Washington Nationals rumors: Patrick Corbin shopped last winter

If you thought the Washington Nationals were second guessing themselves on Carter Kieboom, apparently they are cooling on Patrick Corbin as well.

One year into the $140M contract the Nationals signed Corbin to, you would have thought they had a steal. Corbin was 14-7 with a 3.25 ERA (3.49 FIP) during the regular season in 2019, and was one of manager Davey Martinez’s most trusted arms out of the bullpen in the playoffs. Corbin made three starts in the postseason that year, though appeared in five others in relief.

Corbin pitched three scoreless innings in Game 7 of the World Series, and was actually credited with the win in relief of Max Scherzer. For the most part, it’s been all down hill since.

The Washington Nationals reportedly engaged in trade talks revolving around starting pitcher Patrick Corbin over the offseason.

A dreadful 2020 season has given way to an even worse 2021 campaign, and word on the streets is the Nationals were busy on the phones trying to ditch Corbin before this season started. With north of $83M still owed on his contract after this season, the contract is going to difficult to move.

Sure, the Nationals can find a taker for the left-hander. They’ll either have to eat a lot of his salary, or throw in a talented player for the other team to take on most of the remaining money. This is a six year contract which seems to have apexed after year one. At this point Corbin has little trade value. He has a WHIP over two and an ERA over ten.

Stephen Strasburg is making a ton of money and currently sitting on the Injured List. Corbin is making a ton of money and rumored to be on the trading block. Max Scherzer is making a pretty penny and is in the last year of his contract. Juan Soto and Trea Turner are making peanuts (relatively speaking), and will be seeking lucrative contract extensions in the near future.

If the Nationals continue playing like they have to begin the 2021 season, you can imagine a full scale tear down, rebuild will be in the works. Quite possibly the Nats will be able to mimic the Boston Red Sox/Los Angeles Dodgers trade. We’ll give you Mookie Betts, but you’re going to take David Price’s salary too.

Before we get too involved in packaging Scherzer and Corbin, lets hope the Nationals can win a few and make this all a moot point.