The Nationals have agreed to terms on a trade that will send Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon to Washington. CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman has confirmed the deal first reported by FOX Sports. The full terms of the deal, including who the Phillies will get in return, have yet to be confirmed. MLB.com reports that the Phillies will receive RHP Nick Pivetta in the deal.The Nationals' bullpen has hardly been a disaster this season, as the relief corps presently ranks seventh in NL in bullpen ERA and fourth in bullpen WAR. As well, closer Drew Storen has thrived in 2015: 1.73 ERA and no unearned runs in 36 1/3 innings, 4.89 K/BB ratio, and a 94-percent success rate in save situations. 
In that sense, consider this to be more of a depth play by GM Mike Rizzo.As for the 34-year-old Papelbon, this season he's pitched to a stellar 1.59 ERA with 40 strikeouts against just seven unintentional walks in 39 2/3 innings. For his career, he owns an ERA+ of 186 and is 12th on the all-time saves list with 342.Papelbon is owed the balance of a $13-million salary for 2015. As for 2016, his contract contains a $13-million vesting option. According to FOX's Ken Rosenthal, though, the Nationals will pick up Papelbon's option for 2016, albeit at a reduced cost in exchange for assurances that he'll remain in the closer's role after the trade.THREE THINGS TO KNOW1. Papelbon has aged well, and should continue to do so.Moving forward, the ZiPS projection system available at FanGraphs tabs Papelbon for a 3.04 ERA in 23.0 innings over the remainder of 2015. Given his recent success when it comes to limiting hard contact off the bat, he's a good bet to outperform those numbers. Papelbon's coped with modest velocity loss in recent seasons by relying more on his slider and also changing the shape of his slider so as to get more drop. This season, Papelbon's also seen a big spike in his groundball rate (51.9 percent versus a career mark of 38.9 percent). That's the kind of indicator that tends to stabilize pretty quickly, so there's likely something to it. All of this has helped him sustain the dominance even into his thirties.2. Storen may have been a bit lucky to be so dominant.
On the Storen front, ZiPS foresees a 2.79 ERA in 23 innings. While Storen is missing bats with aplomb and has nothing awry with his batting average on balls in play, he's been quite lucky when it comes to keeping fly balls in the park. Maybe he regresses on that front, and maybe he doesn't. Either way, the projections see a decline in performance ahead for each of these shutdown right-handers. We'll see whether that comes to pass.3. The Phillies may have acquired an eventual back-end piece for the rotation.As for the Phillies' end of things, the 22-year-old Pivetta was a fourth-round choice in 2013 out of a New Mexico junior college. Across parts of three minor-league seasons, the right-hander has pitched to a 3.60 ERA and 2.23 K/BB ratio in 53 games, 50 of which have been starts. He's a live arm whose secondary offerings need work, but he projects as a useful fourth starter type at the highest level.Dayn Perry/CBS Sports
In that sense, consider this to be more of a depth play by GM Mike Rizzo.As for the 34-year-old Papelbon, this season he's pitched to a stellar 1.59 ERA with 40 strikeouts against just seven unintentional walks in 39 2/3 innings. For his career, he owns an ERA+ of 186 and is 12th on the all-time saves list with 342.Papelbon is owed the balance of a $13-million salary for 2015. As for 2016, his contract contains a $13-million vesting option. According to FOX's Ken Rosenthal, though, the Nationals will pick up Papelbon's option for 2016, albeit at a reduced cost in exchange for assurances that he'll remain in the closer's role after the trade.THREE THINGS TO KNOW1. Papelbon has aged well, and should continue to do so.Moving forward, the ZiPS projection system available at FanGraphs tabs Papelbon for a 3.04 ERA in 23.0 innings over the remainder of 2015. Given his recent success when it comes to limiting hard contact off the bat, he's a good bet to outperform those numbers. Papelbon's coped with modest velocity loss in recent seasons by relying more on his slider and also changing the shape of his slider so as to get more drop. This season, Papelbon's also seen a big spike in his groundball rate (51.9 percent versus a career mark of 38.9 percent). That's the kind of indicator that tends to stabilize pretty quickly, so there's likely something to it. All of this has helped him sustain the dominance even into his thirties.2. Storen may have been a bit lucky to be so dominant.
On the Storen front, ZiPS foresees a 2.79 ERA in 23 innings. While Storen is missing bats with aplomb and has nothing awry with his batting average on balls in play, he's been quite lucky when it comes to keeping fly balls in the park. Maybe he regresses on that front, and maybe he doesn't. Either way, the projections see a decline in performance ahead for each of these shutdown right-handers. We'll see whether that comes to pass.3. The Phillies may have acquired an eventual back-end piece for the rotation.As for the Phillies' end of things, the 22-year-old Pivetta was a fourth-round choice in 2013 out of a New Mexico junior college. Across parts of three minor-league seasons, the right-hander has pitched to a 3.60 ERA and 2.23 K/BB ratio in 53 games, 50 of which have been starts. He's a live arm whose secondary offerings need work, but he projects as a useful fourth starter type at the highest level.Dayn Perry/CBS Sports
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