Mark it down: Dec. 7, 2016, the untouchable was jettisoned.
Lucas Giolito’s massive frame and now-in-question potential were traded to the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday for an outfielder nicknamed “Spanky” who is an advanced-metric darling, but hardly an inspiring acquisition.
To show how far Giolito’s pitching reputation has fallen in a year, he alone was not enough to obtain Adam Eaton, who has never had more than an .800 OPS. Two other top prospect pitchers, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning, a first-round Washington pick in 2016, had to be packaged with Giolito.
“I think the determining factor to do a deal that included Lucas was the player that we got in return,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo told reporters.