Washington Nationals: A Look At The Oakland A’s Trade Candidates

Over the past four seasons, the Oakland Athletic’s have been one of the most consistent teams in baseball, winning the Al West once and making the playoffs three times over that span. Unfortunately, they have nothing to show for it, having lost in the first round each year.

Despite this, the A’s have one of the most impressive cores, with Matt Olsen, Matt Chapman, Chris Bassitt, Frankie Montas, and Sean Manaea leading the way. Yet, it seems the A’s current core has run its course. They already lost their coach to the San Diego Padres and on Tuesday afternoon, it was reported the team was open to trading away key players.

Other names to keep an eye on are the A’s two top bats,  Matt Olson and Matt Chapman. A small market team, Oakland has always been known for trading away their top players before they could reach free agency.

Now that the A’s are on the verge of a rebuild, the Nationals need to pick up the phone and gauge the asking price on Matt Chapman and company.

For a team that is still in the middle of a rebuild and needs to preserve prospects, this is an opportunity that Washington can’t pass on. Giving the A’s a call to find out what the asking price is can’t hurt anyone.

Rotational Help

Anyone from the trio of Bassitt, Manaea, and Montas would instantly improve Washington’s rotation. Known for starting pitching, the Nationals starting rotation has seen better days. The backend is a mess and Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin are masked in question marks.

Here is how all three did last season.

Chris Bassitt: 12-4, 3.15 ERA,159 strikeouts, 3.34 FIP, 157 1/3 IP

Sean Manaea: 11-10, 3.91 ERA 3.66 FIP, 194 strikeouts, 179 1/3 IP

Frankie Montas: 13-9, 3.37 ERA, 207 strikeouts, 3.37 FIP, 187 IP

Both Manaea and Bassitt have one year of arbitration left, while Montas has two years left.

Manaea is still working himself back up to full strength after missing the majority of 2019 due to shoulder surgery. This past season he set a career-high in strikeouts, but struggled keeping the ball in the yard, allowing 25 homers.

Bassitt led the A’s last year in ERA and FIP and threw over 150 innings for the first time in his career. After dominating during the shortened 2020 season, Bassitt proved it wasn’t a fluke. Last year, opponents had a slash line of .218/.278/.348 against him.

Montas was the A’s best starter last year, posting career highs in innings pitched, strikeouts, and wins. Due to his contract and being only 28, Montas would cost the most to acquire.

A Power Bat

If Chapman and Olson become available, they would instantly become the best two players on the trade market. Both can hit for power and are tremendous defensively. For Olson, he has finally started to emerge from Chapman’s shadow and is coming off a career year. Last season he hit .271, with 39 homers, 111 RBIs, and an OPS of .911.

For Washington, while they already have Josh Bell at first, Olson would become an instant upgrade both at the plate and in the field. Olson has two years of arbitration left and would cost a king’s ransom to acquire. It is widely assumed the universal DH is going to be implemented starting in 2022. With that said, Bell can shift to DH, allowing Olson to take over at first.

This would vastly improve the lineup and provide Juan Soto with the necessary protection. However, due to the multiple holes across Washington’s roster, mortgaging the farm for a win-now move is out of the question.

An Answer At The Hot Corner

While Matt Olson’s stock has been rising, Matt Chapman’s has been trending in the opposite direction. He broke out in 2018, hitting .278, with 24 homers, 68 RBIs, and an OPS of .864 and took his game to the next level in 2019, hitting .249, with 36 homers, 91 RBIs, and an OPS of .848.

But since then, he has continued to struggle at the plate. This season, he hit a pedestrian .210, with 27 homers, 72 RBIs, and an OPS of .716. After striking out 146 and 147 times in 2018 and 2019 respectively, he struck out a whopping 202 times this year.

While his power is still there, he is no longer hitter for average and has seemed lost at times. Defensively, he is still one of the best third basemen in the game. He just won his third Gold Glove after posting 10 DRS and an 8.7 UZR.

Due to his power output, being a perennial gold glover, and having two years of arbitration left, Chapman will cost a pretty penny, regardless that he is striking out more and struggling to get on at a consistent rate. Similar to Olson, it is very likely Chapman’s asking price will be too high.

Overall, none of Oakland’s core will come cheap. They will obviously ask for any of Cole Henry, Jackson Rutledge, Cade Cavalli, and Brady House who should all be off-limits. With that said, it is very unlikely Washington lands any of their stars, but Mike Rizzo has made miracles happen before.