Washington Nationals Trade Possibilities

With the trade deadline looming on the horizon - I will try to take a look at what chips some of the teams who are out of playoff contention may put in play. Earlier I looked at the Baltimore Orioles, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Kansas City Royals, the Chicago White Sox and the Texas Rangers. Today I will take a look what players from the Nationals may hit the market.

- Dmitri Young is either rumored to be on the brink of being traded or being re-signed to a two-year deal. It looks like it will be the latter with the deal reported to be 2-years and $10 million. Of course that leaves open the question about what the Nationals plan to do with Nick Johnson next season. Speculation is that Jim Bowden may be planning on playing the hefty Young in left field when Johnson returns which brings the status of Ryan Church into question. Young probably won't be traded and thus doesn't belong in this discussion but I could not resist the opportunity to point out how Jim Bowden continues to make moves that nobody understands. With the 2-year contract - Young is almost guaranteed to be with the Nationals longer than Bowden.

- Ryan Church - I've never understood what the Nationals have against Ryan Church. They play him when people get hurt and he does a fine job but then the toss him back on the bench. This year he's gotten to play full-time and has been so-so. I have to wonder if he'd do better somewhere where he gets positive reinforcement. Maybe Church gets involved in some three-team trade where Billy Beane or one of the smart GM's use Bowden. Maybe the Cubs will have interest (I keep mentioning outfielders being dealt to the Cubs because eventually I'll be correct).

- Chad Cordero - lots of teams need a closer or a top set-up man. Scott Linebrink just brought 3 minor prospects which means Bowden will ask for the moon for Cordero. He's been rumored to being going to the Mets but you can't trust rumors when Jim Bowden is concerned because he tends to leak his own version of reality.

As strange as it seems - the Nationals may actually turn out to be buyers instead of sellers this trade deadline. Bowden may try to avoid rebuilding out of fear that he won't be there to see the job done. He may also go after former Reds players like Adam Dunn or Wily Mo Pena.