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Washington Nationals: Five more players who could be traded in August

By Blake Finney

CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 24: Mike Rizzo General Manager of the Washington Nationals talks on the phone during batting practice before a game against the Chicago White Sox on June 24, 2011 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois. The Nationals named John McLaren as their new manager. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 24: Mike Rizzo General Manager of the Washington Nationals talks on the phone during batting practice before a game against the Chicago White Sox on June 24, 2011 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois. The Nationals named John McLaren as their new manager. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images) /
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Washington Nationals Matt Wieters
(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Matt Wieters – Catcher

Potential Fits: Boston Red Sox, Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks

Up until a few weeks ago, it would’ve been unlikely that Matt Wieters drew trade interest. But now with the catcher hitting well, the Washington Nationals could now flip him.

In August, Wieters is now hitting .327 with a couple of home runs, nine RBI, and a nice .873 OPS. It’s the first real time in his Nats career that he’s consistently looked like a threat with the bat, but better late than never.

Despite the turnaround, much like Gio Gonzalez, the Nats are going to have to eat some salary in order to deal Wieters. But there are definitely still plenty of playoff contenders out there who have question marks behind the plate.

The Red Sox currently have former Nat Sandy Leon and Blake Swihart behind the plate, while Christian Vazquez heals up. Wieters could certainly be an upgrade as a second catcher there.

The Diamondbacks have been solid defensively behind the plate, but the catcher position has been an offensive black hole at times. The Rockies were getting nice production from Chris Iannetta for a while, but he reverted back to his old self and now Wieters would certainly be an upgrade.

Before August, trading Matt Wieters may have been near-impossible given his abysmal batting performance. But now, he may be able to tempt teams as they look for a hot bat to ride into October.

UPDATE 8/23: Matt Wieters cleared waivers as Jorge Castillo reported, and can now be freely traded to any major league team in August.

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