Luis Garcia Jr. Has Turned Himself Into Best Trade Piece for Nationals
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On Friday, Washington Nationals slugger Luis Garcia Jr. hit two home runs. Then on Sunday, he hit another one.
That continued his incredible form ever since the calendar flipped to June, as he launched 11 longballs during that month, which was more than double what he did in March, April and May combined. And with the three blasts he had over the weekend, he has now hit 10 home runs in his last 15 games.
All of a sudden, Garcia is slashing .282/.313/.561 with a wRC+ figure above 130 that puts him in the top 30 of all hitters across Major League Baseball. And because he has another year of team control remaining after this season, the 26-year-old has become the best trade piece for the Nationals.
Luis Garcia Jr. Could Net Nationals Impactful Return
With Washington's trade deadline plans still up in the air based on the fact that they are a few games out of the final NL wild card spot, president of baseball operations Paul Toboni might try to thread the needle and add potential impact players to help the Nationals make a postseason push, while also selling off some of their most desirable assets to get additional prospects for the future.
Garcia could now be someone who teams around the league push to land since he's a first baseman who can punish right-handed pitching. With 83 games played and 246 at-bats in that split, he has recorded 17 homers with 54 RBIs and an OPS of .901. Add in his value of being minus-one in outs above average and zero in defensive runs saved at first base across 504 innings, and he is one of the most intriguing sluggers who could be made available.
And that might be exactly what Washington needs to be comfortable in their possible approach to both buy and sell ahead of the trade deadline.
Trading Garcia should net the Nationals some intriguing future prospects. And because they have Abimelec Ortiz waiting for his big league opportunity in Triple-A, Washington will be covered at first base with someone who was expected to be their future star at that position, anyway. And if Garcia is able to bring in a high-end prospect or two, Toboni would likely be more comfortable sending out some of their top 30 guys to add impact arms that can help them make the playoffs this year.
There's less than a month until Toboni has to make the tough decision between augmenting the current roster to help this group make a playoff run -- which is something that would energize the entire organization and the fan base following years of prolonged losing -- while also setting the franchise up for long-term success -- which is what he was hired to do.
But with Garcia performing like one of the best offensive players in baseball, him turning into one of Washington's best trade pieces now gives the Nationals more of a chance to do both things.
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Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai