Nats’ interest in Carlson was greatly exaggerated. One team official told Golden the two sides never talked.
The refute by the club makes sense. Carlson, a 25-year-old outfielder, has been with the Cardinals since 2020 after being a first-round pick in 2016. He emerged as the No. 1 ranked prospect for the Cardinals.
In 2021, 22-year-old Carlson hit 18 home runs, batting .266/.343/.437. Along with his outfield glovework, he posted a 3.1 win above replacement. He finished third in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. However, a series of injuries to his shoulder, ankle, and wrist affected his performance. He is arbitration-eligible in 2025 and won’t hit free agency until 2027.
In the past, the Nationals took a flier on a floundering outfield prospect, Lane Thomas. Washington developed Thomas into a dazzling trade chip. On Monday, the club cashed in trading Thomas, now 28, for three promising prospects.
While Carlson sounded like a replacement for Thomas, the Nationals are in different stages of its rebuild. Washington has a host of young outfield talent led by top prospect James Wood and fellow rookie Jacob Young. That doesn’t include Dylan Crews, the No. 2 overall pick in 2023, Elijah Green, the No. 5 overall draft pick in 2022, Robert Hassell III, Cristhian Vaquero, and Daylen Lile. All of whom have MLB-estimated arrivals within the next two years.
Seeing how Carlson fit into the equation of the Nationals was hard to picture. The Nationals are focusing on developing their homegrown talent. It will be hard enough to figure out where Crews, Hassell, and Green fit in the puzzle next to Wood and Young. Adding Carlson may have been unmanageable.
