Trade Deadline Edition

The Nationals are now 4-6 coming out of the All-Star break with a 2 game lead over the New York Mets. The hope is the Nats hover around where they are now until they can get fully healthy. Once they get healthy, hopefully in mid-August, they should be able to blow the Mets away and put the division away by around September 15th-20th. That's fully dependent on if everyone gets and stays healthy though. Not having Anthony Rendon or Denard Span in a playoff series would pretty much end the Nationals season. Those two guys mean that much to the lineup, especially when you're facing aces night in and night out. There's one other person that could end the Nationals season and he's somebody you won't even see on the field.

Matt Williams:
Every time I think Matt Williams has turned a corner with the bullpen, he makes a bonehead decision like he did during last Tuesday night's game against the Mets. In the 7th inning of Tuesday night's game, after a modest 88 pitches, Williams decided to take Joe Ross out of the game. He took him out of the game with a 2-1 lead and runners on second and third with no outs. After a hard hit single by Wilmer Flores, Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit soft a grounder to Clint Robinson, which deflected off of his glove and into the outfield. Keep in mind, a lightly hit ball is what got the Nationals into this second and third jam. Joe Ross keeps his composure and gets Kevin Plawecki to pop out to second base. If you're a Nats fan you're thinking "Ok, we may get out of this" and if you were thinking that, you were sorely mistaken. Matt Williams after seeing two lasers off the bats of Nieuwenhuis and Plawecki that DIDN'T EVEN LEAVE THE INFIELD decided he had seen enough of Joe Ross. It was time to go get him and bring Aaron Barrett. I have two problems with this - First of all, Aaron Barrett and his 4.50 ERA haven't exactly been reliable this year. I get it, he's a ground ball pitcher, but how were you planning on turning a double play to get out of the inning anyways? Runners were on second and third, there was no force play. So you bring the infield in expecting a ground ball and that ultimately cost you the game. Just a garbage strategy. Second, Joe Ross had just gotten the previous two batters to hit balls that didn't even leave the infield. What did you see that showed you any sign of fatigue or that the Mets were starting to see him better?  The correct answer is there was absolutely no reason to pull Ross. If he stays in the game and gives up a hit, then so be it, he still had a great outing. At least let the kid lose his own game, it's not like you were bringing a shutdown reliever like Aroldis Chapman in there to help minimize damage. As I've said before, I like Matt Williams the person, but I think Williams would have been better suited learning on the fly managing the Diamondbacks or a team that doesn't have as much pressure to win now. It's mistakes like these that will cost you a playoff series and I can promise you that if Matt Williams makes another decision like he did last year with Jordan Zimmermann, I'll throw my TV off the balcony and then send the Nationals the bill.

Trade Deadline:
Now for one of my personal favorite times of the year, the trade deadline. As July 31st approaches, there will be a bunch of rumors regarding just about every team in the Majors, including the Nationals. Per usual, you'll never know what's real and what's not because Mike Rizzo is one of the best in the business at holding his cards close to his chest. With that being said, it's pretty obvious what the Nationals' needs are. A super-utility player or an outfielder and a bullpen arm. There was a pretty obvious match for these needs, up until about 5 PM today. The Oakland Athletics and Billy Beane (who Mike Rizzo has made many trades with over the past few years) have Ben Zobrist and had former Nat, Tyler Clippard waiting to be shipped out.

At 5 PM today though, the Mets made a hilarious move - I can only think of one reason they did it, fear. The Mets were scared that the Nationals would re-acquire Clippard, so they made sure that didn't happen by acquiring him themselves. The Mets do not have a need for pitching, their rotation is stacked and their bullpen, before the addition of Clippard, was better than the Nats. For a team who halted trade talks with these same Athletics earlier in the year because they didn't want to take on additional salary (although they'll pay Bobby Bonilla almost $1.2 million all the way through 2035), this move screams desperation. The Mets lineup is probably one of the least frightening in baseball, so what did they do? Go get another pitcher of course! What's done is done though, so let's take a look at some other moves the Nationals may be able to pull off before Friday's deadline.

I think if the Nats are truly going for it all this year, they have to make a move for a bat/insurance option in case Rendon, Zimmerman, or somebody like that either can't come back or gets hurt again. Their bigger need at the deadline though is finding a way to get a top reliever. Getting a Craig Kimbrel or Aroldis Chapman is not going to be even remotely cheap or reasonable, but if one those two can help bring a World Series to Washington, it won't matter what was given up. When I say it won't matter what was given up, I say that loosely. There are obviously players/prospects that are off limits. Lucas Giolito, Michael Taylor (Beane has reportedly already asked for Taylor in a previous trade), Trea Turner (who the Padres reportedly want back in a trade for Kimbrel), Joe Ross, and Erick Fedde are off limits. Every other prospect is fair game. Would a package of AJ Cole and Wilmer Difo be enough to get somebody like Kimbrel? I'm not sure, but I think it would at least get the conversation started. As for acquiring somebody like Zobrist, I think the price tag will be similar. That may be tough to swallow because at least Kimbrel and/or Chapman would be coming with at least one more year of team control. Zobrist would be a free agent at the end of the year, but there are so many teams interested in him, the best offer is going to land him. Literally every playoff team is interested in Zobrist. He can play 5 or 6 different positions, doesn't strike out much, and he can hit in the middle of your lineup. It will take something like AJ Cole and Reynaldo Lopez (possibly another lower end prospect) to land Zobrist. If those prices are too high for Rizzo, then he's most likely not going to land an impact bat or impact reliever at the deadline. Everything we've heard this year is that the Nationals are going for it all this year. If they truly are, it's time to make sure the rest of baseball knows it, and make a big deal.

 The Nats haven't been healthy all year and there's nothing to suggest that they'll ever be 100%. Denard Span and Ryan Zimmerman both have nagging injuries that have bothered them all season. Getting some insurance just in case one of those two has to shut it down for the rest of the year wouldn't be a bad idea. Zobrist and Kimbrel are the best case scenario for the Nats. The more likely scenario is the Nats don't add a bat but they do add a lower caliber bullpen arm. My prediction is the Nats end up with Joaquin Benoit of the Padres. The price tag to get him will be more palatable and he will step in as the set up man for the Nats. We'll see how Rizzo plays it, but the bottom line is Rizzo needs to add to the bullpen.

Side note - The Dodgers are going to make a big move before the deadline. They'll wind up with either David Price or Cole Hamels  and to be honest a playoff rotation of Kershaw, Grienke, and Price/Hamels is pretty scary. I don't want the Nats to be reactive and make a trade because of that, but it's also something to keep in mind. Lining up Scherzer, Zimmermann, and Strasburg against the Dodgers may not be enough if the Dodgers wind up with Price or Hamels. Stay tuned...