The Washington Nationals closed out their series against the Athletics in style on Sunday afternoon, taking the finale and rubber game by a score of 5-2, and now are back to a .500 record at 50-50 overall. All-Star lefty Foster Griffin was masterful once again, improving his record to 11-2 on the season, and the Nationals overall improved to 16-4 in games that he starts on the mound.
Heading into a pair of 3-game sets against the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks, the Nationals have a chance to impact the outlook of their trade deadline stance. Surely, the Nationals will have a couple of ideal trade candidates available, as guys like Griffin will likely be shopped due to them being rentals, but another piece and key cog in the Nationals' lineup is looking like he might be on the move as well.
Luis Garcia Jr. emerging as popular trade candidate for several teams
One of the biggest pieces of deadline intel we have gotten so far is that current Nationals' first baseman Luis Garcia Jr. is reportedly drawing trade interest from "multiple teams" according to notable sources like Will Sammon and Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic. They also said that talks have not advanced much beyond preliminary stages, as the team is still evaluating their plans for the deadline overall.
As seems to be the case, what the Nationals do at the deadline will largely be dictated by what the team does over the next couple of weeks, and where they find themselves in the standings by then. Garcia Jr. has been the breakout star of the season so far for the Nationals, and he has been one of the better bats in the league, especially over the last couple of months.
He has a .279/.312/.545 slash line, good for an .857 OPS, and his 132 OPS+ shows just how dangerous he has been overall. After being unplayable at second base for several years, he has adjusted very well to first base, and has been a solid contributor at the position in the field. He does not seem like he will be part of the long-term equation with the Nationals, and as such could be expendable.
We will see how the market ends up unfolding over the next couple weeks, as there are several teams right on the border of competing and rebuilding that could completely shape the deadline as we move forward. The Nationals are one of those teams, and with Garcia Jr. still having the rest of this year and all of next year under team control, he can easily emerge as one of the premier bats on the market at this year's deadline.
Do you think the Nationals should trade Luis Garcia Jr.? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.
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