Washington Nationals: Finding a closer on the open market

Alex Colome

The Washington Nationals have loved the idea of acquiring Alex Colome in a trade for several years now. Last year the Nationals went with Daniel Hudson and in 2017 the team chose to acquire Sean Doolittle. Any time the words “Nationals” and “trading for a closer” appear in the same sentence, Alex Colome’s name pops up.

Well, now the Nationals don’t have to part with any trade chips, they just need to fork over a lot of money to secure the services of Colome.

Of the closers listed in the piece today, Colome has the longest track record. He spent the last two years on the South Side of Chicago, locking down games for the White Sox. Prior to that he was an All-Star closer for the Tampa Bay Rays, saving a league best 47 games in 2017.

Colome will be looking for a long deal as well and could land something around the numbers Mark Melancon signed when he inked a 4 YR/$62M deal after leaving the Nationals four years ago. Colome shouldn’t get this figure, especially with the economic climate the league is in now, though he could approach this money. In 21 games this year Colome had an ERA of 0.81.

If the Nationals are going to spend money on a closer this offseason, Colome is the best bet. I would be all for reallocating those funds to a different area (outfielder, first baseman) and letting Tanner Rainey take what is his.