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WASHINGTON - One of the biggest trades in the history of the Washington Nationals took place seven years ago this week.
But the fruits of that deal, which helped win a World Series, were not realized for general manager Mike Rizzo and his staff until 2015.
On Dec. 19, 2014, the Nationals traded outfielder Steven Souza, Jr. and pitcher Travis Ott to Tampa Bay while Washington acquired pitcher Joe Ross and a player to be named later.
Meanwhile, the San Diego Padres received first baseman/outfielder Wil Myers from Tampa Bay.
Souza came up through the Washington system and was a hard-hitting right-handed bat.
But he is most known in the capital for his diving catch for the last out of the game to save the no-hitter for Jordan Zimmermann at Nationals Park in the regular-season finale in 2014.
The player to be named later in the deal seven years ago turned out to be Trea Turner, who had been a first-round pick of the Padres out of North Carolina State in 2014.
Turner began the 2015 season at Double-A in the San Diego system and then became the property of the Nationals in the middle of the year.
He played in 10 games with Double-A Harrisburg and in 48 games with Triple-A Syracuse for a total of 58 games in the minors with Washington.
By chance, he played 58 games in the minors in the San Diego system that year – all at San Antonio.
Turner made his Major League debut on August 21, 2015, with the Nationals and played in 27 games that season for Washington.
The speedy Turner, of course, was the starting shortstop as the Nationals won the World Series in 2019. He was dealt to the Dodgers along with Max Scherzer at the trade deadline in late July of this year.
Ross, a right-hander from California, also aided the Nationals during the postseason run in 2019 and he is still part of the organization.
After opting out of 2020, Ross came back this year and was 5-9 with a 4.17 ERA in 20 games with 19 starts.
Ross figures to once again be in the mix for a spot at the end of the starting rotation in 2022 for the Nationals.