The Washington Nationals have been a pretty puzzling franchise since the end of the 2016 season.
Anyone who followed the Winter Meetings probably left wondering the same question. What were the Nationals doing? How are they preparing themselves for the 2017 season? And most importantly, can they actually contend in the NL?
The truth is that there have been several puzzling decisions over the past two months in Washington. Knowing they need a closer, the Nats didn’t try to extend Mark Melancon. As a result, the veteran ended with the San Francisco Giants. Kenley Jansen rejected them and Aroldis Chapman is with the New York Yankees. So they missed on the big three relievers on the market, which will force them to look for a trade.
Speaking of trades, the Nats bolstered their outfield depth with the arrival of Adam Eaton. But it’s hard to understand why they want for him. First of all, the Nats already have Jayson Werth, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper as starters. Does this mean Werth is going to leave? Perhaps Turner goes to the infield after he started his career as a shortstop? Harper is not going anywhere (for now), but essentially the Nats have four starting outfielders and only three spots. That’s going to create a logjam sooner than later.
As if the trade itself wasn’t enough – and let’s make it clear that Eaton is a good player – there’s the vibe that the Nationals overpaid. True, Eaton is coming off a career year (he batted .284/.362/.428 with 14 homers, 14 steals and perhaps the best right-field defense of anyone in baseball) but he’s not worth someone like Lucas Giolito. Especially if you also add Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning to the package.
Sure, Giolito didn’t look good in his first MLB stint this year. But he still has the making of a frontline starter. And what’s even more puzzling is that Washington let him go knowing they have to deal with the bottom of their rotation. Max Scherzer and Tanner Roark are locks, but what happens after them?
Stephen Strasburg is injury prone, and it always seems he’s one pitch away from an extended DL stint. Gio Gonzalez is not the same pitcher of a few years ago. And who’s going to take the ball every fifth day after them? Clearly the Nats have a lot of things to answer, and their recent moves have created holes instead of filling them.
As Bryce Harper said in his Twitter account after the Eaton trade, “Wow…”.
We’ll see how the Nationals handle the rest of the winter, but one thing is certain. Nobody knows what they’re doing, and a couple more puzzling moves could even put them out of contention in the NL where they’ll have to battle not only the New York Mets for the NL East crown, but the Chicago Cubs, the St Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Francisco Giants are there too.
Wow, indeed.