Washington Nationals: Four possible trades at the Winter Meetings
By Blake Finney
Greg Bird, 1B
Perhaps towards the top of the Washington Nationals‘ minor needs is a backup first baseman who can spell Ryan Zimmerman frequently. Acquiring Greg Bird from the New York Yankees would give the team a long-term option to take over from the aging face of the franchise.
The Yankees are now caught up their new phenom at first base in Luke Voit, who became something of a cult hero with his impressive performance down the stretch last year. Because of Voit’s emergence last season, Yanks Go Yard even looked at the possibility of Bird starting in Triple-A.
Right now, they would likely roll with a combination of Voit and Bird at first, but the latter could be considered expendable in the right deal. So if terms can be agreed then the Nationals could pick up a perfect buy-low candidate with three years of arbitration still ahead of him.
Back in 2015, he slashed a very impressive .261/.343/.529 with 11 home runs, but since then, injuries have derailed his career. First, he had right labrum surgery that caused him to miss all of 2016, then right ankle issues forced him to miss time in 2017 and 2018 in which he put up an ugly combined .196/.287/.399 slash line.
When constructing a trade for Bird, while his value is lower than it was just a couple years ago, the Yankees will be reluctant to sell too low. GM Brian Cashman has long valued a dominant bullpen, making Koda Glover a possible fit for the Bronx.
After the Nats picked up Kyle Barraclough and Trevor Rosenthal, Glover would likely be in a middle-inning role as things stand. While the upside is high, he could be worth dealing in the right scenario. Then if we add in Jose Marmolejos as some nice first base depth and international signing money, that the Yankees value, that could be enough to get a deal done and potentially provide the team with a first baseman of the future.