Insane Trade Idea Has Nationals Sending James Wood to Brewers This Offseason

This would be a head-scratching trade if the Washington Nationals made it.

Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The expectation around baseball seems to be that almost all things are on the table when it comes to how Paul Toboni is going to jumpstart the Washington Nationals this winter.

Because of his background in player development and amateur scouting, focusing on improving the poor Nationals pipeline is something that could take place this offseason. That's largely why MacKenzie Gore continues to be mentioned in trade rumors and why some other teams are reportedly going to call to see if CJ Abrams will be made available.

But would it be wise for Washington to trade some of their few building-block pieces even if it brought back a strong package of prospects? At a certain point, the Nationals have to field a competitive team, so keeping talented players around should be the goal.

With that in mind, that's why the trade idea put together by Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report was insane, as he has Washington shipping James Wood out of town.

Mock Trade Idea Has James Wood Getting Sent to Brewers

Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

To be fair to Rymer, this fantasy trade was in his piece titled, "Pitching Unpopular Offseason Trade Ideas." So, naturally, he's going to get some pushback. It should also be noted that he stated the Nationals should not view Wood as a trade candidate, either. However, it was everything that came after in his piece that was bonkers.

"Trading Wood now would be a means to turn one good player into a handful of great prospects. And we use the word 'good' with intent. The 6'7", 234-pound Wood is powerful, but he's also coming off a dismal second half in which he struck out at a 39.0 percent clip. He finished with an MLB-high 221 strikeouts," he wrote.

While everyone saw Wood struggle in the second half of the season, what he did in the first half was enough to turn the heads of everyone around baseball. Because of that, even the simple thought of trading him at 22 years old is crazy. But it's the package Rymer put together that was the final nail in his idea's coffin.

Nationals Would Get Back Luis Pena and Cooper Pratt

Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In this trade idea, the Nationals would get Luis Pena and Cooper Pratt back from the Milwaukee Brewers, the Nos. 2 and 3-ranked prospects in the Brewers' pipeline. Both youngsters are ranked in the top 100 of prospect rankings, with Pena coming in at No. 18 and Pratt coming in at No. 56. However, while that would be a strong return, it also goes against what Rymer said when he stated trading Wood could net them "a handful of great prospects."

While the acquisitions of Pena and Pratt would be nothing to sneeze at, it should be noted that both players are listed as shortstops -- although Pena could eventually make the move over to the hot corner based on his arm strength -- and the Nationals would only be getting two prospects back in return.

And with Brady House already on their MLB roster and Eli Willits -- the No. 1 pick of the 2025 draft -- in Washington's pipeline, this trade just wouldn't make a whole lot of sense from the Nationals' perspective, even if it landed them two premier prospects.

Fans can rest easy knowing the possibility of trading Wood is extremely thin, but things like this will likely continue to pop up this winter as Toboni gets his first offseason underway.