Nationals Acquire Nate Furman From Giants

The Nationals have acquired infielder Nate Furman from the Giants, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports.  Minor league left-hander Tony Neubeck is heading to San Francisco in return.  The Nats announced that left-hander Richard Lovelady has been designated for assignment in the corresponding move.

The trade reduces the Giants’ list of 40-man roster players to 49, though obviously a lot of work is still to be done before tomorrow’s deadline for removing players from the 60-day injured list.  San Francisco needs to be down to 40 players in less than 24 hours, so expect the team to announce more trades, outrights, releases, or players designated for assignment in the near future.

As per RosterResource, the Nationals also have 45 players on their 40-man, so Furman adds to an already crowded picture in D.C. even with Lovelady now in DFA limbo.  It could be that the Nats simply didn’t want to pass up on a chance to land a player they found intriguing, especially if the Giants’ roster situation left Furman available for a pretty inexpensive price.  This is the second player the Nats have acquired from the Giants in the last week, as Braxton Roxby was claimed on waivers on Thursday.

A fourth-round pick for the Guardians in the 2022 draft, Furman was dealt for the first time in 2024, as the player-to-be-named-later in the deadline deal that sent Alex Cobb from San Francisco to Cleveland.  Furman made his Major League debut this season, hitting .125/.243/.125 in his first 39 plate appearances against big league pitching and appearance in 22 games for the Giants.

The 25-year-old Furman has an intriguing mix of on-base ability and speed, with a career .292/.400/.404 slash line and 69 steals (out of 82 attempts) over 1287 PA in his minor league career.  Furman came pretty close to duplicating that career slash line in 468 PA with Triple-A Sacramento this season, and he was successful in 19 of 24 stolen base attempts.  This marked his first taste of Triple-A action, and he showed a bit more pop even if he’s more of a doubles hitter than a home run threat.

Furman has played a bit of third base and shortstop in the minors, but he has been only a second baseman over the last two seasons.  Acquiring a left-handed hitting second base option is an interesting move for the Nationals given that CJ Abrams is often rumored as a trade candidate, though Furman isn’t exactly the type of blue-chip prospect that could immediately step into the District’s lineup if Abrams was dealt.

Lovelady is no stranger to DFA limbo, as he has been designated and outrighted many times in his career.  This means that if he clears waivers, he can opt for free agency instead of accepting an outright assignment to Washington’s Triple-A squad.

The Mets and Nationals exchanged Lovelady a few times via the waiver wire or waiver trades in early 2026 before a trade to Washington in April finally provided some stability for the rest of the left-hander’s season.  He posted a 4.11 ERA, 18% strikeout rate, and 14% walk rate over 35 combined innings with the Mets and Nats, though Lovelady also missed about two and a half months on the injured list due to a triceps strain.

Neubeck’s college career saw him spend three years at Missouri and the 2026 season at Indiana, though he wasn’t drafted this past summer.  The Nationals signed him to a free agent deal in August, and Neubeck began his pro career by tossing six scoreless innings over two relief appearances for A-level Fredericksburg.