Toboni acquires catcher Harry Ford and pitcher Isaac Lyon for closer Jose A. Ferrer
While the Winter Meetings start tomorrow on Sunday evening, the fireworks usually do not go off until Monday night — and Paul Toboni didn’t wait. Most were waiting for headlines of a blockbuster trade of MacKenzie Gore, yet it was a trade of Nats’ closer Jose A. Ferrer that stoked the hot stove quickly in a Washington state trade with Washington, D.C. For most of us, we didn’t see this coming. We heard the rumors of demand for Ferrer, and that the Nats wanted Ford. But nobody said this would be the trade!
With this Toboni trade to acquire catcher Harry Ford and pitcher Isaac Lyon for Ferrer, you hope this is Toboni’s equivalent to the Nats sending the Twins closer Matt Capps for catcher Wilson Ramos (ranked №58 by Baseball America) and pitcher Joe Testa over 15 years ago. If you remember, Ramos was blocked by a star catcher named Joe Mauer, similar to Ford being blocked by Cal Raleigh.
There was a time when Ford was the №38 prospect in 2024 on MLB Pipeline and today is №42. Ford is at №74 on Baseball America’s most recent ranking, and was most recently ranked №4 on the latest prospect rankings for the Mariners’ farm system which boasts many young stars.
Ford was the top prep backstop and the second-highest ranked catcher in the 2021 draft class, and was drafted at №12 overall in the first round by Seattle. He showed big in his Futures Games in 2023 and 2024, and also played in the last World Baseball Classic for Great Britain and hit a home run in Chase Field. Currently, Ford is repped by the Boras Corporation as his agency per a source.
“I’d say I’m pretty complete [as a player]. I’m not trying to look for walks — and I’m not trying to look for homers. I have moments where I take my chances and I’m going to put a big swing on a 2-0 pitch here and there. But I’m just a gap-to-gap line drive hitter.”
— Ford said in a media call
“I attribute the walks to me being able to wait late because I’ve got really fast hands so I can see the ball longer. But I just get on base. I find ways to get on base. That’s what I do.”
“Everyone is really fresh and on the-up-and-coming. I’m excited to be around some grinders and some dudes that are ready to get after it.”
What this means for the Nationals catchers is that it creates more questions than we have answers at this time. We know that Keibert Ruiz is owed $36.9 million guaranteed going forward, and Riley Adams just signed a split contract that could cost the Nats upwards of $1 million. On top of that, the Nats still have Drew Millas under control, and he had a breakout in an 18-game sample, before he broke his thumb during the 2025 season.
In the minor leagues dating back to Ford’s first game, he is second in most walks and on-base percentage at .405 for any players with at least 2,000 plate appearances in that span. While Ford has been adept at taking his walks, he struggled to get his hits in his small six at-bat sample after his MLB debut. He does show power and speed for a catcher.
The bigger issue has been Ford’s defense. He still has to improve overall on his defensive skills of blocking and framing. That’s been a problem with Nats catchers for years. For the first time, Ford did get time in left field in 2024 for eight games as the Mariners tried to see if they could get him to work at another spot, but mostly because he was blocked by Raleigh.
On Sept. 5, 2025, Ford made his MLB debut at Atlanta. On Sept. 11 against the Los Angeles Angels, he drove in the game-winning run with a walk-off sacrifice fly in the 12th inning. He appeared in eight games during this stint, going 1-for-6 (.167) with one RBI and one run scored. Ford’s season with Triple-A Tacoma had him batting .283 with 18 doubles, 16 home runs, 74 RBI, 74 walks, seven stolen bases and 68 runs scored in 97 games. He recorded a .408 on-base percentage and a .460 slugging percentage and struck out just 88 times in 458 plate appearances (19.1% strikeout rate).
Lyon, 21, was drafted by the Mariners in the 10th round of the 2025 First-Year Player Draft out of Grand Canyon University. He struck out 15 batters against just three walks in 12.1 innings pitched while going 0–2 with a 7.30 ERA in four games with Single-A Modesto.
The son of former MLB pitcher Brandon Lyon, the younger Lyon posted 8.68 strikeouts per 9.0 innings, 2.08 walks per 9.0 innings and a 4.17 strikeout-to-walk ratio in three collegiate seasons at Grand Canyon University. He finished his career going 9–6 with a 4.32 ERA in 29 career starts.
With Ferrer departing as the Nats’ main closer, this leaves themselves with a gaping hole in a bullpen that was the worst in MLB in 2025 with an ERA that hovered near 6.00 for much of the season and finished on a nice run led by Ferrer to get to a 5.59 ERA.
This trade from the bullpen is kind of reminiscent of former GM Mike Rizzo trading reliever Robert Garcia from the bullpen last year at a time when the bullpen already looked suspect, and the worst fears showed how that bad bullpen took down the entire pitching staff with those fears materializing right from Opening Day with a bullpen meltdown.
You hope Toboni has a bullpen plan, and right now Clayton Beeter would be the next man up if the Nats don’t acquire a closer or have another internal plan. Beeter has one career save which he notched for the Nats after he was acquired in a July trade deadline deal with the Yankees.
What is the impact of this trade on a possible Gore trade?
