Trea Turner finally traded to Washington Nationals

Normally it’s a big deal when a top prospect is traded. The thing is we knew this move was coming for awhile now.

The Washington Nationals officially acquired shortstop Trea Turner from the San Diego Padres on Sunday as the player to be named later from a three-team December swap that saw Wil Myers go from Tampa Bay to San Diego and Washington get right-hander Joe Ross.

The only reason Turner, the 13th overall pick in the 2014 MLB draft, didn’t join the Nationals right away was due to a rule that stated that teams could not trade their first-round picks for one year after they signed their first contract. So when the trade was consumated Turner was not included by name, even if it was understood by all parties involved that the promising 21-year-old would be the player to be named later when he became eligible to be traded. That day came Saturday and it didn’t take long to get the paperwork filed to complete the deal.

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The rule that held Turner out of the original trade has since been changed. Teams are now allowed to trade their first-round picks the day after that season’s World Series ends.

It was an odd situation, but the limbo certainly didn’t seem to affect Turner’s development or his performance. In 58 games with the Padres’ Double-A team in San Antonio, Turner hit .322/.385/.471 with five home runs and 11 stolen bases.

Now he’s finally off to the organization where he’s viewed as the shortstop of the future with Ian Desmond set to become a free-agent at season’s end. Turner will report to Double-A Harrisburg, where he’ll look to keep up the pace he set while in the Padres’ system.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr