The biggest theft the Washington Nationals have pulled away from the New York Mets might be Daniel Murphy after the 2015 season. The Mets kind of left him unchained, letting the postseason hero leave for their NL East rival where he’d finish as the MVP runner-up in his first year in D.C.
Less immediately impactful but maybe more hurtful was a loss over the weekend. Desmond McGowan, who had been with the Mets organization since 2021, is leaving for the Nationals to lead their amateur scouting. Classified as a draft-focused manager of data science, his direct impact isn’t fully understood.