Should the Washington Nationals trade Luis Garcia Jr?

After the notification hit my mobile device that the Nationals had finally made a move in free agency as the New Year is coming to a close, I was faced with the harsh reality of being a Nationals fan right now: "we are a small market team now, it is what it is."

Since the record-breaking 7-year 245 million dollar contract for Stephen Strasburg coming off his World Series MVP, the Nationals free agency signings have been dismal, to say the least.

To put it bluntly, the days of signing guys like Jayson Werth, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and even a player like Daniel Murphy who got nearly 40 million, have seemed to come to a screeching halt. The Nationals are projected to be in the bottom five in payroll next season, even behind the lowly Athletics.

With Patrick Corbin's contract coming off the books and a young team on the rise, some fans were hopeful the Lerner family would finally be able to spend again, but according to an inside source I have, the Nationals are not ready to spend again any time soon.

With Christian Walker being a perfect fit for this team signing a 3-year 60 million dollar contract with the Houston Astros, reportedly out of Washington's price range, the Nationals should now shift to the trade market.

With a power bat in desperate need, it is easy to say the Nationals should be willing to trade off one of their young arms like Mitchell Parker, but injuries and inconsistency prove that you can never have too much pitching.

That leaves a couple of guys that come to mind, one being Jacob Young, especially with the outfield depth we have, but a young second baseman coming off a career year can net us something even better, with Luis Garcia Jr.

This team last year Garcia Jr's future was up in the air, after being sent down due to inconsistency late in the 2023 season, and he carried that shaky play into Spring Training. After some noncommittal comments from Davey Martinez regarding Garcia's playing time heading into the 2024 season, all Garcia did was put up the best season of his career.

Although Garcia rarely started vs left-handed pitching, he still appeared in 140 games, putting up a 111 wRC+ and a 3.1 fWAR, good for 6th among qualified second basemans in the MLB, and tied for the 57th most among all qualified players in major league baseball.

At only 24 years old, Garcia's walk rates and strikeout rates were in line with the rest of his career, but his slugging up to .444 and a career-high 18 home runs led him to his career year. Not only was the offense up, but Garcia also swiped 22 bases, and was a well above average defender at second base, which would have been extremely hard to believe before the season.

With Garcia trending upwards, it would be hard to depart with a hopeful cornerstone of the next contending ball club, but the question of his trade value needs to be considered.

After all, at only 24 years old, Luis Garcia only has three more years remaining before he enters free agency heading into his age 28 season.

With no significant changes with Garcia's game last year, with his continued struggles with pitch selection and streakiness, it would be hard to say no if receiving an attractive trade offer, from a team like the Padres, mariners, or the Yankees.

Defensive metrics took a huge leap last year but should be looked at over 3-5-year increments. Some of the worst defenders in baseball like Rafael Devers and Juan Soto, who consistently rank among the league worst in OAA for their position groups, have had anomaly seasons, like Devers ranking second among 3rd baseman defense in 2019 just behind Nolan Arenado and above Matt Chapman, and Juan Soto ranking in the 90th percentile with 6 outs above average in 2019.

If Garcia regresses to being a league-average bat with subpar defense, his value decreases to replacement level, at best, and the Nationals would be stuck in a bad situation. As hard as it may be, I think it is time to strike while the iron is hot and trade Luis.

Regardless of what the final decision comes down to, I will not be upset either way. Garcia could net us some toolsy prospects with more control, or if we keep him, could provide steady play at second base once again like he did last season.

Garcia is trending up, and Mike Rizzo and the Nationals should consider all options for his future with the organization before it is easy to regret looking back on what could have been done.