The Washington Nationals signed starting pitcher Max Scherzer to a seven-year deal on Monday. While the team faces free agency issues with some of their starters beyond the 2015 season, will they make a trade with clubs that need pitching?
Although it was reported the Nationals are planning on keeping all of their pitching personnel to boast a "super rotation," there are other reports out there that suggest they might make a trade to get some value. Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister will be free agents after the 2015 season and Stephen Strasburg will hit the market after 2016. At some point this offseason the Nationals have been open to trading these starters.
The latest reports surfaced within the past 24 hours. First it was said the team would likely trade Zimmermann, and Strasburg would be next in line if a deal couldn't be worked out. Then on Monday it was said the team was keeping everyone in the rotation and going all-in for 2015. Shortly thereafter it was noted they plan to keep Zimmermann and are shopping Strasburg. However, nothing was mentioned about Fister, who will earn $11.4 million in 2015 and is perhaps the least likely of the three to ink an extension with the club, thus making him a free agent.
With that being said, the Nationals have three potential trade pieces in Strasburg, Zimmermann and Fister. There are a number of teams looking for a starter at the top of the rotation and the first two that come to mind are the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals, who have been looking since before the July 31 trade deadline. If they can provide the package the Nationals want in a potential deal, are these the top two clubs to be their trade partner?
Boston has been looking for an ace ever since they traded Jon Lester to the Oakland A's last July. They tried to re-sign the left-hander this offseason, but he decided to join the Chicago Cubs. Boston has also been in talks with the Philadelphia Phillies for quite a while now about starter Cole Hamels, but the asking price for the left-hander has been deemed too high by a numerous clubs. Additionally, Hamels has at the very least four years and $96 million left on his contract, so he's expected to cost more in a trade since he's guaranteed to stay for an extended period of time.
Although Fister wouldn't be a bad acquisition, it's likely the Red Sox would chase Zimmermann or Strasburg because they're both capable of being a No. 1 starter, which is exactly what they need in a rotation that consists of Clay Buchholz, Rick Porcello, Wade Miley, Justin Masterson and Joe Kelly. If the Nats are willing to make a deal, it would cost the Red Sox much less than the three top prospects general manager Ruben Amaro is asking for in Philadelphia.
As for St. Louis, all of these pitchers could be potential trade candidates because they already have Adam Wainwright and Lance Lynn. Also, if Michael Wacha comes back healthy and returns to form, that would be one of the best 1-2-3 starter combos in the MLB. But Wacha's health is no guarantee and the Cards want to add insurance since Wainwright underwent elbow surgery in October. Strasburg, Zimmermann or Fister would fit the bill here, but there are two questions we need to ask: Do the Cardinals have the prospects to give up in such a deal, and do the Nationals want to trade one of these arms to another National League team?
The Cardinals, according to FOX Sports' Jon Morosi, were interested in signing Scherzer and may have been the other team competing with the Nationals on Sunday (there was another unnamed team discussing a deal with him). It was also noted earlier in the offseason they were exploring trades for Hamels and David Price while also discussing the possibility of signing Scherzer. Well, with Scherzer out of the picture, Amaro standing his ground on Hamels, and the Tigers' likely less willing to trade Price now that Scherzer is officially gone, it seems like more of a possibility that Cardinals' general manager John Mozeliak picks up the phone and calls Nats' GM Mike Rizzo to blow him away with a deal for either Strasburg, Zimmermann or Fister.
But let's not forget that the Nationals structured Scherzer's deal to pay him $15 million per year over the course of the next 14 years to keep their payroll in check. This decision could have been a plan to set them up long-term with some of their other starters, meaning they could end up keeping everyone for as long a they can.
