The A's and Washington Nationals have agreed to a trade that will send catcher Yan Gomes and infielder Josh Harrison to Oakland, ESPN's Jeff Passan reports. Prospects Drew Millas, Seth Shuman, Richard Guasch will head to Washington, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The deal is pending results of physicals.
Gomes and Harrison, each 33 years of age, are enjoying strong 2021 seasons at the plate. In 63 games as the Nats' primary catcher, Gomes has batted .271/.323/.454 (115 OPS+) with 21 extra-base hits. Over the last three seasons combined, Gomes owns an OPS+ of 98. With Oakland, Gomes figures to share time behind the plate with Sean Murphy.
As for Harrison, he's batting .294/.366/.434 (124 OPS+) this season with 23 doubles and five stolen bases in 90 games as the Nats' second baseman. For his career, Harrison has a 97 OPS+ across parts of 11 big-league seasons. In recent seasons, Harrison has spent most of his time at second and third base, and he's seen some duty in the outfield.
The A's right now trail the Astros by 5 1/2 games in the AL West, but they have a 2 1/2-game cushion over the Mariners in the race for the second wild card spot in the AL. Earlier this deadline, they added star outfielder Starling Marte and lefty reliever Andrew Chafin to the fold.
The Nationals, meantime, have undertaken a deep teardown this month. In addition to the deal above, GM Mike Rizzo in recent days have shipped off ace Max Scherzer, star shortstop Trea Turner, slugging outfielder Kyle Schwarber, and relievers Daniel Hudson and Brad Hand.