Washington Nationals: Five potential waiver trade candidates
Although we’re now into August, the Washington Nationals could still look to improve their roster with waiver trades. Here are five names to keep an eye on.
The MLB Trade Deadline has come and passed, and the Washington Nationals decided to largely stay as they were. Even though the big day has now passed, it doesn’t prevent them from adding to their roster.
Teams around baseball are still permitted to trade players who have passed through revocable waivers. This is allowed throughout the season, however, to be eligible for the post-season, a player must be on that team’s books before September 1st. This gives an unofficial deadline for these types of trades.
With revocable waivers, all MLB teams have a chance to claim a player. If multiple teams try to claim them, priority goes to the team with the worst record in the same league, then the worst record in the opposite league. If a player is claimed, then one of the following can happen:
- A trade can be negotiated between the two teams.
- The player can simply be sent to the claiming team, and they would take on the entire contract
- Or the player can be withdrawn from waivers, and can’t be placed on them again
However, if the player passes through unclaimed, then he’s free to be traded to anyone.
This is usually the best way to conduct a trade after the deadline, given the flexibility to include multiple players who have cleared waivers. Plus the team can negotiate with anyone, they aren’t locked into just talking with the team that would’ve claimed them.
The Nationals have only really made two noteworthy waiver additions in August since 2012. The first was Kurt Suzuki, who did an admirable job as Wilson Ramos‘ backup. Then in 2014, they acquired Matt Thornton via waivers from the New York Yankees.
So we’ve taken a look to see if there are any potential fits for the Nationals, should they make a trade to bolster their roster heading towards the stretch run.
Matt Harvey, SP – Cincinnati Reds
While he happens to be in town facing the Washington Nationals, the team may look at Cincinnati Reds starter, Matt Harvey. A long-time foe could make a lot of sense to add to a rotation that has been far from its best.
Harvey struggled early on in 2018 with the New York Mets, posting a 7.00 ERA in eight appearances. However, he’s managed to find something resembling a groove with the Reds.
The right-hander has made 14 starts with the team, and while his 4.44 ERA is underwhelming, he’s shown improvement in all the key metrics. His strikeout rate is up, and walk rate is down, while all of his pitches have gained an extra mile per hour.
He’s still nowhere near his All-Star self from 2013, but he’s certainly a serviceable third or fourth starter. Should an injury strike, or if Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark can’t keep up their recent success, he could be a nice and cheap solution.
He was reportedly on the team’s radar at the start of July, along with Red closer Raisel Iglesias. So there could already be some interest on the Nationals side of the equation.
His 2018 salary is just over $5.5m, so he should be able to clear waivers. However, if the Nats rotation improves back to it’s May levels, they should keep Harvey talks on the backburner.
Jose Iglesias, SS – Detroit Tigers
While the Washington Nationals have a perennial All-Star shortstop in Trea Turner, they could look to add depth in Jose Iglesias. The Detroit Tigers are far from contending this year, so could look to offload the Cuban infielder.
Iglesias has long been regarded as a defensive whizz at shortstop throughout his career. This is evidenced by the fact he’s never had a negative dWAR season, according to Baseball Reference.
He also has a nice enough hit tool as well, with a career .270 average, but he’s never hit for much power. If that’s sounds familiar, it’s because the Nationals have a player in the same mold on their roster.
Wilmer Difo has been able to fill in admirably across the infield when the Nats have had injuries. And while he may have a long-term role with the team, for 2018 there’s a big hole in his game. He’s not been the best pinch-hitter in his career.
Difo has just a .189/.267/.232 batting line as a pinch hitter, all of which are over 100 lower than as a starter. Iglesias, on the other hand, is more than adept coming off the bench. He sports a .364/.417/.455 batting line in a pinch-hitting role.
His contract is up at the end of the season, and Difo has an option left so he can be sent to Triple-A to make space. Iglesias would be a fine upgrade coming off the bench while being a great defensive replacement in the middle of the infield too.
Devin Mesoraco, C – New York Mets
It was a huge surprise at the trade deadline when the Washington Nationals chose not to improve their catching situation. They could rectify that with a waiver trade with their divisional foes for Devin Mesoraco.
He was the other half of the Matt Harvey trade mentioned earlier in the article. And Mesoraco has also had some level of success after the change of scenery too.
While his batting average is still only at .231, this is with a .246 BABIP so there’s plenty of room for improvement. Even then, none of the Nationals catchers have hit above .217 so far this season.
Not only is he hitting a better in his new home, he’s also managed to find his power stroke in Flushing. His seven home runs with the Mets are more than he had between 2015-17 combined.
It’s not completely out of the realms of possibility that this is sustainable for Mesoraco, remember, he garnered MVP votes in 2014 and was even named to the NL All-Star team.
Mesoraco would be a big upgrade over Spencer Kieboom for the rest of the season, there’s no doubt about that. The question would be whether the Mets would be willing to give him up within the division. If they would be, then it’s something the Nats should definitely inquire about.
Francisco Liriano, SP/RP – Detroit Tigers
We take a look at our second Detroit Tigers player, as the Washington Nationals would be wise to consider Francisco Liriano in a waiver trade before September.
It would be the second year in a row that Liriano would be traded as a solid start and converted to a useful reliever. In 2017, he was starting for the Toronto Blue Jays and was then acquired by the World Series champion Houston Astros.
While his name didn’t grab the same headlines that the likes of Charlie Morton and Brad Peacock did, Liriano was still a useful arm for the Astros. He was good enough, that the Tigers gave him another chance to start, and then flip him at the deadline.
He started the season with a 3.42 ERA in his first nine starts for the Tigers. However, his last eight appearances have yielded a 6.00 ERA and a move back to the bullpen would be best served.
The Nationals have been lacking a true lefty specialist in their bullpen all season. Sean Doolittle is the closer, Matt Grace is the defacto long-man and Sammy Solis has done well, but lefties actually hit better than righties off of him. Enter Liriano.
So far this season, despite the iffy numbers, the one thing that can be relied on, is his ability to get lefties out. Left-handed hitters are hitting a mere .113 of Liriano this year, and recording just a .424 OPS.
He should be available on the cheap and would give the Nats the lefty specialist they desire going forward, hopefully into the playoffs.
Bud Norris, RP – St Louis Cardinals
Our final potential waiver trade candidate for the Washington Nationals is a player who drew interest before the trade deadline. Bud Norris has excelled as a reliever after being a lackluster starter early in his career.
More from District on Deck
- Latest DraftKings Sportsbook Promo Code in Maryland: Bet $5, Win $200 Guaranteed
- Nationals Claim Jeter Downs Off Waivers
- Washington Nationals Minor League Spotlight: Robert Hassell III
- Washington Nationals Tuesday Q&A
- 3 Free Agents the Nationals Should Gamble On
In 2018, the right-hander has a 3.07 ERA to go along with 20 saves for the St Louis Cardinals. He held the closer role last season and has reclaimed it after the Greg Holland experiment flamed out.
The peripheral numbers back up the fact he’s having an excellent season too. He’s currently posting the joint-highest strikeout rate of his career with 11.3 K/9. He also currently has the lowest walk rate to with a 1.6 BB/9 figure.
Another factor for Norris is given his previous starting experience, he’s able to go multiple innings at a time. We’ve seen Davey Martinez utilize Kelvin Herrera similarly since he’s arrived, And Norris would be a similar proposition.
The Cardinals have been trying to do a tentative sell this summer, with the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs the divisional front-runners. So the Nats could pounce and get a useful reliever should he clear waivers.
There’ll be no shortage of competition for bullpen consideration. However, with a nice farm system, they could swing a deal that stops them taking on all of a big contract.
dark. Next. Top 10 All-Time Best Deadline Deals
Just because we’re now into August, it doesn’t mean that more trades can’t happen. So we’ll see if the Washington Nationals are able to make anything happen.