Grading the Washington Nationals' Trade-Deadline Performance

Despite the fact that the Washington Nationals pulled off just one trade, a critique of the team's overall performance at the deadline can vary drastically depending on whom you ask. 

If you ask Drew Storen, who earned 29 saves and a sub-2.00 ERA as Washington's closer for the first half of the season, the review will most likely be negative, and he probably won't ever talk to you again.

That's because Washington's sole deadline trade, the acquisition of Jonathan Papelbon from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for pitching prospect Nick Pivetta and cash, served to displace Storen from his closing role.

So if you ask Papelbon, he'd probably give the deal a ringing endorsement. He made it clear to the Phillies that he would waive his no-trade clause only to facilitate a move to a team that would let him close, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki, and the Nationals became that team.

Papelbon has yet to make a measurable impact on Washington's pursuit of the National League East crown. He's made just one appearance, converting the first save opportunity of his Nationals career with a 1-2-3 inning in Miami on Thursday.

And he spent the entire weekend series against the New York Mets sitting in the bullpen alongside his equally inactive new setup man Storen, a managerial decision that perplexed the local media, as evidenced by these choice tweets:

Hot takes aside, we'll grade Washington's trade-deadline performance using a rubric. We'll evaluate the following categories individually to calculate a GPA that will determine the Nationals' overall grade.

We're going to take this nice and slow, because it looks like Papelbon is still trying to process the whole thing:

Roster Improvement: A

This one isn't complicated. With the disabled list claiming victims by the week and Washington's bullpen having zero continuity, the addition of an established late-inning pitcher is a huge boost for the team. Papelbon would've made a fine setup man to Storen's closer, but the former Phillies reliever has delusions of breaking Mariano Rivera's saves record, according to MLB.com's William Ladson—so here we are.

Now the Nationals conceivably have one of the best one-two punches in baseball at the ends of games to complement a rotation that has shown flashes of the dominance that will always be demanded of it. 

Sacrifice: A

The human element of the equation is simpler than the money, so we'll start there. The only player Washington gave up for Papelbon was Pivetta, meaning the Nationals were able to hang on to their top six pretrade pitching prospects. In a deal for the Cincinnati Reds' Aroldis Chapman or the San Diego Padres' Craig Kimbrel, Washington would've had to do better than that.

Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

The financial aspect of the trade was supposed to be the speed bump, but the Nationals were largely unscathed on that end, too, all things considered. The reason Philadelphia needed to dump Papelbon was his contract. But according to the Washington Post's James Wagner, the Phillies agreed to pay out the remaining $4.5 million of his 2015 salary.

On top of that, the Nationals picked up Papelbon's option for 2016, with the closer taking a $2 million pay cut from $13 million to $11 million.

While the Nationals already have the sixth-highest payroll in baseball this year, they'll break free from Ian Desmond's $11 million salary when he enters free agency after the season ends.

Pursuit of Other Options: C

No fewer than three other trade candidates were linked to Washington before Papelbon entered the fray. 

The Chapman timeline began in early June via a tweet from Fox Sports' Jon Morosi and progressed to the point where Reds scouts were reportedly watching Nationals prospect Erick Fedde pitch a week before the deadline, according to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal.

Kimbrel was a bona fide target for the Nationals in the weeks leading up to the deadline. But a report from CBS Sports' Jon Heyman indicated the Padres wanted Washington to give up its No. 2 prospect, Trea Turner, whom San Diego originally drafted in 2014. 

And according to Washington Post duo James Wagner and Chelsea Janes, the Nationals were "still in the mix" for former reliever Tyler Clippard until the Mets acquired him Monday during deadline week.

It's not for a lack of trying, but Washington's front office usually doesn't clue me in on unrealized trade discussions. Therefore, I have no idea what packages were proposed—and eventually passed on—for Chapman, Kimbrel and Clippard. But the Nationals weren't married to the idea of Papelbon as their closer all along, and it appears they settled for their secondary or tertiary option after trade talks with various other teams broke down.

Overall Grade: B

Washington's trade for Papelbon was a win-now move. The 34-year-old picked up 17 saves and compiled a 1.59 ERA in 37 appearances for Philadelphia this season, so his availability out of the Nationals bullpen will be reassuring while the team makes a push for the pennant in the last two months of the season. 

All stats courtesy of MLB.com.

Danny Garrison is a Washington Nationals Featured Columnist on Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @DannyLGarrison. 

Follow @DannyLGarrison.