Winning 96 games wasn’t enough for the Nats in 2014, so they’re going for 100 in 2015. Signing Max Scherzer was huge for the Nationals, no doubt about it. But was the move really necessary? Think about this, the Nationals had a rotation of five quality arms in 2014, and this is what it looked like:
Stephen Strasburg: 14-11, 3.14 ERA in 2014
Jordan Zimmerman: 14-5, 2.66 ERA in 2014
Gio Gonzalez: 10-10, 3.57 ERA
Doug Fister: 16-6, 2.41 ERA in 2014
Tanner Roark: 15-10 2.85 ERA
That looks pretty good right? Absolutely. Well, now we come back to the question: Why sign Scherzer to a seven-year, $210 million deal? Scherzer coming to town now gives the Nats an extremely over-qualified bullpen arm in Tanner Roark. With that being said, why are the trade rumors flying around Jordan Zimmerman then? Well, Zimmerman is a free-agent after 2015, whereas Roark is under control through 2020. There are a slew of options for the Nats to choose from as their next move, so let’s take a look at them.
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