Report: Nationals were in on Blackmon before acquiring Eaton

The Washington Nationals made a shocking trade Wednesday when they sent a package of players including top pitching prospect Lucas Giolito to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Adam Eaton, but things could have been very different.

The Nationals were supposedly in talks with the Colorado Rockies about acquiring outfielder Charlie Blackmon before they made the move for Eaton, reports Jon Heyman of FanRagSports.

Blackmon's name was circulating around the winter meetings with the St. Louis Cardinals mentioned as a potential landing spot, which Heyman confirms was true.

Both the 30-year-old Blackmon and the 28-year-old Eaton were valuable players for their respective clubs last season, so the Nationals would have presumably had to offer a similar package - albeit of slightly lesser value - to the Rockies in return for Blackmon, who is under club control for one less season than Eaton and was worth 2.1 fewer WAR.

Blackmon is projected to earn $9 million through arbitration, according to MLB Trade Rumors, which is $5 million more than Eaton would earn next season.