The Biggest Blow Yet

It’s bad...real bad. Let me try to talk you off the ledge though, because it sounds worse than it really is. Oh and for once, I’m not talking about the bullpen. I'll try my best to completely ignore the bullpen because at the end of the day, what more could we possibly say about this flaming dumpster fire that hasn’t already been said. No, what I’m talking about is the Nationals lineup, which has been getting knocked around all season, but to date, it may have just taken its biggest blow.

Losing Adam Eaton for the season in late April was a tough loss, but Michael A. Taylor has filled in admirably. The thought process was, if the lineup stays in tact minus Eaton, and Taylor can hit around .250, that the Nationals would be fine. But to lose Eaton and Turner now for an extended period of time is a big blow. Not many teams would be able to lose their top two hitters in the lineup to injury and continue to score runs at a high level, the Nationals included. So, here’s where we are:

Nationals lineup Opening Day                       Nationals possible lineup June 30^th

Turner                                                              Taylor

Eaton                                                               Goodwin

Harper                                                             Harper

Murphy                                                           Zimmerman

Zimmerman                                                     Murphy

Werth                                                              Rendon

Drew (Rendon was hurt)                                Drew

Wieters                                                            Wieters

If Dusty wanted to go way outside the box, he could move Rendon to the leadoff spot and leave Goodwin hitting second and Taylor hitting eighth. Rendon sees a lot of pitches and although he has more power than the prototypical leadoff man, his OBP is sky high at .402 right now. This lineup still looks deep and should have no problem surviving until Turner comes back (assuming Taylor keeps hitting), hopefully in the beginning of September. The biggest issue now is that our once deep bench is now a below average bench. Dusty can still call on Lind as his top pinch hitter, but past Lind, his options are Difo, Raburn, Lobaton, and newly called up Adrian Sanchez.

Here’s the thing though, this lineup and bench only have to survive for about a week and a half before some help arrives. Jayson Werth is expected to return after the All-Star break, so that would move Goodwin to the bench, providing some much needed depth there. It also deepens the lineup. As good as Goodwin has been, Werth has an ability to see a bunch of pitches each at bat, along with his .367 OBP this year is something you ideally want in your leadoff man. Once Werth is back, expect to see him in the leadoff spot and then maybe see Rendon in the two hole.

If for some reason Mike Rizzo decides that he needs to go acquire a shortstop, he can do that. There should be plenty available with Jed Lowry, Eduardo Nunez, and Zack Cozart topping the list. I know I said I wouldn’t talk about the bullpen, but I can’t help myself – the beauty of making a trade for any of those three shortstops is that each of those teams has a closer or a reliever that would significantly improve the Nationals bullpen. Oakland has Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson, San Francisco has Mark Melancon, and Cincinnati has Drew Storen. Yeah, I’m completely kidding, Cincinnati has Raisel Iglesias.

Ideally, Mike Rizzo goes to Oakland first and tries to get Lowry, Doolittle, AND Madson. Why? A couple of reasons, but the biggest reason being the Nationals would acquire three players in this deal who are controllable after this year if they want them. Lowry is the only one with a club option, which is valued at $6 million, or it can be bought out for $1 million. Doolittle can’t become a free agent until 2020 and Madson will not be a free agent until after the 2018 season. It’s a move that helps the bullpen not only this year, but for the next couple of years without completely restricting the payroll.

Each of these deals would present complications though too. San Francisco looks like the best trade partner on paper. Nunez plays shortstop, can leadoff, and steals lots of bases. He could potentially fill right in for Turner until he returns. Melancon came to the Nationals in a deadline deal last year and did a fantastic job. The issue is, Melancon is owed another $53 million over the next three seasons and he has hit the disabled list twice this season. The Lerners don’t want to spend $500,000 to improve this team, so how would anybody convince them to take on $53 million? Not going to happen.

The issue with Cincinnati is Raisel Iglesias is young and under team control through the 2020 season. Not to mention, Cozart is having an All Star season at shortstop. The cost to acquire both of these guys is probably going to be too rich for Mike Rizzo to swallow. I would assume it would include either Victor Robles or Erick Fedde and then another 2-3 prospects on top of that. Rizzo is going to try to get through the trade deadline without giving up Robles or Fedde, but it’s going to be tough.

My best guess is Mike Rizzo approaches Billy Beane about Lowry, Madson, and Doolittle, but unless the Athletics are willing to send some money to the Nationals, I don’t know that it works. Something like Jed Lowry, Ryan Madson, Sean Doolittle and $6 million in return for Juan Soto, Sheldon Neuse, A.J. Cole, and Brian Goodwin could work, but who knows if the A’s will bite on sending the cash back. It would give the A’s a Major League ready outfielder and some rotation depth (remember that Billy Beane traded for A.J. Cole before, so he must like him) as well as two of the Nationals top six prospects. If the Nationals can’t work the deal with the A’s, look for them to try and get David Robertson from the White Sox for a couple of mid-level prospects and some cash and then add a utility player in a smaller deal to help fill the void on the bench until Turner returns.