After decades of avoiding each other, the Nationals and Orioles finally made a trade

The Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals share a region, a fanbase overlap, and roughly 40 miles of highway. What they never shared was a trade. Until now.

On Tuesday, the two teams worked out their very first deal. The Nationals sent infielder Randal Diaz to the Orioles in exchange for right-handed pitcher Kyle Nicolas, according to Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic. Nicolas was optioned to Triple-A Rochester.

This isn’t the kind of trade that moves betting lines or sells jerseys. But it’s notable because it took this long. The Nationals moved to Washington in 2005. The Orioles have been in Baltimore since 1954. For two decades they coexisted without ever swapping a single player. That streak is over now.

The players involved

Nicolas is a 27-year-old who has a 4.96 ERA across 93 big league appearances. The Orioles acquired him from the Reds earlier this season but he never threw a pitch for them at the major league level. Now he heads to Washington’s system.

Diaz is a shortstop who hasn’t made it to the majors yet. In 164 minor league games he has slashed .235/.332/.320. Not eye-popping numbers but he’s still young enough to develop.

Both guys are depth pieces. The kind of players who get swapped on the margins of a roster. But that’s sort of the point. If two teams that share a market couldn’t even agree on a minor deal for the better part of two decades, something was off.

Why now?

The Orioles have been banged up this year. Adding infield depth makes sense. The Nationals have surprised some people by being competitive early on, so adding an arm with some MLB experience also makes sense. Both sides filled a need, even if it’s a small one.

This probably doesn’t mean the two teams are suddenly going to start dealing all the time. The fact that it took 20 years to get one trade done suggests the rivalry — or whatever you want to call it — runs deeper than geography would suggest. But at least the ice is broken.

The trade deadline is still a ways off and the Nats could go either way on selling. For now though, both teams got something they needed. And a weird bit of history got made along the way.