In spite of Mike Rizzo's repeated comments about his willingness to keep both Drew Storen and Jonathan Papelbon in the Washington Nationals' bullpen, rumors persisted that the Nats were trying to deal their late-inning arms this winter.
Storen, 28, with one year of team control remaining, and a projected $8.8M salary in 2016, reportedly requested a trade last July, when the Nationals acquired Papelbon from the Phillies and named him their closer, pushing Storen into the eighth inning after he'd handled the ninth in save situations to that point.
Just two days ago, when he spoke after Daniel Murphy's introductory press conference, Rizzo told reporters, including CSN Mid-Atlantic.com's Chase Hughes, that unless he got a serious offer, Storen and Papelbon would stay.
"I think we’re in the same place that we’ve always been," Rizzo said:
"If there’s a baseball trade that makes sense, we would make it. We’re not gonna trade anybody to move a player because we like both of them. We think they’re both talented relievers. Both of them on our team makes our bullpen better."
Apparently a deal for Ben Revere with the Toronto Blue Jays is something that satisfied Rizzo's demands for a trade that made sense. Several sources are now confirming that it's done:
Revere for storen is agreed upon
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 9, 2016
Sources: #BlueJays have acquired Drew Storen from #Nationals from Ben Revere. First reported as close by @jonheyman.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 9, 2016
Can confirm that longtime Nats reliever Storen goes to Toronto. https://t.co/mgsq2OY0Sr
— Barry Svrluga (@barrysvrluga) January 9, 2016
Storen finished the 2015 campaign, his sixth in the majors, with a 3.44 ERA, a 2.79 FIP, 16 walks (2.62 BB/9) and 67 Ks (10.96 K/9) in 55 IP, over which he was worth 1.1 fWAR.
Revere, 27, put up a .306/.342/.377 line with 22 doubles, seven triples, two home runs and 31 stolen bases for the Phillies and Blue Jays in 2015, finishing the year at 1.9 fWAR.
Revere projected to earn $6.7M in arbitration by @MLBTradeRumors, Storen $8.8M.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 9, 2016
The Nationals confirmed the deal on Twitter:
The #Nats have acquired OF Ben Revere from the @BlueJays in exchange for RHP Drew Storen: https://t.co/0WUtNgmE8d pic.twitter.com/Hq7NAT34Ac
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) January 9, 2016