Mike Rizzo was known for his ability to swing a trade, here are five of his best ones as Nats boss
Mike Rizzo’s greatest strength as an executive was his ability to swing a trade. Even at the end when things got pretty ugly, he was still capable of a good, old fashioned fleecing at the deadline. His strong return for Lane Thomas at last deadline shows that. Now, we are going to break down his five best moves as Nationals GM.
- The Trea Turner Trade:
For me, the Trea Turner trade was the best one of Mike Rizzo’s tenure. He got so much for so little. It was an 11 player deal, so I am not going to put all of it in here. However, the core of the deal is that the Padres got Wil Myers from the Rays, the Nats got Trea Turner and Joe Ross from the Padres and the Rays got a bunch of pieces from both teams, most notably Steven Souza Jr. from the Nats and Jake Bauers from the Padres.
To this day, I am not sure how Mike Rizzo got himself into this trade. Why did the Rays not want Turner or Ross for Myers, who was the biggest name in the trade at the time. Turner was the 13th overall pick in the most recent draft.
Due to a rule at the time where draft picks were not allowed to be traded until a year after the draft, Turner was technically a player to be named later. It must have been an awkward feeling for the Padres to see Trea hit .322 for their Double-A team knowing he was not their player.
We all know what Turner became. He was the best player in that trade by some distance. Turner became the Nats starting shortstop after Ian Desmond left and was elite. From 2017-2019, Trea was a great starting shortstop. His power and speed helped the Nats win the World Series. In 2020 and 2021 he took another leap and became a legitimate MVP guy. He was traded to the Dodgers and then signed a massive deal with the Phillies. Joe Ross also had a good run in DC.
2. Juan Soto Trade:
This deal is much more recent and much more famous. On August 2nd, 2022, the Nationals and Padres made the blockbuster of all blockbusters. The Nats sent Hall of Fame talent Juan Soto and a good rental in Josh Bell to San Diego in exchange for a massive prospect haul. The Nats got back CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, James Wood, Robert Hassell III, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit.
As we all know, these guys have become the core of the Nationals. Abrams was an All-Star last year and was arguably snubbed for this years team. MacKenzie Gore has established himself as an ace in this league in 2025, finally realizing all his potential. Finally, James Wood has the look of a man with MVP’s in his future. Robert Hassell has some upside as a fourth outfielder and Jarlin Susana is a top 100 prospect.
In most trades, the team giving up the guy on a path to Cooperstown automatically loses. However, Mike Rizzo found a way to win a trade where he gave up a Hall of Famer. He did that by finding the most desperate team with the best prospect pool. The guys from the Soto trade are keeping the Nationals from being among the likes of the White Sox and Rockies.
3. Wilson Ramos for Matt Capps
While this trade is not as impactful as the other two, it is up there as Mike Rizzo’s best trade from a pure value perspective. At the 2010 trade deadline, the Minnesota Twins wanted bullpen help and the Nationals had a great closer. Matt Capps was an All-Star for the Nats in 2010 and had 26 saves at the time of the trade.
With Hall of Famer Joe Mauer behind the plate, the Twins figured 22 year old catching prospect Wilson Ramos was expendable. Well, that was a mistake. Ramos came to DC and became an above average starter behind the plate, even making an All-Star game.
Meanwhile, Mauer began to have some health issues, eventually making the move to first base. Despite only being 27 at the time, 2010 ended up being the last year Mauer caught more than 100 games. They really could have used a Ramos behind the plate, but Mike Rizzo fleeced them.
4. Gio Gonzalez Trade
The Gio Gonzalez trade is one of my favorites of the Mike Rizzo era because it was a statement of intent. It was Rizzo telling the baseball world that the Nats were ready to win. Gonzalez was coming off back to back great seasons with the A’s in 2010 and 2011, and was just 26 years old. Rizzo wanted a left handed arm to compliment Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann at the top of the rotation
It was a big prospect haul, but Rizzo got his man in exchange for Derek Norris, A.J. Cole, Tommy Milone and Brad Peacock. This was not an awful trade for the A’s, as Milone and Norris both had success in Oakland. However, the Nats easily won the trade.
Gonzalez hit the ground running in 2012. He won 21 games with a 2.89 ERA, finishing third in NL Cy Young voting. In the following years Gonzalez, became more of a 2 or 3 starter than the ace he was in 2012, but he was still productive. He had a 3.62 ERA in 7 seasons with the Nats and was an anchor in that rotation. He could be frustrating at times but he was a great Washington National.
5. Howie Kendrick for McKenzie Mills
There were a lot of contenders for the number 5 slot and we will go over some in the honorable mentions. However, I chose the Howie Kendrick trade because of what he did in 2019 and how little Mike Rizzo gave up.
At the 2017 deadline, the Nats acquired 33 year old Howie Kendrick from the Phillies in exchange for McKenzie Mills and international slot money. After the first year and a half, this seemed like it would be a forgettable trade. Kendrick was mediocre in 2017 for the Nats and tore his achilles in 2018.
Now in his mid-30’s it was fair to assume that Kendrick was done. However, he had a magical season in 2019. In the regular season, Kendrick hit .344 with a crazy .966 OPS. He was on a different plane of existence with the bat.
That carried over into the playoffs. He had two of the biggest moments of the Nats World Series run. His grand slam against the Dodgers got the Nats over the NLDS hump. And of course, who can forget when he banged a Will Harris cutter off the foul pole to give the Nats the lead in game 7. All of that for McKenzie Mills, who never made the Big Leagues.
Honorable Mentions:
There are so many great Rizzo trades but here are some honorable mentions. Getting Tanner Roark for a washed up Cristian Guzman was a masterclass. So was his getting Daniel Hudson for Kyle Johnston. The Lane Thomas for Jon Lester trade deserves a shoutout. Another great one was getting Michael Morse for Ryan Langerhans.
There are even more I could include, but the point is that Mike Rizzo had a real eye for a trade. He had his flaws and they became too much to overcome at the end, but he always made great deals. Thank you for those robberies Mike Rizzo.