Nationals Are Prime Candidate to Both Buy and Sell Ahead of Trade Deadline
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It's unclear which direction the Washington Nationals are going to take ahead of the trade deadline.
On one hand, this team entered the final day of June just 2.5 games out of the final NL Wild Card spot. They have been powered by the best offense in baseball, and it would be a huge morale killer in both the clubhouse and amongst the fans to see the organization pull the plug on them once again.
On the other hand, the Nationals have around a 5% chance to actually make the playoffs, and with tons of issues across their pitching staff in the first year of this revamped rebuild, it might be wise for them to ship out their best trade assets to acquire more pieces for the future.
When factoring in all of that, it's a tough decision for first-year president of baseball operations Paul Toboni to make. And that's why Washington could be a prime team to both sell and buy some pieces ahead of the trade deadline this season.
Nationals Could Add Pieces and Also Sell Before Deadline
Adding a high-leverage bullpen arm or two is a must if the Nationals want to make a playoff push. And ideally, those relievers would have multiple seasons of club control remaining so prospects wouldn't be given up for only a short-term gain.
Of course, that's easier said than done since just about every team across Major League Baseball would love to add high-end relievers with multiple years of club control remaining. So for Washington to actually win those sweepstakes ahead of Aug. 3, they would have to be willing to part with multiple top 30 guys in their pipeline.
When it comes to who they might trade away, there's no doubt that shortstop CJ Abrams would net them a monster return. The soon-to-be two-time All-Star is having the best season of his career to date, so he would be a massive addition for any contender that needs an infielder who hits for both contact and power. However, it doesn't seem like the Nationals are actually interested in dealing their star at this point in time, which means others could be shopped around before the deadline.
A combination of left-handed pitcher Foster Griffin, right-handed pitcher Zack Littell, resurgent infielder Luis Garcia Jr. and breakout former top prospect Curtis Mead could potentially bring in enough talented prospects to make up for their decision to hold onto Abrams in what is sure to be a seller's market.
That's why Washington will likely try to thread the needle to make sure this roster remains in the playoff hunt while also setting themselves up for future success.
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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