Immediate Reaction: Washington Nationals acquire Roenis Elias and Daniel Hudson

The Nationals finally addressed their monstrosity of a bullpen after Sean Doolittle. They have traded for Daniel Hudson from the Toronto Blue Jays and Roenis Elias from the Seattle Mariners.

Hudson has been pretty good this season with a 3.00 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and 48 Ks in 48 innings. Meanwhile, Elias has also been good at times, but his season long numbers aren’t great with a 4.40 ERA and a 45:17 K:BB ratio in 47 innings. These players won’t have a ton of fantasy impact for the Nationals. Elias is a drop in all non-holds leagues, and Hudson remains useful in those formats, but the impact goes beyond the players in the deal. The Nationals gave up prospects that won’t make a major league impact in 2019, so they don’t really matter from a fantasy perspective.

Starting from the Mariners perspective, Hunter Strickland is the biggest value gainer in this move. Strickland started the season as the closer, but has been injured since the teams opening series. He isn’t a dominant reliever, but has shown himself to be useful in his career.

From the Blue Jays perspective, this move only matters if Ken Giles is traded. If Giles moves, this means Joe Biagini would move into the closer role. His numbers on the season aren’t great, but his stuff is pretty good.

Overall, this move has a pretty big impact on bullpens down the stretch of the season. Elias loses all of his value, Hudson loses his role as the incumbent closer, Hunter Strickland is a must-add and Joe Biagini is a must-add if Giles is moved.

***UPDATE*** Hunter Strickland has also been traded to the Nationals, redact everything I said about Strickland and change that to Anthony Bass, who is the only Mariner reliever beyond Elias and Strickland with any chance of succeeding in a closer’s role