This trade season has been an active one for Mike Rizzo, who acquired a total of four players in an attempt to fix the much-maligned bullpen and add to the teams dubious position player depth. As the dust settled Monday afternoon, the Nationals were left with a transformed bullpen and a bolstered outfield with the additions of Sean Doolittle, Ryan Madson, Brandon Kintzler, and Howie Kendrick. Despite the flurry of additions, the Nationals still have a number of questions looming over them as the postseason slowly approaches. Stephen Strasburg’s elbow health is of the utmost importance, the bullpen still has a number of question marks, and the infield depth remains precariously thin. Luckily for the Nationals, trades are still possible until the end of the month so they can still add to the roster if they feel it necessary. Because players traded in August have to pass through revocable waivers, many of the seemingly available players all have performance or salary issues. Should they decide to take a risk, whether out of competitiveness or desperation, there are still valuable players that the Nationals could look to acquire this August. Let’s take a look at some of these players.
Tag Archives: Justin Verlander
The Starting Pitching Puzzle
For the last few years, the Nationals have been known for their starting pitching. At the the beginning of the season, they looked to have one of the strongest rotations in the league. Max Scherzer had just won the Cy Young, Stephen Strasburg looked to finally be the full-year, dominant starter we’d expected him to be, Tanner Roark was coming off a career year, Gio Gonzalez got off to an incredibly hot start, and Joe Ross was looking to become a full-time rotation piece. Everything seemed to be falling into place.