The Washington Nationals have acquired 22-year old catching prospect Wilson Ramos (pictured) and 24-year old left handed pitcher Joe Testa from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for All-Star closer Matt Capps and cold hard cash considerations.

A little on each guy from the official release starting with Ramos:

Regarded as one of baseball’s top prospects, the Venezuela-born Ramos entered 2010 rated as the best power hitter, the best defensive catcher and the Twins’ No. 2 prospect according to industry-insider Baseball America. Entering the 2009 season, BA listed Ramos as Minnesota’s third-ranked prospect.

The 22 year-old Ramos was batting .241 with 14 doubles, five home runs and 30 RBI in 71 games with Rochester of the Triple-A International League at the time of the trade. Last season, Ramos’ first at the Double-A level, he paced all Twins full-season farmhands in batting average (.317), threw out 42 percent of would-be basestealers and was subsequently named the Eastern League’s No. 8 prospect.

Ramos—who stands 6-foot-0, 220 lbs.—made his big league debut with Minnesota in May and batted .296 (8-for-26) with three doubles and one RBI in seven games.

Ramos is a career .281 hitter (429-for-1527) with 88 doubles, 37 home runs and 226 RBI in 414 minor-league games spanning six seasons. He signed with the Twins as a non-drafted free agent on July 7, 2004.

As for Joe Testa:

Testa, 24, was 1-1 with one save and a 3.30 ERA in 15 appearances with Ft. Myers of the Single-A Florida State League upon being acquired by Washington. Including a stint in the Double-A Eastern League earlier this season, Testa fanned 8.3 batters per 9.0 innings pitched in 36 appearances in the Twins’ system.

Testa earned Single-A Midwest League All-Star status last season as he posted a .161 batting average against and 12.4 strikeouts per 9.0 innings in 25 appearances with Beloit. He signed with the Twins as a non-drafted free agent, July 1, 2008, after a collegiate career at Wagner (NY) College.

These pick ups aren’t that bad although it is sad to see Matt Capps leave D.C. and the bullpen is going to be feeling his absence for awhile. But what is a last place team still a distance away from even kissing second place in the division going to do with an All-Star closer? Capps was a surprise, extra commodity and a deal had to be made for the benefit of the team. One kind of hopes he’ll want to come back to D.C. later on. Still– it kind of sucks:

“I’m excited about the opportunity to go and play in the playoffs,” Capps said. “Right now, I’m saddened I’m leaving a group of guys and the people in the Washington organization. They have been classy from the get-go. When everything happened in December, when the Pirates non-tendered me, it was an empty feeling. The Washington Nationals and everyone involved have been absolutely phenomenal. It’s something that I will remember for a long time. I certainly enjoyed my time. Now, I have to focus on moving forward and helping the Minnesota Twins.”

As for the new additions, Testa is a pitcher and what team doesn’t need plenty of those? His stats seem more than serviceable. The real catch here of course is Wilson Ramos who will start in Triple-A Syracuse and be groomed for the big role in the Majors. Jesus Flores, still recovering from a May 2009 injury is fading into memory and other Nationals catching prospect Derek Norris is getting over some injuries of his own. The Nats have to feel better having a plan now at the catching position.

I know I do. On some nights I stay up on a coffee-buzz worrying about it and doing tribal healing dances around pictures of Flores and Norris. For some reason it hasn’t worked for those two, but somehow Wil Nieves continues to be in the line-up. The Dark Lord is tricky.

It is what happens when you dabble in black magic.

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