Washington Nationals: Seven players that could be traded away

Pedro Severino

With the addition of Kurt Suzuki earlier this month, it seems extremely likely that Pedro Severino will be leaving the Washington Nationals before next season. People will forget that he started in the playoffs for the Nats after Wilson Ramos went down injured, but his stock has cratered since.

For a time in 2018, it looked like Severino could well be the long-term answer behind the plate for the team as he slashed .270/.382/.351 in his first 25 games. However, after then, his performance at the plate was a disaster, slashing just .103/.161/.181 from May 19th through to the end of the season.

Now, the young catcher is out of options which is likely to force the Nationals’ hand in deciding his fate. If they choose not to keep him on the 25-man roster, then he would need to be designated for assignment giving any team has a chance to claim him.

Therefore, pursuing a trade for him could make a lot of sense, rather than just losing him for nothing when he is DFA’d. They could even look to add him to a trade package as a throw in for a rebuilding team that can take a low-cost flier on him to be their backup catcher of the future.

On his own, don’t expect a huge haul for him, perhaps something along the lines of the return the team got for Brandon Kintzler or Brian Goodwin who were in similar situations. In both of those instances, the Nats acquired a high-upside reliever in the lower minor leagues, which wouldn’t be the worst return if the player is likely heading out the door anyway.