The Washington Nationals’ season was nothing short of a disaster. They entered with serious World Series aspirations but failed to live up to the hype. They not only failed to make the postseason, but pretty much crumbled from within the clubhouse and ended the season with more questions than answers. Plenty of eyes will be on them this offseason regarding what they will end up doing. Rumor has it there is a “lot of buzz” that the Nationals could trade right-hander Stephen Strasburg this winter should the right asking price come along, as reported by Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
The former number one overall pick of the 2009 draft, Strasburg’s career with the Nats has been a bumpy one at best. He has dealt with all sorts of injury including coming back from Tommy John surgery. When healthy, he has proven to be an electric pitcher with deadly stuff, but has struggled to remain healthy overall, as proven by his latest season in which he only made 23 starts and pitched 127.1 innings of 3.46 ERA ball.
If the Nats do indeed make him available, there will be no shortage of suitors this winter. Strasburg has one more year left on his deal before he hits free agency but would still be a huge boost to any contending team’s rotation for the 2016 postseason should he be able to remain healthy. The Nats already appear to be set to lose both Doug Fister and Jordan Zimmermann to free agency this offseason. In addition, dealing Strasburg may send the signal they are looking to rebuild for the 2016 season, as it appears many of their key players will be leaving for free agency, including Ian Desmond and Denard Span. Trading Strasburg would help accelerate the rebuild as he would undoubtedly give them a nice haul of young talent and prospects.
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