Jon Rauch will no longer be closing games, but he’s going to be a part of a competitive team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Though the D-Backs have a record at exactly .500 (50-50), they are on top in the NL West division. In exchange for Rauch, the Diamondbacks gave the Washington Nationals second base prospect Emilio Bonifacio.

“I’m extremely excited,” Rauch said. “Coming over to a ball club like this who is winning their division—tied for first I believe right now. It’s a good group of young and old. … I don’t think it could have worked out any better.”

After the trade occurred, Arizona GM Josh Byrnes explained his reasoning.

“First of all, we have him until 2010,” Byrnes said. “Second of all, we’ve had a lot of leads going into the sixth and seventh innings that we didn’t turn into wins.”

Rauch has had a solid 2008 season closing in Washington; Rauch earned the job after Chad Cordero went down with an injury for the season. Its assumed that the new closer for the Nats will be former starter Joel Hanrahan.

“He reminds a lot of people of (Mets second baseman) Luis Castillo when he was coming up,” Washington manager Manny Acta said of Bonifacio. “He’s got great character. He’s not only a great player but a great person—the type of person we like to have around here. He’s very coachable and the kind of guy you’d like to live next door to.”

In Triple A this season, Bonifacio’s hitting .302 with a .348 OBP and 17 stolen bases.