Yesterday, a report surfaced stating that the Washington Nationals are currently interested in acquiring the services of Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster and Rockies catcher Ramon Hernandez.
In an interview with Adam Kilgore yesterday, Mike Rizzo neither confirmed nor denied those rumors when he said that the Nationals were basically weighing their options and seeing what's best for the team.
If the Nationals decide to make a move and trade for Dempster, that would all but seal the fate of Stephen Strasburg.
The Nationals don't need to go out and trade for a fifth starter when they already have one in Ross Detwiler. The only reason that they would need another starting pitcher would be if they were going to shutdown Stephen Strasburg in September.
Dempster is a very worthy candidate to become the fifth starter if Strasburg were shutdown. While there is no replacement for him, Dempster could at least get the job done. Gio Gonzalez would become the number on starter and Dempster would likely fall in behind him.
However, another report surfaced last night stating that the LA Dodgers were seriously pursuing Dempster. The Nationals and the Red Sox are two of the other teams interested, but, the Dodgers appear to be the front runners to land Dempster.
The other name that popped up in the report was Rockies catcher Ramon Hernandez.
While the Nationals appear to be fine at the catcher position, they don't have a solid every day starter like they did in Wilson Ramos. Jesus Flores and Jhonatan Solano can get the job done, but having Hernandez would certainly upgrade the position.
While I'm sure many of you are taking an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach to this, keep in mind that you can certainly improve on it! And while I don't think the Nationals will gain very much from either of these two players, they won't have a negative impact on the team.
It might be tough to go after Dempster. He has thrown 33 scoreless innings straight so he will not come cheap. The Nationals will most likely have to give up a few minor league players to acquire either Dempster or Hernandez.
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Source: FOX Sports
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