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The first trade domino has fallen for the Washington Nationals.
As first reported by Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Nationals have traded infielder Curtis Mead to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for left-handed pitcher Connelly Early.
This comes after reports indicated Washington was still looking to sell of some of their best trade assets ahead of the deadline.
Mead, who is in the midst of a breakout season, certainly fit that bill with what he did during the first half of the year.
And with the Red Sox searching for right-handed hitters to aid their own playoff push, the Nationals decided to sell high and get back a potential long-term piece for their future by acquiring Early.
Nationals Acquire High-Upside Starting Pitcher Connelly Early Early, who is currently on the 15-day injured list due to elbow inflammation, was a fifth-round pick by Boston back in 2023.
He quickly rose up their pipeline and made his major league debut in 2025, where he pitched to a 2.33 ERA across his four starts with 29 strikeouts to just four walks over 19 1/3 innings pitched.
Before going on the IL this year, Early was in the midst of another good season.
He had a 3.44 ERA and an ERA+ of 119 across 17 starts, as he struck out 93 batters with 34 walks over 91 2/3 innings.
Formerly a top 10 prospect in the Red Sox's pipeline, the 24-year-old is a controllable asset with multiple seasons of pre-arbitration remaining before he even reaches the arbitration stage.
Going after that type of starting pitcher is exactly what Washington needed.
While they have some intriguing arms in their farm system, many of them are at the lower levels of their pipeline, with left-hander Jackson Kent and right-hander Luis Perales being the only top 30 prospects above the Double-A level.
Nationals Smartly Flipped Curtis Mead to Get This Done To land someone like Early, the Nationals were going to have to trade away someone with value.
And they ultimately decided to flip Mead while his value was at its peak to get this deal done.
That is the smart decision from Washington.
Mead wasn't even on this roster to start the season, as he was acquired to be a platoon option at first base just days into the start of the 2026 campaign from the Chicago White Sox.
But when Brady House continued to struggle, the Nationals optioned him to Triple-A Rochester and moved Mead over to third base as their everyday guy at the hot corner.
That gave him the runway to have success, and he took advantage of that with a .256/.351.505 slash line, 17 home runs, 48 RBIs and an OPS+ of 136.
Not having that production in the lineup going forward could hurt Washington's league-best offense.
But it's clear that they needed to upgrade their pitching staff, both for the short- and long-term.
The Nationals did exactly that by acquiring Early.
And this now opens up the possibility for even more trades to be made before the deadline, as president of baseball operations Paul Toboni tries to thread the needle by improving this current team while also creating a brighter future.
Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism.
While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports.
Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics.
Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network.
He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports.
You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai.