With Papelbon Imploding In Front Of Our Eyes, Let's Look At Some Nationals Bullpen Trade Possibilities
With all signs pointing to Aroldis Chapman being dealt to the Cubs and Andrew Miller staying put, the Nationals may not be getting that game-changing reliever that many of us were hoping for this trade season. Further, the already-outstanding competition just got even better and now have the 3rd best starter in terms of ERA in all of baseball (Kyle Hendricks) + stars Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester + two very great relievers in the back of their pen + an offense that just isn’t all that fair. The good thing about the postseason is that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. Nats fans should know that more than most because we had arguably the best rosters in 2012 and 2014 yet couldn’t even make it out of the divisional round. The culprit? Well Matt Williams wasn’t much help in 2014 but, ultimately, it was failures by our bullpen.
We’ve got a pretty solid ‘pen this season, at least statistically (2nd best bullpen ERA in baseball, 2.98) but we also really do not have that one guy lurking that teams are afraid to face. Papelbon’s absolute implosion yesterday indicates that he just is not that pitcher so that leaves me wondering, who is? Chapman is one and I think that Miller and Dellin Betances are two others (but they aren’t likely to be traded), Kenley Jansen of the Dodgers is another and Orioles relievers can certainly fit the description but the point is that there just aren’t too many of those guys out there and, the ones who are, are either unavailable or are pitching for contenders.
The Brewers relievers Jeremy Jeffress and Will Smith are each very solid arms but you are lying to yourself if you think that acquiring one would make a major difference in the team’s championship chances. Former ace reliever Huston Street would be available but his ERA is over 5.00. The Rockies have a couple of lefty arms in Boone Logan and Jake McGee but McGee has been terrible and has dealt with some injury issues (I understand its Coors but the guy’s ERA is 5.79) and while Logan is having a solid season, he usually isn’t this good.
The top relief option available is probably the Chicago White Sox’s David Robertson. Robertson, who allowed 3 earned runs yesterday, is hardly the answer – he has ERAs above 3.00 in all three years that he has held the closing job and his peripherals look like shit this year (he is walking about 5 batters per 9 innings). Robertson is owed 25 million in ’16 and ’17 and with his ugly 4.46 ERA, he is looking more like a contract dump than a closer to be coveted and yet, if the White Sox do deal him, he will net a solid return. I’ll take Robertson for 1 B-level prospect but I wouldn’t give much more than that. A B-level prospect probably isn’t going to be enough for Robertson in this seller’s market but I’m fine with missing out on him. Kenley Jansen and Aroldis Chapman are each free agents after the season and I’d much prefer devoting as much as $15 million annually to one of those guys than 12.5 to Robertson.
A somewhat out of the box trade acquisition is Andrew Cashner, the starting pitcher for the San Diego Padres. Cashner is on the block and almost certainly will be traded by the deadline and I really have no idea what the price would be for the back-end starter but, if the Nats decide to pull the trigger, they’ve got a high-90s bullpen option who’s got the stamina to last a few innings or make a spot start if needed.
A non-trade related option is calling up Reynaldo Lopez to pitch out of the ‘pen. Lopez, who struggled in his only start for the Nats, just tossed his first career complete game shutout for AAA Syracuse. Lopez might not yet have the ability to handle starting in the MLB but he does have the stuff to get batters out as a reliever.
- To sum it all up, the Cubs got better and the Nats stayed the same but it really isn’t worth it to give up too much for David Robertson. Andrew Cashner, depending on his price, could be an interesting option, and Reynaldo Lopez is always there if need be. It seems like Pap is the best realisitc option at the end of the ‘pen for the rest of 2016 and while it might not be pretty and we might deal with games like yesterday, he is a great postseason pitcher (3 runs allowed in 27 innings if past statistics matter to you) and he is better than most other options that are around.